The Sore Thumb: Comic Actor Chris Elliott Stands Out As a Novelist
Carl Kozlowski
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Chris Elliott has come a long way from starting as a guy living under the stairs on the early days of the David Letterman show.  But the wacky early drive he displayed in creating his own characters to force his way on the air has been key to his continued oddball success as a character actor and cult favorite across TV, film and now -- surprisingly -- literature.

You read right: Chris Elliott is now an author, with the novel The Shroud of the Thwacker in stores now via hip publishing house Miramax Books. A satire of historical fiction ranging from The Alienist to the colossal bestseller The DaVinci Code, Thwacker tells the story of New York City police chief Caleb Spencer and his two sidekicks -- newspaper columnist Liz Smith and mayor Teddy Roosevelt -- as they try to stop a serial killer named Jack the Jolly Thwacker in 1882.

The most bizarre twist comes when Elliott himself enters the narrative, time-traveling from the present to alert the heroic trio that he believes the Thwacker also time-traveled from the 20^th Century. The result is a highly detailed and very funny take on a genre overdue for skewering -- and a total surprise coming from Elliott, who is normally known for a far brasher brand of comedy.

"I guess the fact that historical fiction is so revered was part of it, but at the same time I'm one of those geeks that loves that genre," explains Elliott. "I wanted to write a book -- and of course it would have to be funny -- but I wanted to write a book like those. As screwy as the book is, and as crazy as it is, it does hold together at the end and works as a thriller."

For Elliott, the ability to craft comedy throughout the story had an added bonus: It helped cover up the occasional clues the debuting author might have inadvertently slipped.

Elliott learned all about comedic subtlety, twists and timing while growing up in New York City as the son of legendary radio and TV comic Bob Elliott, who formed half of the fabled Bob and Ray comedy team. While the Elliott household was filled with laughter and good-natured comedic showdowns between father and son, Chris also came to see comedy world as a normal job that he could step into.

"Bob and Ray ended up on the Tonight Show, Ed Sullivan and all that stuff, but my childhood was very normal," Elliott recalls. "My dad's humor wasn't bouncing off the walls, and there was no Hollywood craziness. He left in the morning in a suit and did his job. I learned humor from him by osmosis and trying to make him laugh."

Elliott almost turned down the big break that launched his career, nearly choosing to keep a comfortable job at a PBS station rather than accepting a lower-paying offer from NBC to work as a gofer for Late Night With David Letterman. Thankfully, his dad convinced him that this might be the best chance he'd ever receive to get tin the door of the comedy biz, and he could move on later to better opportunities.

Instead, he immediately caught Letterman's attention in the office hallways and soon started slipping jokes straight to the boss. After two years of success getting his secret submissions on the air, Letterman hired him as a regular writer and Elliott pounced on the chance to write himself into as many scenarios as possible in his remaining six years there.

It was a smart move that paved the way for starring roles in his cult-favorite TV series, Get a Life, and film, Cabin Boy and a long supporting actor career in landmark comedies like Groundhog Day and There's Something About Mary. And that constant ability to adapt should bode well for the Connecticut-based father of two in the future.

"It's always your job not to sell out your style in any way, but to also appeal to as large an audience as you can. I couldn't tell you what exactly I've learned, because it's probably more instinct on my behalf," says Elliott. "I've always managed to stand out like a sore thumb in whatever I do, so I guess my legacy is to be known as the sore thumb."

Carl Kozlowski is a regular Arriviste contributor and the co-author of the satirical self-help guide Life: The Final Frontier. (Pick this up!) He has also performed standup coast to coast and written for the Chicago Tribune, New City Weekly in Chicago, Chicago Reader and Pasadena Weekly.
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