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Daily Circuit Blog
Tom Weber

John Hodgman bringing “message of apocalypse” to Minneapolis

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On The Daily Circuit Thursday, you'll hear an interview I conducted this week with author, humorist and self-proclaimed "minor television personality and now deranged millionaire" John Hodgman.



Hodgman has appeared on the Daily Show and public radio show "This American Life." You might also know him as the PC in those famous Mac/PC commercials a few years ago or for his writing (if the latter is the case, though, Hodgman contends you're merely a "stalker" and should be avoided at all costs).

Regardless, Hodgman brings his message of apocalypse -- the prominent theme of his most recent book, "That Is All" -- to the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis Thursday evening.

Hodgman was clearly moved by our interview this week, to the point of tweeting about it:

I think I gave the most apocalyptic interview about a comedy show ever to MPR just now. If people start bleeding from their ears, BLAME ME.

-- hodgman (@hodgman) March 27, 2012


In said apocalyptic interview, Hodgman also calls Thursday's show his imitation of stand-up comedy.

"For a long time I've been a writer of books of fake trivia," he noted. "And I've become a performer, kind of without planning to be."

Hodgman adds the book and Thursday's show are the confluence of three major events in his life:

--Attaining his initial goal established years ago to write a trilogy of books of world knowledge


--Having that final book be released in 2012, the year which Hodgman notes coincides with the Mayan calendar prediction that "the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012, leaving only John Cusak alive"


--Turning 40 last year

"Like a lot of people who turned 40, I suddenly realized I'd been denying for 40 years that I am not immortal," he said. "And while I know I still have lots of happy time ahead of me, it's a sobering moment in any person's life, particularly if the only god they worship is the Dread Cthulhu."

So while Hodgman plans to wrap his show around the farcical "last year on earth" scenario he predicts in his book (complete with tips on how to cope, including the chapter "See the World Before it Splits Apart") he also hopes to relay a deeper message around the idea that humans, in general, do a very bad job of preparing for the end of things, be it a job, life, or planet Earth.

Here's a snippet of the interview, which you'll hear Thursday on the Daily Circuit.

-- Tom Weber, Daily Circuit

 PHOTO: John Hodgman attends HBO's 'Bored To Death' premiere at Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on September 21, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images)