Synopses & Reviews
A riotous, whirlwind tour through deep American subcultures ranging from Burning Man to Alcoholics Anonymous, by the hilarious stand-up comic Moshe Kasher
After bottoming out, being institutionalized, and getting sober all by the tender age of fifteen, Moshe Kasher found himself asking: what’s next? Over the ensuing decades, he found his way to the answer: a lot.
There was his time as a boy-king of Alcoholics Anonymous, a kind of pubescent proselytizer for other teens getting and staying sober. He was a rave promoter turned DJ turned sober Ecstasy dealer in San Francisco's techno warehouse party scene of the 1990's. For fifteen years he worked as a psychedelic security guard at Burning Man, fishing hippies out of hidden chambers they'd constructed to try and sneak into the event. As a child of deaf parents, he became deeply immersed in deaf culture and sign language interpretation, translating everything from end of life care to horny deaf clients’ attempts to hire sex workers. He reconnects and tries to make peace with his Ultra Chassidic Jewish upbringing after the death of his father before finally settling into the comedy scene where he now resides.
Each of these scenes get a gonzo historiographical rundown before Kasher enters the narrative and tells the story of the lives he spent careening from one to the next. A razor sharp, gut-wrenchingly funny, and surprisingly moving tour of some of the most wildly different subcultures a person can experience, Subculture Vulture deftly weaves together memoir and propulsive cultural history. It’s a story of finding your people, over and over again, in different settings, and knowing without a doubt that wherever you are is where you’re supposed to be.
Review
“Moshe Kasher’s travels through recovery are laid out beautifully, honestly, and effortlessly. I don’t know that I’ve read a more succinct description of the entire experience from soup to nuts. With equal parts authority and humility, Subculture Vulture is an elegant and a hilarious reminder that none of us really know anything for certain.” Dax Shepard
Review
“An electrifying, hilarious, and surprisingly emotional trip through the worlds Kasher has inhabited, including the one we share: the world of electronic dance music... He takes us on a trip through the rave scene of the nineties and you won’t feel like you ‘had to be there,’ because you’ll feel like you are.” The Chainsmokers
Review
“Reading Kasher’s description of Burning Man both brought me back and gave me so much more context for this uniquely bizarre subculture. Kasher has the rare gift to simultaneously celebrate a community while also making fun of it. His writing succinctly captures the insanity, the joy, the ridiculousness, and the radical act of fully embracing these worlds.” Nick Kroll
Review
“Nails the raucous, reckless, and deeply hilarious days of stand-up comedy in the mid-2000s and the Wild West days of comedy’s history... Kasher’s thoughtful account of the world of comedy is inspired and funny, and the accounts of those early open mics rang very true for me, even though I bombed a lot less than him.” John Mulaney
About the Author
Moshe Kasher is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor. He is the author of Kasher in the Rye. He has written for various TV shows and movies including HBO's Betty, Comedy Central's Roasts and Another Period, Zoolander 2, Wet Hot American Summer and many more. His Netflix specials include Moshe Kasher: Live in Oakland and The Honeymoon Special. He's appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Shameless, The Good Place and other fun things. He co-hosts the Endless Honeymoon podcast with his wife, Natasha Leggero. He lives in Los Angeles with Leggero and their daughter.