Live from New York, It’s “The Overton Window”

It’s fair to say that Joe Mande is a glutton for punishment. The comedian and author of the blog-to-book, “Look at This F*cking Hipster,” recently took it upon himself to read Glenn Beck’s bestselling novel, “The Overton Window.” It all began as masochistic experiment for a column Mande writes called “Taking One for the Team.” It turned out that reading “The Overton Window,” which Mande polished off in a few hours, was the easy part. More difficult was effectively conveying the consummate awfulness of Beck’s writing in a few hundred words. Mande decided that the only way to do the book justice would be to adapt it into a screenplay, which he recently staged at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Chelsea.

In lieu of Hollywood conservatives like Jon Voight and Stephen Baldwin, Mande enlisted a number of comedians for the reading. Chris Gethard played Noah Gardner, the cocky heir to a public relations dynasty and a young man with “an outstanding record of success with the ladies.” Kristen Schaal starred as lithesome Tea Partier Molly Ross. Schaal played the anti-government crusader with the manically spacey style she’s brought to “The Daily Show” and “Flight of the Conchords.” The “30 Rock” star Scott Adsit was Noah’s father, P.R. guru Arthur Gardner—the mastermind who sold the American public on restless leg syndrome and Che Guevara t-shirts.

The plot goes something like this: Molly and Noah meet cute in the office break room. He’s there buying a Tootsie Roll from the vending machine; she’s putting up flyers for a group called “Founders’ Keepers.” For Noah, it’s love at first sight, even though he thinks Molly’s politics are crazy. Together they uncover a plot—spearheaded by Noah’s father—to overthrow the American government. Along the way, Molly, Noah, and a ragtag band of patriots share some unlikely experiences. In one scene, Molly slips past a “Star Wars”-loving T.S.A. employee at the airport by pretending to be Natalie Portman, and the script’s finale hinges on a fateful mix-up involving a fake atomic bomb.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com