I'm releasing my first special, 'Liam McEneaney: West Coasting' in October

*And* a deleted bit of comedy writing from my forthcoming book, "The McEneaney Anthology of Classic Literature", to be released in August

That’s right, this post serves as two plugs in one.

First of all, I’m releasing my very first special in October 2025 on Amazon Prime, through Comedy Dynamics. It’s called Liam McEneaney: West Coasting—a play on East Coasting, the title of an underrated and relatively obscure album by the late, great Angry Man of Jazz, Charles Mingus.

You might ask, why tie my first solo special to an under-the-radar jazz album? That’s a story for another time. Literally—I’ll write an essay closer to the release explaining everything. For now, just trust there’s a clear thematic thread from production to release, and it runs straight through Mingus.

I’m also releasing a self-published book titled The Liam McEneaney Anthology of Literature—first on Amazon, then eventually on the usual other platforms. If you don’t use Amazon for ethical or logistical reasons, or if you’re like me and hate Kindle, hang tight. I’ll get it on Barnes & Noble and the rest. Eventually. Maybe. I might even pirate my own book.

Since it drops on my birthday—August 1st—consider this an easy way to give me the gift of seven bucks in royalties.

The Liam McEneaney Anthology of Classic Literature is the first of two volumes collecting comic essays, humorous poems, and embarrassing true stories from my once-popular comedy blog, The Liam McEneaney Experience, which ran from 2004 to 2013.

I’ll be focusing on the blog’s four prime years, 2005–2009, since after that it became a ghost town—a place where I promoted shows to random bot crawlers and the handful of loyal readers left from an audience that once reached five figures weekly.

I also used that blog to test out my standup comedy jokes. Here’s one I liked but never got around to trying onstage. I cut it from the book because, while you could technically call it a very short essay, it’s really a stand-up bit. That material will be covered in future volumes, starting late 2025 or early 2026.

In the meantime, enjoy this joke—being made public for the first time in 20 years.

BIG COOL GLASS OF HATERADE

I think people overuse the word "hate."

Like, I was talking to a friend, and she said, "I hate Elvis Costello."

And I said, "Why?"

And she said, "Because he can't sing."

And I said, "No, let me explain something to you. Somewhere in New Jersey is a guy, let's call him 'Frank'. And one night thirteen years ago, Frank's wife went alone to an Elvis Costello concert, and she had a good time, and afterwards she decided to see if she could get backstage. And nine months later, she gave birth to a half-Irish kid with glasses who can't sing. Frank hates Elvis Costello. You hate his music."

Legal disclaimer: This most likely didn’t happen.