The Comedy Bible: The Complete Resource for Aspiring Comedians
by Brian McKim and Traci Skene
reviewed by Kevin Lauderdale
Essentially “Standup for Dummies,” this book lays out theoretical and
practical advice for those interested in making others laugh.
Although there are chapters devoted to writing for television and
the web, The Comedy Bible is mostly about standup comedy. The
book doesn't tell you how two write a joke. It's purpose is to give
readers “permission to try” comedy. There are lists of newbie errors
(“The mic cord is not a lasso. Leave it alone.”), eight pages
devoted to hecklers (including three comebacks for female comedians
to use on hecklers who yell, “Show Us Your ...”), and an examination
of prop comedy—which the authors do not condemn out of hand. McKim
and Skene start with such practical advice as, “Expect to earn
nothing,” and the importance of finding your own voice and being
“scrupulously original.” They move onto the politics and structure
of sketch comedy writing and improv, and, eventually, to matters of
agents and promotion. The book is extensively indexed and contains a
glossary of industry lingo (not just the obvious “kill,” but “hook”
and “crowd work”, though the crucial “tight five” is missing), so
you won't sound like an amateur as you hang out at the bar waiting
your turn on open mic night. The book is heavily, sometimes
distractingly, illustrated, but the fact that it’s bound in a spiral
notebook comes in handy as you open it and read while practicing in
the mirror. Anyone interested in being a comedian needs to first
read Steve Martin's Born Standing Up (or, even better, listen
to the audiobook read by the author). The Comedy Bible can
then serve to reinforce and clarify many of Martin's lessons. This
book lays the groundwork for people who have always wanted to try,
but who have no idea how to start.
From the Brontës to Pauline Reàge, Carmela Ciuraru explores the
lives of twenty-odd European and American writers who published
under pseudonymous identities. Authors featured in this essay
collection include George Orwell, Georges Simenon, and George Sand
(a number of people seem drawn to the name George); but also O.
Henry, Sylvia Plath, and James Tiptree Jr.
But Nom de Plume is more than a collection of biographical
sketches. Ciuraru provides ample and interesting biographical
detail, but more than that she focuses on their decisions to write
behind pen names. And these decisions are for the most part
complicated: authors like the Brontë sisters and George Sand were
struggling to avoid the dismissal that came with being a woman
writer; Sylvia Plath wanted a veil of anonymity that would let her
write what she wanted about her family and acquaintances; O. Henry
needed distance from a prison sentence; Pauline Reàge sought
anonymity (and so did her American translator, who translated French
erotica under fake name); George Orwell sought distance from his
social class. And some writers, yes, embraced their names lightly,
because they sounded more impressive or they thought it would be
fun. These stories are fascinating and sometimes bewildering, and
this book is an entertaining look into the lives of writers.
This book bills itself as “the authoritative biography of Ray
Bradbury's early years,” and it's certainly hard to imagine anything
more complete. Becoming draws from unpublished writings and
interviews, as well as agent, publisher, and university archives. It
covers Bradbury's life from his birth in Waukegan, Illinois in 1920
to the publication of Fahrenheit 451 and his departure for
Europe to work on John Huston's film of Moby Dick in 1953.
Bradbury's family moved to Los Angeles when Ray was 13, and it was
there that he made the acquaintance of various science fiction fan
club members and began writing. Disqualified from serving in World
War Two, he set about writing and submitting short stories at a rate
of nearly one per week. When not writing, he was reading. An
obsessive autodidact, Bradbury devoured contemporary science fiction
and fantasy along with Sherwood Anderson, Eudora Welty, Somerset
Maugham, and Ayn Rand; as well as history, philosophy, and the works
of Sigmund Freud. We see how a trip to Mexico forever shaped his
view of, and writing on, death. His memories of Illinois evolved
into the stories that would eventually form Dandelion Wine.
Becoming details Bradbury's evolution as a writer, but also
provides a window into the publishing world of the time. Though
there were specialty publishers, most were more homogeneous. This
was a time when writers could place genre stories not just in
Planet Stories or WeirdTales, but also McCalls
and The New Yorker. Mademoiselle, unsure if Bradbury's
now-classic “Homecoming” was right for them, decided to restructure
its entire October 1946 issue so that it would work.
The TOMS shoe company was founded on a simple principle—“one for
one”—that runs counter to everything traditional for-profit
companies stand for. For each pair of simple, stylish TOMS you buy,
the company gives a pair to a child in need. Just five years later,
Mycoskie has given over a million pairs of shoes to children around
the world. It’s a stunning and moving accomplishment, and Mycoskie
hopes to inspire other entrepreneurs to pursue similar goals of
social awareness.
The book is at its best when Mycoskie sticks close to home, telling
how he started TOMS and kept it going with few resources until it
became an amazing success story. Other charitable companies, some
even inspired by TOMS’s short history, provide similar heartwarming
stories demonstrating that you can be financially successful while
also helping others.
However, Mycoskie sometimes serves up feel-good cliches as advice
without any fresh takes from his point of view. And when the man who
encourages the use of whimsical job titles like “shoe giver” to
break down the walls between worker and manager, and who talks about
the importance of treating your workers right, also breezily
mentions Sam Walton of Walmart as a great success story without any
acknowledgment of the many criticisms of Walmart business practices,
Mycoskie tarnishes his hip, nouveau capitalist persona.
Despite these occasional blemishes, it’s a likable little book with
some moving stories and, of course, for every copy that’s purchased
the publisher will donate a book to a child in need.
Klein, a professional speaker on the therapeutic value of humor, has
put together a brief (you can read it in a little over an hour) book
on the process of grief. Like Dr. Kübler-Ross' famous five stages of
death, Klein has assigned five stages to the grief process: Losing,
Learning, Letting Go, and finally Laughing. For Klein, laughter is
our best coping mechanism. Laughter is Okay. It doesn't mean you've
forgotten. “It only means that you are ready to put your loss in the
background for a while and let life unfold again.” To move through
the earlier steps and to arrive at laughter is the ultimate
indicator that you are healing because of the way our society
emphasizes sadness. But Klein reminds us that, though death is
inevitable, “we all have the power to laugh in the face of it and
not let death take away our joy of living.” For all that, the book
itself isn't funny. This isn't Seth Rogen's 50/50 or Julia
Sweeney’s comedy routines about her brother's death and her own
battle with cancer. Readers will have to find beauty and humor in
the tiny aspects of their own lives. Klein examines each of his five
stages through multiple aspects. Each section begins with a quote,
his writers ranging from Buddah to Dale Carnegie to Robin Williams.
Then, over just a page or two, Klein comments on and expands upon
the advice offered. These bite-sized inspirations and motivations
are just right for those who feel overwhelmed, and might not be able
to handle anything particularly lengthy at that time. Although Klein
speaks of grief mostly in terms of the death of a loved one, the
book could be helpful for anyone experiencing the grief for the past
that accompanies any major life-change, from divorce to job-loss to
moving.
That’s the dilemma facing New York City District Attorney Jack
Keeler who awakens beaten, battered and maybe even shot—with no
memory, of course, of how all this came about. While amnesia tales
are nothing new (the brilliant Gregory Peck film Mirage being
at the top of my list), in the blisteringly original hands of
Richard Doetsch Half Past Dawn might as well be the first.
Speaking of Mirage, Half Past Dawn actually feels
like old-fashioned, hard-boiled film noir right down to a mysterious
car crash, missing woman and truly fiendish bad guys. As Keeler’s
gradually recovers his memory, enabling him to piece the puzzle
together, Doetsch once again interjects a mystical, quasi-paranormal
element into the mix that turns the book truly creepy to the point
where you literally don’t want to turn off the lights for fear of
falling asleep. Or worse.
Doetsch never writes the same book twice and I never thought he’d
top the uncanny The Thirteenth Hour from two years ago. But
Half Past Dawn does at least that as it defines everything a
great thriller should be. There are plenty of writers who sell more
than Doetsch but none who satisfy so well every step and every page
of the way. Simply not to be missed.
My favorite television series right now is Castle. It airs Monday
nights at 10:00 on ABC and chronicles a writer named Richard Castle
who follows a detective named Kate Beckett, and helps her solve
crimes. Using her as a muse, Castle has written three novels based
on their cases on the show. Those three novels have also been
published in the real world. The latest, HEAT RISES, finds Nikki
Heat investigating the murder of a priest in a house of ill repute.
Heat and her team consistently hit roadblocks from witnesses and
even her captain when they try to dig deep. Heat enlists the help
of her journalist lover, Jameson Rook to use every source at his
disposal to uncover the truth. HEAT RISES is a terrific thriller
with great characters that will even appeal to readers not familiar
with the show. Fans of the series will enjoy the great in-jokes and
nods to its inspiration.
On the show, Richard Castle had written several books before he
decided to write about detective Beckett. Castle’s first series on
the show was about CIA agent Derrick Storm. Now that first novel,
mentioned numerous times on the show, has been adapted in the real
world in graphic novel form. That has to be a first. Derrick Storm
is hired by a distraught wife to find her missing husband. He soon
discovers the guy alive and well in the arms of another woman.
Before he can deliver his report, he has several guns in his face.
And then the wife disappears. I don’t read graphic novels that
often, but this one sings. The art is terrific, and the storyline
is taut and complex. In a nutshell, everything a reader expects
from a Richard Castle novel. There were more Storm books and
hopefully the real world will get to read them.
It was Tuesday, the eleventh of March, 1997, and it was the last day
I walked into [the Pentagon] as a legal employee of the people who
built it.
While that might mark Jack Reacher’s final foray into the military’s
hallowed halls, it also marks the beginning of his journey to
becoming an iconic literary hero. The American James Bond. And the
wonder of The Affair lies in its retro approach to Reacher,
showing us exactly how and why he became the nomadic loner with only
a toothbrush as baggage.
But this debut adventure finds him with plenty of baggage, and not
just the kind you carry either, when he gets embroiled in the
Mississippi murder of a young woman that leads to all manner of
cover-up and corruption. You can almost see his upper lip curl at
the mere mention of those words, banes to the existence of the
ever-noble Reacher. The Affair also gives him a strong love
interest in the equally incorruptible sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux,
even as he battles bad guys both in and out of the military.
Child, already as great a novelist as he is a storyteller, reaches
new heights here in a richly atmospheric tale that evokes memories
of John Ball’s classic In the Heat of the Night or the
equally seminal Spencer Tracy film Bad Day at Black Rock.
Those, too, featured loner heroes standing up against enemies and
the odds. And watching Reacher become Reacher is like witnessing a
Picasso gaining shape and texture. A rare treat in a flat-out
brilliant book.
Though billed as a YA novel, this cool and creepy ghost story is
definitely for those closer to the adult end of the spectrum.
Theseus Cassio (call him “Cas”) Lowood is a high school student who
is also a ghost hunter (don't call him a “Ghostbuster”). When he
wields the athame, an ancient blade, he becomes more than just your
average kid. He can put an end to malevolent ghosts that kill
people. Where their spirits go, he doesn't know, but after Cas is
done with them, they're no longer around to slay the innocent. Cas
moves from high school to high school, as he and his mother, a
low-level white witch, travel North America on the hunt. He's just
come to a small town in Canada to put an end to Anna Dressed in
Blood, the murderous shade of teen-aged girl who was brutally killed
half a century ago on her way to a dance. But when he confronts her
before he's ready, and she clearly has the advantage, she declines
to kill him. Could there be more to her story than the popular
legend says? And might the death of the previous owner of athame,
Cas' father, have anything to do with this?
Fans of Buffy the Vampire the Slayer will see that this is
clearly designed to be a boy version of that property. The ending
sets us up for a sequel, complete with a Scooby gang. There's even a
shadowy council and a Giles-like mentor, though they don't make much
of an appearance. I suspect there will be plenty of time for them
later, if this volume sells well. Despite its occasionally formulaic
plot, there are moments that echo the best of Stephen King. And I
doubt anyone who reads the first couple of pages will be able to put
it down without at least finishing the first chapter.
