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, Jonathan 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 the reader find "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.)