Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-14 09:51:31
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David Steinberg
- ISBN：0525520570
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Summary
The world of comedy and comedians of the last five decades。 By the man the New York Times calls a comic institution himself， the only comedian （twenty-six years in stand-up） to have made Elie Wiesel laugh， as well as having appeared on The Tonight Show （140 times， second only to Bob Hope， but who's counting）。 From the director of TV comedy series Mad About You， Seinfeld， Friends， Weeds and Curb Your Enthusiasm。
Larry David: "I'm lucky。 I know and love David Steinberg。 You don't。 Now's your chance。 Don't blow it！
"David has always been a comedy hero to me。 One of his many gifts is the ability to inspire funny people to be even funnier， as you will discover in this truly hilarious， insightful book。" --Martin Short
From David Steinberg， a rabbi's son from Winnipeg， Canada， who at age fifteen enrolled at Hebrew Theological College in Chicago （the rabbinate wasn't for him） and four years later， entered the master's program in English literature at the University of Chicago， until he saw Lenny Bruce， the Blue Boy of Comedy， the coolest guy Steinberg had ever seen， and joined Chicago's Second City improvisational group， becoming， instead， the comedian's comedian， director， actor， working with， inspired by， teaching， and learning from the most celebrated， admired， complicated comedians， then and now--a funny， moving， provocative， insightful look into the soul， wit， and bite of comedy and comedians--a universe unto itself--of the last half-century。
From the greats: George Burns， Lenny Bruce， Sid Caesar， Lucille Ball， Mel Brooks， and Carl Reiner， et al。， to the newer greats: Carol Burnett， Steve Martin， Lily Tomlin， Billy Crystal， Bob Newhart， and the man for all comedy， Martin （Marty） Short; to the greats of right now: Chris Rock， Dave Chappelle， Julia Louis-Dreyfus， Wanda Sykes; and more 。 。 。
Steinberg， through stories， reminiscences， tales of directing， touring， performing， and， through the comedians themselves talking （from more than 75 interviews）， makes clear why he loves comedy and comedians who have been by his side in his work， and in his life， for more than sixty years。
Here are: Will Ferrell， Eric Idle， Whoopi Goldberg， Mike Myers， Groucho himself and the greatest of them all （at least of the last half century）， Jonathan Winters 。 。 。
Larry David: "I'm lucky。 I know and love David Steinberg。 You don't。 Now's your chance。 Don't blow it！
"David has always been a comedy hero to me。 One of his many gifts is the ability to inspire funny people to be even funnier， as you will discover in this truly hilarious， insightful book。" --Martin Short
From David Steinberg， a rabbi's son from Winnipeg， Canada， who at age fifteen enrolled at Hebrew Theological College in Chicago （the rabbinate wasn't for him） and four years later， entered the master's program in English literature at the University of Chicago， until he saw Lenny Bruce， the Blue Boy of Comedy， the coolest guy Steinberg had ever seen， and joined Chicago's Second City improvisational group， becoming， instead， the comedian's comedian， director， actor， working with， inspired by， teaching， and learning from the most celebrated， admired， complicated comedians， then and now--a funny， moving， provocative， insightful look into the soul， wit， and bite of comedy and comedians--a universe unto itself--of the last half-century。
From the greats: George Burns， Lenny Bruce， Sid Caesar， Lucille Ball， Mel Brooks， and Carl Reiner， et al。， to the newer greats: Carol Burnett， Steve Martin， Lily Tomlin， Billy Crystal， Bob Newhart， and the man for all comedy， Martin （Marty） Short; to the greats of right now: Chris Rock， Dave Chappelle， Julia Louis-Dreyfus， Wanda Sykes; and more 。 。 。
Steinberg， through stories， reminiscences， tales of directing， touring， performing， and， through the comedians themselves talking （from more than 75 interviews）， makes clear why he loves comedy and comedians who have been by his side in his work， and in his life， for more than sixty years。
Here are: Will Ferrell， Eric Idle， Whoopi Goldberg， Mike Myers， Groucho himself and the greatest of them all （at least of the last half century）， Jonathan Winters 。 。 。
Reviews
David Blankenship
，
Why is it that a book by a comedian about comedy is the dullest book I have read this year？ Who knows。 Not so much a history of comedy as it is a memoir。 Basically it's 300 pages of poorly written name-dropping; I skipped from chapter to chapter until finally giving up out of boredom。 Why is it that a book by a comedian about comedy is the dullest book I have read this year？ Who knows。 Not so much a history of comedy as it is a memoir。 Basically it's 300 pages of poorly written name-dropping; I skipped from chapter to chapter until finally giving up out of boredom。 。。。more
kevin moore
，
meh。。interesting insights but not particularly well-edited
Paulatics
，
This book was amazing。 I enjoyed every minute of hearing my favorite comedian talk about all my other favorite comedians。 I know all of David Sternberg’s routines。 I know all the routines of almost everybody he talked about。 I am going to listen to this book again with my husband very soon。 Booga booga。
Daniel
，
How can such a successful comedy and entertainment talent with such potentially interesting stories to tell be such a bad writer？ Maybe there was a lack of editing？
Harriet
，
More like a 3 1/2。 Mostly a lot of fun。 My problem at there is so much fawning over every single comedian that it feels excessive。 I could have uses a little bile。
Michael Berman
，
Five stars for the stories， 2 stars for the writing， averaged out and rounded up to four stars。 The stories are magnificent -- David Steinberg has had a front-row seat to US stand-up and television comedy for 50 years， and he shares some real gems。 （He also points the reader to some great Youtube clips of old Tonight Show interviews， etc。） The writing （or the editing） left so much to be desired。 It's repetitive， and full of （the same） superlatives for every。 single。 comedian。 he discusses。 Just Five stars for the stories， 2 stars for the writing， averaged out and rounded up to four stars。 The stories are magnificent -- David Steinberg has had a front-row seat to US stand-up and television comedy for 50 years， and he shares some real gems。 （He also points the reader to some great Youtube clips of old Tonight Show interviews， etc。） The writing （or the editing） left so much to be desired。 It's repetitive， and full of （the same） superlatives for every。 single。 comedian。 he discusses。 Just one example: In a two-page section on Lucille Ball， we are told not once， not twice， but three times that all of her facial expressions， flailing limbs， etc。 were meticulously rehearsed， and not at all spontaneous or ad-libbed。 That's actually fascinating， and brings a deeper understanding of the I Love Lucy show， but I did not need to read it three times。 This is just one example among many。So， in summary， read it for the stories， but be ready for some really poor editorial choices。 。。。more
Joni Daniels
，
This was like reliving my childhood: watching tv with my parents， adoring comedians all my life and now getting the inside scoop from not just a guy who knows — but a guy I had a major crush on！ David Steinberg is adorable with a ‘puckish wit - funny， insightful， smart， with a charming bite。 Comedian， a tor， director， host， writer， interviewer， friend， father， son， and husband。 From Bob Hope and Groucho to Seinfeld and Colbert; talk show hosts from Johnny Carson to Jimmy Fallon。 Directing sitcom This was like reliving my childhood: watching tv with my parents， adoring comedians all my life and now getting the inside scoop from not just a guy who knows — but a guy I had a major crush on！ David Steinberg is adorable with a ‘puckish wit - funny， insightful， smart， with a charming bite。 Comedian， a tor， director， host， writer， interviewer， friend， father， son， and husband。 From Bob Hope and Groucho to Seinfeld and Colbert; talk show hosts from Johnny Carson to Jimmy Fallon。 Directing sitcoms and tv shows and commercials。 Hosting variety shows， talkshows， and conducting interviews。 It seems like he knew/knows everyone and was everywhere。 A cheerleader for almost everyone he knows - he doesn’t have a mean thing to say about anyone （well - he IS Canadian！） I adore him as much today as ever。 This book is a gift。 。。。more
Virginia Nichols
，
As a life-long fan of comedy and comedians who relishes insider details， I thoroughly enjoyed this book。 As expected， Steinberg is smart， deeply insightful and magnanimous in his assessments， recollections， true tales and interviews， and the man seems to know everyone in the entertainment business。
Rebecca Timberlake
，
（LISTENED TO AUDIOBOOK）This was fun and interesting to hear the history of modern comedy laid out。 The fact that Steinberg read it himself also helps because he has such a funny way of telling anything- obviously。 My only complaint is that I wish it had been plotted better。 He rambled at times， and at other times repeats himself because he loses chronological order of what he's telling， which gets distracting and forces you out of the narrative。 （LISTENED TO AUDIOBOOK）This was fun and interesting to hear the history of modern comedy laid out。 The fact that Steinberg read it himself also helps because he has such a funny way of telling anything- obviously。 My only complaint is that I wish it had been plotted better。 He rambled at times， and at other times repeats himself because he loses chronological order of what he's telling， which gets distracting and forces you out of the narrative。 。。。more
Onceinabluemoon
，
Loved this， like reliving my childhood as he takes us through my lifetime of comedians。
Karen A。 Haunert
，
I wrote a review and it vanished， like my review of President Obama's book。 I don't feel like rewriting it。 Goodreads， you have a problem。 I wrote a review and it vanished， like my review of President Obama's book。 I don't feel like rewriting it。 Goodreads， you have a problem。 。。。more
Michael
，
Reading Inside Comedy is like sitting next to David Steinberg at a bar or in a corner somewhere at a party， which isn't too bad because Steinberg is a man who not only met most of his idols in comedy but also managed to befriend them。 He's proud to tell you how close he's been with everybody from Groucho Marx and Orson Welles， to Martin Short， Steve Martin and Richard Pryor， who he calls "Richie"。 He's got lots of stories， some of them pretty good some a little more ordinary， and he tends to be Reading Inside Comedy is like sitting next to David Steinberg at a bar or in a corner somewhere at a party， which isn't too bad because Steinberg is a man who not only met most of his idols in comedy but also managed to befriend them。 He's proud to tell you how close he's been with everybody from Groucho Marx and Orson Welles， to Martin Short， Steve Martin and Richard Pryor， who he calls "Richie"。 He's got lots of stories， some of them pretty good some a little more ordinary， and he tends to be a bit repetitive at times but anybody who grew up in the 60s watching The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour will be happy to enjoy this dazzling history of Comedy as David Steinberg saw it from his position in the middle of all of it， from Second City， to doing stand-up at the Hungry I and Bitter End， to guesting and guest-hosting on The Tonight Show， to directing episodic television， to befriending and finally interviewing all the great comedians he admires on Showtime's Inside Comedy， from which perhaps half of this book's material is drawn。I'd like to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of Inside Comedy on which I based my review。 。。。more
Richard Propes
，