Laugh lines : my life helping funny people be funnier : a cultural memoir

With his tender, funny memoir of four decades in the business, one of the first writers for Saturday Night Live traces the history of American comedy. Alan Zweibel started his comedy career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt standups. Then one night, despite bombing on stage, he caught the attention of Lorne Michaels and became one of the first writers at Saturday Night Live , where he penned classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all of the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players. From SNL , he went on to have a hand in a series of landmark shows—from It's Garry Shandling's Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm . Throughout the pages of Laugh Lines Zweibel weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and contemporaries, including Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Saget, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, and more. The book also features a charming foreword from his friend of forty-five years Billy Crystal, with whom he co-wrote and co-produced the upcoming film Here Today that stars Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy. "In Laugh Lines, Zweibel looks back, affectionately and informatively, at a career that began when he was a young deli worker grinding out jokes for old-school borscht belt comedians in his spare time, and that, after his "S.N.L." years, included rewarding collaborations with, among others, Garry Shandling, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Larry David and Dave Barry. . . . Fascinating." — New York Times "Any comedy fan will thrill to see the contemporary art's invention through the eyes of consummate funny man Alan Zweibel. He takes you behind the velvet rope and makes you weep for all those artists who made us laugh. Screamingly funny—also very moving. A classic." —Mary Karr "Alan Zweibel is legendary among us comedians. He is the man who delivers comedy with an emotional clout that makes him respected and revered." —Steve Martin With his tender, funny memoir of four decades in the business, Alan Zweibel traces the history of American comedy Alan Zweibel started his comedy career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt standups. Then one night, despite bombing on stage, he caught the attention of Lorne Michaels and became one of the first writers at Saturday Night Live, where he penned classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all of the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players. From SNL, he went on to have a hand in a series of landmark shows-from It's Garry Shandling's Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm. Throughout the pages of Laugh Lines Zweibel weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and contemporaries, including Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Saget, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, and more. The book also features a charming foreword from his friend of forty-five years Billy Crystal, with whom he co-wrote and co-produced the upcoming film Here Today that stars Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy. Alan Zweibel is an original Saturday Night Live writer who has won multiple Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards for his work in televi-ion. He also collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning Broadway play 700 Sundays and won the Thurber Prize for American Humor for his novel The Other Shulman WITH THIS TENDER, FUNNY MEMOIR OF FOUR DECADES IN THE BUSINESS ALAN ZWEIBEL TRACES THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN COMEDY. Alan Zweibel started his comedy career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt stand-ups. Then one night, despite bombing on stage, he caught the attention of Lorne Michaels and became one the first writers at 'Saturday Night Live', where he penned classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players. From 'SNL', he went on to have a hand in a series of landmark shows - from 'It's Garry Shandling's Show' to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. Throughout 'LAUGH LINES', Zweibel weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and contemporaries, including Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Sagat, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, and more. The book also features a charming foreword from his friend of 45 years, Billy Crystal, with whom he cowrote and coproduced the film 'Here Today' starring Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. 'LAUGH LINES' is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy. PLEASE NOTE: If you purchase this title in Audible format the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. RUNNING TIME 8hrs. and 5mins. 2020 Alan Zweibel (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing An Emmy Award-winning original Saturday Night Live writer draws on personal memories and interviews with such contemporaries as Eric Idle and Dave Barry in a cultural memoir that includes discussions of the creative process behind classic skits