Known for his televised comedy specials and bringing a guitar, rubber chicken and cigarettes on stage, Gary Mule Deer defies most definitions.
He may not be a household name, but he has inspired several A-list entertainers. A new, locally produced documentary explores his life, career and not-so-small impact on the comedy scene — with the help of a few famous friends.
David Letterman, Alice Cooper and Amy Grant are just a few of the celebrities inspired by and interviewed for the project called “Show Business Is My Life, But I Can’t Prove It: A Film About Gary Mule Deer.” The film that made its Texas debut at the Lone Star Film Festivalwill be available on all major streaming platforms starting Aug. 1.
“Gary could look at the sky, the clouds, the rug and find something weirdly funny,” comedian and actor Steve Martin said in a recently released trailer about the documentary.
Over the span of 96 minutes, the production explores everything from the South Dakota brothels where Mule Deer got his start playing Johnny Cash covers to his early TV specials and the grind of touring roughly 180 days a year.
Red Sanders, film producer and president of Red Productions, said working on the project shifted his perception on how to define success.
“So often we, as Americans, look at the big A-list celebrity names as like they’ve really done it,” he said. “But it was interesting to see, someone who didn’t have the true limelight of an A-list celebrity but still is able to look back on his career, where he got, what he’s done, and be happy … And then on the flip side, how some of these A-list celebrities look at Gary and go, ‘Man, he’s doing what we always wanted to do.’”
The project was produced through Red Entertainment, the original content arm of Red Productions. Working on the project with Heather Wilk, his colleague at Red Entertainment, G.B. Shannon, the documentary’s director, and fellow North Texans, Hussain Manjee and Shezad Manjee of DHD Films, Sanders said it was incredible how everything clicked into place.
Shezad Manjee, co-founder and creative director of DHD, said that as a result of this project, they already have three other features in development. He hopes that this documentary and the recent funding boost from the Texas legislature will help keep the momentum going.
“We’re living in this golden age of storytelling where you can tell stories anywhere in the world,” he said.
This story, in particular, has a universal appeal, Manjee said.“He’s got this larger than life personality, but there’s no ego,” he said.
“I had our 4-year-old at lunch with him one day and my 4-year-old was laughing. Then at the screening later that day, we had folks my grandparents’ age (laughing). His ability to connect with multiple generations is incredible.”
The team is excited to have that work be available for a larger audience.
And if the Mule Deer’s final comment in the trailer is any indication, he remains humble. “A lot of people come up to me after a show and say, ‘Gary Mule Deer, you were always my favorite comedian. I forgot about you’.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.