In response to the other thread, does anyone have recommendations for comedy books that aren't "how to" books, but anything that might legitimately inspire/teach aspiring comedians?
My suggestions would be:
Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
Comedy At the Edge - Richard Zoglin
I Killed - Various
Carlin's books - Just to see routines in print.
"Can I raise a practical question? Are we going to do Stonehenge tomorrow?"
http://jeffwattenhofer.tumblr.com
Right with you on Born Standing Up. It's a really sad book too. Not in a bad way and not because comics are sad but Steve Martin writes in a way that makes you really understand how he did everything he did so that you can imagine having done it and having to look back on it.
Here are ten more books that I think will send you off in the right direction:
1) Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s by Gerald Nachman
2) Comic Insights: The Art of Stand-Up Comedy by Franklyn Ajaye
3) Great Comedians Talk About Comedy by Larry Wilde
4) Comic Lives by Betsy Borns
5) Zen & the Art of Stand-Up Comedy by Jay Sankey (although, this is mostly a "how to")
6) Getting the Joke by Oliver Double
7) Mr Show...what happened? by Naomi Odenkirk
8) Live From New York by Tom Shales
9) The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts by Tom Farley
10) No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous by Trav S.D.
pg--I'm currently making my way through "Michael Palin-Diaries 1969-1979"--seattle
Is anyone here a fan of David Sedaris, Tucker Max, or Chelsea (vodka something)'s books? They keep popping up on my Amazon recommendation list.
Personally, I like Sedaris. Maybe because he reminds me of a friend I have, but I like his stories. I haven't read the other two's books, though.Originally Posted by Phil
Estoy jodida...
Tucker Max is alright (if you have bendy moral fiber), I like most of Sedaris's work, and haven't read Chelsea's stuff.
captain books suggests a comedy breakfast.
I own Drew Carey's Dirty Jokes and Beer and I like it.
Also anything by Michael J. Nelson or Dave Barry. (He pokes fun at life's little foibles!) I really do like Dave Barry a lot.
And when Patton's book comes out I will be all up in that shiz.
I just picked up Michael Ian Black's "My Custom Van" and really enjoyed it a lot. It's a quick read but I'm sure I'll be re-visiting many of the essays again when I have a few minutes to kill.
I haven't read it in years, but I remember finding "Wigfield" by Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello to be pretty hilarious when I read it.
Comedy By Numbers is very funny.
I second Sedaris and Barry; both are really good. I've been wanting to get that Wigfield book too, doesn't it have stephen in drag?
Wigfield is really, really, good.
Tucker Max has some funny moments, but overall he's a remarkably smarmy douchebag. That book is probably best if you're taking turns reading aloud in a frat house at 4 a.m.
I really enjoyed Michael Ian Black's book.
In the spirit of the thread, I found "I Killed" to be a very funny book that also helps to remind me that sometimes, you're gonna have some really awful shows that will one day be great stories.
Last edited by drieux; November 24, 2008 at 3:53 AM.
Just got my copy of "Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny" by John Wenzel today.
It does credit the old Patton Oswalt Q&A thread from here on AST as one of its sources.
I'll give a more full review of the book once I give it a full read--but, a cursory glance makes me both intrigued and unreasonably disappointed. My intrigue comes from the fact that this isn't a picture book with 16.5 point font type and tons of white space--there are decent length chapters about the very people that a site like AST celebrates--so, there's some meat to chew into here and I look forward to the meal. My disappointment comes from the fact that this is NOT the alt-comedy version of "Our Band Could Be Your Life"--which I think is going to be the true legacy of the American alt-comedy scene in the 90's and 00's...how a few key elements not only created a new fan base for a certain style and attitude of comedy, but how their efforts to bring their comedy out of the traditional comedy clubs with their traditional comedy club audiences helped to inspire the birth of new comedians and new comedy scenes across the country. Maybe that story can't be written yet because it is still happening.
I do see that Denver-based Wenzel gives his hometown boys in Wrist Deep Productions a mini-chapter's worth (11 pages) of fellatio...and that's understandable hometown boomerism, but I would have appreciated that more if I could read more about the Boomtime crew in SF (Weinbach gets name dropped in one sentence about other guests that performed on CoC tours), or the Ministry of Secret Jokes, or the Bridgetown crew, or what's happening in the DC scene, or the PRoK efforts in Seattle and their satellite shows in NY or LA, etc.
But that disappointment made fade as I read a bit more about what Wenzel DOES talk about. After all, you can't complain about something an author didn't write about if they write about what they CHOSE to write about very well...and, as I said first, this looks rather promising.
pg--seattle
I'll jump on the Born Standing Up bandwagon. That is probably my favorite book about comedy/being a comic that I've ever read. Plus, Martin's a great writer, so the book holds up even if you aren't into the whole comedy world.
Convoy: 11pm Thursdays at UCBLA
Brother Sam the sam Kinison story
Richard pryor's Pryor convictions.
Rodney Dangerfield its not easy being me
Bernie Mac i ain't scared of you
Bernie mac so you'll never cry again
Black Comedians on Black comedy.
Every time Siggers posts all that goes through my mind is "Chosen One"
Here are a few more that haven't been mentioned that are worth mentioning:
American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story
True Story by Bill Maher (this is a novel about Maher and friends starting out in stand-up at the birth of the '80s comedy boom. I haven't revisited it in a while. I recall that it's more perceptive than ha-ha funny.)
The Last Laugh: The World of Stand-Up Comics by Phil Berger (The primary focus is stand-up's renaissance in the '60s and '70s. It's a good contemporaneous view of that period when the Improv was the only comedy club, although the writing is a bit too "jazzy" and overwrought. Interesting portraits of Dangerfield, Robert Klein, Richard Lewis, and others)
The Late Shift by Bill Carter (the essential inside story of the Letterman-Leno battle for the Tonight Show)
I would also add that the next year or two could be a real boom in the comedy books realm (and hopefully much more interesting than the '90s boom in comedy books like Seinlanguage). Patton's book has already been mentioned, but I would add these to your radar:
Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped, and Canceled, edited by Jon Friedman, host of The Rejection Show here in NYC that features writers and performers sharing material that was rejected. The jacket promises material from the writers of SNL, Daily Show, and Kids in the Hall. Comes out January 27, 2009.
Eugene Mirman's book, The Will to Whatevs comes out in February 2009.
Demetri Martin sold a book in January 2008. Here was the description when it sold: "Stand-up comic, Daily Show "youth" correspondent, and star of an upcoming self-titled Comedy Central program Demetri Martin's first book, a mix of observations, essays, charts, palindromes, puzzles, and doodles, pitched as the Godel Escher Bach of humor books." No release date yet.
Zach Galifianakis sold a book in May 2008. Here's that description: "Fresh off his tour with Will Ferrell and writer/star of both his own Comedy Central special and the recent Live At The Purple Onion DVD Zach Galifianakis's first book, a humorous sequence of essays and musings that might shed some light on his wondrous beard." No release date yet.
Sarah Silverman sold a book of humorous essays in November 2008.
Overall, I'd expect it to take at least two years for any of these deals to be books you can hold in your hand. But it certainly gives us a lot to look forward to.
Take advantage of your local library. I have found several of these books there.
If you're going to read a Bill Hicks bio, I would definitely suggest Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution by Hicks' long-time friend Kevin Booth.
I thought Comedy at the Edge was really motivating.
Has anyone seen Richard Belzer's How to be a Stand-Up Comic? It's a cheesy coffee table book with a lot of pictures. I flipped through it at a used bookstore once, but couldn't bring myself to buy it.
I've got a copy of it...paperback. I don't know if you saw a different edition--hardcover, perhaps--but I wouldn't call the copy that I've got a coffee table book.
And if you were a fan of The Belz back in the day, it certainly reflects the style and attitude he brought to the 80's golden age of comedy (the book is (c)1988, my copy is from a 1992 printing)...and as a student of comedy, there's any number of things that I still find funny.
However, it isn't for the general modern audience...nor is it "really" a "how to" book.
And if I left it on my coffee table, it'd end up being a coaster.
pg--I watched live when Hulk Hogan & Mr. T put The Belz in a sleeper hold on Belzer's own morning tv show...and The Belz actually lost consciousness, fell to the floor, cracked his skull open...and still popped up and sent it to commercial like "Hey, it's show biz, babe..." Ahhh, The Belz.--seattle
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