Back in 2005, John Hodgman released his first book titled The Areas of My Expertise, a satirical almanac who’s success landed him as a recurring contributor to The Daily Show as the “resident expert.” Since then, he’s appeared in bit roles in television and film, was the human embodiment of a PC in the Mac ads opposite actor Justin Long, and then wrote another book, 2008’s More Information Than You Require.
Also in 2005, Hodgeman played a character named “The Deranged Millionaire” on indie rock band They Might Be Giants’ album Venue Songs DVD/CD, narrating between songs in spoken word dialogue as a character who threatens to take away the band’s song writing talisman.
Today we have a mash up of all of the above in a Funny or Die video directed by Tom Scharpling and starring Hodgman rehashing his role as “The Deranged Millionaire.” Watch as Hodgeman bare footedly runs into an old foe, addresses his staff of celebrities, and preaches loudly in Times Square— all to spread the word about his final book of complete world knowledge titled That Is All. It’s available Nov. 1, which as Hodgman puts it, is just about a year before the end of the world. What that means is you can’t slack on reading it for too long.
