Christopher Titus: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Dysfunctional." I'm not dysfunctional. I'm evolving to the next level.''}}

 

 

His growing up experience was on the '''''extreme''''' end of what most people would consider, "dysfunctional." His father, Ken Titus, was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking [[The Casanova|womanizer]] with a string of failed marriages <ref>married six times, divorced five times, and slept around near-constantly</ref> that each ended with Ken getting cleaned out of everything he had and constantly fighting for custody of his children, professionally a salesman and a former National Guardsman. He used [[Tough Love]] (that sometimes bordered on self-esteem-crushing sadism) to set Titus and his brother, Dave, straight <ref>Titus also had a blood-related sister named Shannon and a few step-siblings thanks to Ken's multiple marriages</ref>. His mother Juanita (Ken's second wife; maiden name Holmes) was a concert pianist, spoke four languages, was a [[Supreme Chef]] (especially around Thanksgiving), had a 180 IQ, and qualified for Miss California in the 1960s. Despite her high intellect and amazing talent, Juanita was also a manipulative, mentally-ill <ref> Juanita was diagnosed with manic-depressive schizophrenia</ref> alcoholic who could convince everyone -- including mental hospital board members -- into thinking she had her mental illness under control, only for her to fall into another psychotic episode <ref> Juanita's second husband was shot to death in 1986 after he beat her up on Thanksgiving for not having dinner done when he got home from work. The reason Juanita shot him, according to Christopher Titus: "...she didn't want him to do that again." Juanita was acquitted all charges and won the guy's life insurance policy</ref>. Christopher said that for him all this was just normal and it wasn't until much later in life that he realized it was wildly unusual.

He is also involved with a popular podcast he started in early 2011, named the Combustion Lounge with the "Armageddon Update" where he takes some horrific recent news story and proceed to talk about the moral values involved. It is done weekly with longtime friend "Stuntman Tommy" Tommy Primo and his girlfriend "Bombshell Rae" Rachel Bradley (Titus's new girlfriend as described on "Love is Evol.")

 

==== The Comedy Specials that Christopher Titus has made include the following: ====

* ''Norman Rockwell is Bleeding'' (2004): Covers most of his childhood and the early part of his adult life. Key moments involve living with his hard-assed father, having a schizophrenic mother, realizing that his family is dysfunctional, the bonfire incident, taping his dad's drunken stop at a checkpoint during a news broadcast, dating an abusive Jewish girl, dating Erin (and the fight that ensued when they temporarily broke up and both of them cheated on each other), his mom's abusive relationships with other men, and dealing with his mom's suicide (including the incident in which he freaked out on an airplane after smelling a turkey dinner).

 

=== Tropes present in Titus's work: ===

* [[The Alcoholic]]: Both of his parents (their divorce settlement included payment of their bar tab), but his dad especially (according to "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding," there are no pictures of Ken without a beer in his hand, from family pictures to pictures of him at parent-teacher meetings).

* [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parents]]: His mother showed up to his high school graduation in a pair of white thigh-high vinyl go-go boots and an army jacket -- without pants or underwear. "So either something was wrong with her, or she was commander of the Stripper Batallion."

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]: His shows run on this.

* [[Disney Acid Sequence]]: In "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding," Titus tells the story of how he survived falling in a bonfire and was taken to an emergency "shack" where the doctor put him on painkillers (while still drunk). He describes seeing a world where everyone was a lizard, a "Stanley Kubrick/Charlie Brown cartoon" where everyone was spinning and spoke in that muffled trumpet noise that the adults on the Charlie Brown cartoons used as voices, and then sees the doctor who yells at him as Jesus...

* [[Driven to Suicide]]:

** Titus's mom committed suicide after spending a year in court-ordered psychiatric therapy and realizing that her mental illness was the reason why her life was falling apart. Fortunately, Juanita didn't take anyone with her when she decided to end it all.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]