Hello Molly! by Molly Shannon and Sean Wilsey

When I was growing up my dad worked with a lot of comedians, but they were never allowed inside our house. My mother said they were too crazy, and too sad for our house. So instead they would call late at night on the house phone, to speak to my dad. He would punch up their jokes and counsel them, while I waited patiently for him to proofread my homework. This made me always think that funny people had sad stories inside of them. In her new memoir "Hello Molly!" Molly Shannon details how a tragic event in her childhood would not only bring sadness but later a resilient life in comedy as well. Best known for her role on "Saturday Night Live," and most recently "White Lotus," Shannon grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. At the age of 4, Shannon lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident in which her father was driving. Molly, her sister Mary and her dad survived the crash in which he fell asleep at the wheel, after a day of drinking at a family celebration. She and her sister were then raised alone by their father, and haunted by the memory of the others they had lost. Improvisation and role playing quickly became a source of joy and comfort for young Molly. Despite the tragedy, Molly didn't hold any resentment against her father. As the only parent left, she loyally stuck by him and never lost touch as she moved to New York for college, and later to Hollywood to start her career. Frustrated by early rejections at auditions, Molly worked in restaurants while honing her comedy in clubs in Los Angeles. Shannon even used a fake name and pretended she worked for playwright David Mamet in order to get auditions. Ultimately it was Calvin Klein's daughter, Marci Klein, who saw the star potential in Shannon when she suggested she audition for SNL producer Lorne Michaels. "Hello Molly!" is rich read full of behind-the-scenes Hollywood and SNL stories. However, at the heart of the story is Shannon's ability to persevere and survive her own childhood. She is now happily married with two children, a boy and a girl. I listened to Shannon recently on a podcast promoting her book, and she is one tough and talented woman, both fierce on stage and off.  To buy this book on Amazon click here.