Boxer turned entertainer

Mike Tyson goes from fearsome to funny with Undisputed Truth tour

UPDATE: Color us not surprised - Tyson's Undisputed Truth tour has now been canceled due to "scheduling conflicts." Read more here.

UPDATE x 2: Word now comes from the tour's publicist that the tour is, in fact, not canceled, but that certain tour dates were not selling well and were thus removed from the schedule. These include Grand Prairie, Houston and Phoenix. The tour will supposedly pick back up in San Francisco on February 28, although I wouldn't hold your breath.

------------------------

Of all the unlikely Broadway stars through the years, Mike Tyson may be unlikeliest. Despite decidedly mixed reviews, that's exactly what Tyson became last year when he debuted his one-man show, Undisputed Truth, in New York after a short run in Las Vegas.

That show is now going on the road, making a stop at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on Tuesday, February 19. It's only the third city on a nationwide tour that will last through May.

Don't expect many off-the-cuff observations. The show is as scripted as any good play, down to the profanities littered throughout.

Even though you can technically call the show "theater," audiences aren't exactly going to be witness to Shakespeare. The show is essentially Tyson giving a blow-by-blow account of his life, from the highs of his reign as heavyweight champion of the world to the lows of his stint in prison for rape.

It's reportedly a funny and insightful look into the mind of one of the most notorious modern-day celebrities, but don't expect many off-the-cuff observations. The show is as scripted as any good play, down to the profanities littered throughout.

Tyson has had many phases in his life, and he long ago entered the realm where anything he did ceased to be surprising, a.k.a. The Tyson Zone. He's made cameos in movies such as The Hangover and, just recently, television shows How I Met Your Mother and Law & Order: SVU. So a chapter where he's considered a top-notch theater draw? Yeah, that seems about right.

Mike Tyson and his Undisputed Truth show directed by Spike Lee hits Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie on February 19.

Chain gang

Taylor Sheridan pens 'darkly funny' book about how to survive prison

Yellowstone Season 5 premiere, Taylor Sheridan

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images for Paramount

Taylor Sheridan and wife, Nicole, at the Yellowstone Season 5 premiere in Fort Worth.

In the same week that Taylor Sheridan announced he's setting his new series Frisco King in DFW comes news that he's written his first book. The Oscar-nominated screenplay writer and Yellowstone co-creator has written about crime and violence so often that he decided to work on a book about an ordeal he has never endured: life behind bars.

Simon & Schuster announced Sheridan's How to Not Die in Prison, a “darkly funny survival guide” to a maximum-security facility, will come out June 23. Sheridan is a best screenplay nominee for the 2016 crime drama Hell or High Water, and has overseen such TV series as Yellowstone, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown.

“You might wonder what in the world gives me the knowledge or wisdom to write a survival guide to prison,” Sheridan writes in the book’s introduction, according to Simon & Schuster. “Well, I’ll tell you — absolutely nothing. I’ve never been to prison. But, like every man, I’ve certainly wondered how I would survive if circumstances ever put me there. That morbid curiosity sent me on a journey to understand the politics and dangers of prison.”

Sheridan did receive some firsthand input. His co-author is Tom Nelson, who spent more than a decade in prison.

Taylor Sheridan, How not to die in prison Taylor Sheridan's first book will be released in June 2026.Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

“Hey, one of us has written hit TV shows and Academy Award-nominated movies, and the other has spent much of his adult life behind bars in medium and maximum-security prisons,” Nelson said in a statement. “If that’s what makes for good wisdom and entertainment, I’ll take it.”

Sheridan is an honorary Fort Worthian who attended Pascal High School. He lives on a ranch near Weatherford with his wife, Nicole and often films his shows around Fort Worth - including 1883, and currently Landman, and Lioness.

Bolstered by Sheridan's presence, Fort Worth has made the list of top cities for filmmakers in recent years.

Sheridan's other film credits include writing and directing the Angelina Jolie thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead and the Western thriller Wind River, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. Last fall, Paramount Pictures and Activision announced that Sheridan and Hell or High Water collaborator Peter Berg are working on an adaptation of the blockbuster video game franchise Call of Duty.

---

Stephanie Allmon Merry contributed to this story.

books crime celebrities taylor sheridan

Loading...