#but funnily enough i've seen scott do the same joke as *himself* on his podcast

[magentagalaxies]

ok not to keep going on about the buddy cole book bc I'm definitely writing a full review/analysis once i finish it but i just figured out the main reason this version of the buddy cole story stands out as having much more emotional depth to it than the monologues. like of course buddy cole has always been a multifaceted character capable of telling this kind of story, and this isn't the only reason this version stands apart, but there's something to be said for the fact that this is the only time i can think of where we see buddy being young.

like idk how to describe it but even in the earliest days of scott playing buddy when he physically looked very young buddy cole has always seemed like a very experienced character, like he's lived an entire lifetime of tales and has seen it all. in the early days the character was this kind of immortal vampire and as the years have gone by scott's kind of grown into playing buddy (as well as many of his other characters but that's an essay for another time). sure, there are monologues that refer to buddy being younger (the monologue "montreal" is about when buddy was twelve for example, tho funnily enough the worldbuilding of that sketch is completely retconned out of the book. which i am fine with tbh i like the book version of buddy's childhood much more and that monologue is in the lower tier of buddy sketches in the series imo)

anyway my point is even in that monologue you're not seeing "buddy as a kid," you're seeing the older buddy talking about it at his bar. and yeah the book is all written from the perspective of a buddy that's seen it all, but since it's a non-visual medium and you spend so much time with buddy in his early years the reader visualizes a young version of buddy going through all these misadventures which is really cool to "see." it especially stands out to me when we get to his young adulthood when he first moves to toronto because he's an adult doing all the outrageous things the monologues describe, but you still have that moment of oh my god this is the first time he's experiencing anything which i think is really cool

and on that note, as well as the decision to change buddy's backstory from how it was portrayed in "montreal," there's something to be said for how buddy is allowed to be naïve in this version of the story. like when you're writing for a sketch character you have to keep to their core character traits present in every appearance, and one of buddy's key traits in these monologues is being jaded. like he's just over everything and sees himself as above it all. and that's certainly present in the book as well, but comparing the two versions of buddy's childhood it's apparent how distinct they are: in "montreal," buddy grew up wealthy, jetsetting around the world with his diamond-thief parents before being left in montreal at twelve and starting a life on his own, immediately diving into the gay dating scene. but in buddy babylon (the title of the autobiorgaphy, i forget if i've mentioned it yet) buddy grew up the youngest of 23 children on a pig farm in quebec. he's still pretentious and effeminate from the start, but it's contrasted with his surroundings and his background growing up in poverty does have an impact on his actions later in the book.

having the space to do a whole book of buddy's life not only gives the writers (scott thompson and paul bellini) the space to do a more nuanced buddy story but it actually demands they do. like sure i'd still enjoy this book if it was the exact same as the monologues, but while sketch characters are limited in their capacity to change, any good longform narrative needs some sort of character arc. i think it's so cool how they decided this arc would be showing how buddy got to be the person he is today, starting from a place of innocence and watching him on this journey of self discovery that's allowed to be both comedic and at times tragic.

anyway i was gonna make this post about the three major ways the writers were able to make buddy's portrayal work in buddy babylon but this post is already long as hell so i'll save the rest for my video essay, whenever that may be. i highly recommend this book to anyone interested and i'm excited to finish it soon