You Can Do It!: Speak Your Mind, America

Former SNL star Schneider aims for George Carlin–esque in his first book, an excruciating foray into truth to power comedy that gets bogged down by buzzwords and lands firmly in the realm of abrasive memes. As Schneider runs through a litany of grievances and conspiracies that have rippled across America since the Covid-19 pandemic, there are occasional bright spots, such as his anecdotes about other comedians—Jim Downey, Adam Sandler, Lenny Bruce—and about his time spent on various shoots and sets, all of which are enjoyable, if brief. The remainder of the book is spent punching down and dwelling on culture war minutiae that has long felt dated. Cognitive dissonance abounds as Schneider portrays Democrats as closed-minded moralists, unlike himself: bodily autonomy is sacred and should be celebrated for the vaccine skeptical, but not for transgender Americans; the science is settled on gender, but more research is still necessary on climate change. Elsewhere, Schneider rails against late night talk-show hosts, hammering them for partisan clannishness in their show-opening monologues, yet he sees no problem resorting to the same kind of trite in-group terminology (“SCAMdemic” and “DEI”). In parroting right-wing talking points—especially those about freedom of speech and freedom of thought—Schneider merely demonstrates a lack of originality. This bombs. (Sept.)