"From his first, unscripted appearance on an Off-Broadway stage in the revolutionary Sixties to the front-page news of his death from AIDS in 1987 at age 44, Charles Ludlam embodied the upheavals of his time. The astonishing life and legacy of this American comic genius are at last revealed in Ridiculous! , a literary biography of a theatrical force to be reckoned with. ". "After founding the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1967, Ludlam sustained an ever-shifting troupe of bohemian players through two decades of daunting circumstances by writing 29 plays- plays that he directed and starred in as well. Ludlam's gender-bending theories and creative experimentation have reached far beyond his early influence on Bette Midler, the original cast of Saturday Night Live, and countless other artists. Posthumously, his work has become increasingly popular at regional theaters, on college campuses, and on stages throughout the world. "--BOOK JACKET.