Harry Shearer Talks Tribes at Coolidge Corner

Renaissance man Harry Shearer will read from Not Enough Indians at the Coolidge Corner Theatre at 6pm on Monday, December 11. The event is cheap at 2 bucks, and you can stay for a discounted screening of For Your Consideration.

Comedian / writer / actor / director / Le Show host Harry Shearer has a knack of either soaring to the heights or plummeting to earth. His multiple achievements include his work voicing Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and more on The Simpsons, Le Show, and - of course - a starring turn as a rocker with a cucumber addiction in This Is Spinal Tap.

Shearer's missteps include his brief stint on Saturday Night Live, which led to Dick Ebersol calling him a "nightmare-to-deal-with person." And then there was the odd Shearer-helmed indie flick Teddy Bears' Picnic, which attempted to spoof the top-secret gathering of conservative leaders in Northern California's Bohemian Grove. (When Alan Thicke is the best part of the movie, you know you're in trouble.)

Luckily for Bostonians, Shearer is arriving in town on a winning streak. He's in Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration, and he's also published his first novel, Not Enough Indians, which he'll be reading from at Coolidge Corner Theatre.

In Shearer's plot, an economically depressed town in New York State revitalizes itself by claiming to be part of a Native American tribe and building a casino. Given Middle America's struggle to hang onto industry and business, this satire, like any good satire, doesn't seem too far off the mark from what real people have considered while trying to keep money in their towns - Shearer himself said to the Globe that he was inspired by Foxwoods, whose own ties to tribes have been under a cloud of suspicion.

Image of Shearer's book cover taken from Amazon.