Tiny Tasks

From Plastic Tub

The little things we do to make Mad Work accessible, it is also what characters in the Lil' AA call the very same.

In 1971, Jonathon Trenchwheat brought out a series of illustrated pamphlets by the same name. Geared towards Lads and Lassies of the Skillet, they were a flop. Considered too practical to be funny, except despite themselves, they were dismissed out of hand by contemporary readers. Recent collectors have remarked, however, that in their "well-meaning homiletical style, they achieve a kind of wholesome utilitarian kindness; they are funny, and great for suggesting ways to alleviate boredom." (Strutter, 1975)

Each Tiny Task pamphlet included a small chore which might in turn generate a hilarious encounter or episode. Task 13 suggested finding "The perfect homeless man and turn him into a source of profit."

Said Trenchwheat in 1999: "Of course I was only joking. Now that homelessness is illegal the joke has become obsolete. (Viper magazine interview with Dewey Rose.)