User:Pcjeffnichols/Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols is a comedian and writer based in NYC. Nichols was born in Manhattan on the upper-east-side in 1965. Growing up, Nichols struggled with learning disabilities, a speech impediment, dyslexia, ADD, and a mild case of Tourette Syndrome. . His memoir, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idoit (sic) that focuses around Nichols' struggles with various learning disabilities, drug and alcohol abuse, was published by Simon & Shuster in 2009. The original version entitled, The Little Yellow Bus inspired the 2007 movie, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot directed by Tod Harrison Williams, and produced by Kip Williams, director of Paranormal Activity 2 and Anne Carey of  This is that corporation. The movie stars Seann William Scott, Jeff Garlin and Gretchen Mol.

The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2008 and went on to several other festivals including the Traverse City Film Festival co-founded by Michael Moore and the Hamptons International Film Festival, but never received a wide release. As well as Trainwreck, Nichols' has had various humor articles published in The New York Post and Dan's Papers. As a stand up comic he has opened up for Lewis Black, Kevin Klein, and sketch comedy group, The Whitest Kids U' Know. Jeff also ran a college game show called Laugh You Lose, where he worked with comics Steve Byrne, Brody Stevens and John Viener.

Trainwreck, My Life as an Idoit: About The Film
Variety Magazine's Ken Eisner described Trainwreck as


 * A startlingly funny look at life in the messed-up lane, "Trainwreck: My Life As an Idoit" -- misspelling intentional  -- might be dismissed as cinematic tomfoolery if it weren't based closely on events recounted in comic Jeff Nichol's memoir. [This] Beautifully put-together pic's main appeal is a far-ranging central [performance] from Seann William Scott, who doesn't try to ingratiate, yet comes off as far more likable than in his many fratboy roles. Fans of "American Pie" might find this one a bit arty, but "Trainwreck" is anarchic enough to win over younger [audiences] if smartly approached.

In Trainwreck, his weird and witty memoir of utter dysfunction, Nichols gives an irreverent look at how one "idoit" made good. Bounced from elite private schools, he limps through college, earning the nickname "Iron Lung" for his uncanny ability to inhale from a four-foot bong without coughing. By the skin of his teeth, he graduates and lands a job on Wall Street...as a moving target for coked-up traders tossing order cards at his head. Bumming money from his parents to pay for drugs and prostitutes, Nichols hits bottom before he discovers Alcoholics Anonymous, the perfect place to develop material for his new career in stand-up. Several disastrous twists and turns later, he finally makes good when a crazy stroke of luck leads to his story being turned into a feature film by the same production company behind indie hits like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Savages.

Hilarious and oddly inspiring, Trainwreck is proof that a life disastrously lived can still turn out beyond anybody's wildest imaginings.