A delightful and hilarious read for anyone interested in what makes comedians tick.
Three decades of interviews with comedy greats conducted by writer, producer, and director Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc.).
The author’s sprawling and insightful collection of interviews with some of the biggest and most respected names in comedy was a project that began over 30 years ago when, as a high schooler in Long Island, he coerced various agents and managers to grant him time to speak with comedians for his school radio program. Such ambition is a testament to Apatow’s self-stated obsession with comedy and an unyielding desire to learn as much as he could about the form. The early interviews, often conducted when the author was only 15, offer a unique glimpse into the minds of the rising comedic stars of the 1980s—e.g., Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Paul Reiser, and Harold Ramis. Little did Apatow know that he was interviewing future megastars, and the comedians were unaware that the young man hoisting his giant tape recorder during the interview would become a comedic sensation in his own right. The author also wisely conducts follow-up interviews with several comedians for juxtapositions that are the most immediate charms in a book nearly bursting with them. The table of contents is a who’s who of major players: Martin Short, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Louis C.K., Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, and Stephen Colbert, among others. For added perspective, Apatow also includes interviews with less-conventional funny people like musician Eddie Vedder, novelist and artist Miranda July, and director Spike Jonze. The persistent theme across this diverse range of interviews is the comedian as tireless tradesman constantly touring and honing his craft. The candidness of the interviews also exposes the peculiar community of comedians with anecdotes and cameos unlikely to be heard elsewhere.
A delightful and hilarious read for anyone interested in what makes comedians tick.Pub Date: June 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9757-6
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
