danbigelow's review
4.0
Confirms two things I knew about comedy writing:
1. Doing it a lot makes you better.
2. Professionally funny people are miserable.
Told me two things I didn't know:
1. Collaboration is immensely useful and common in comedy writing.
2. A background in improv is desirable.
1. Doing it a lot makes you better.
2. Professionally funny people are miserable.
Told me two things I didn't know:
1. Collaboration is immensely useful and common in comedy writing.
2. A background in improv is desirable.
michaelnlibrarian's review
3.0
Some of the writers are people who wrote for programs that I had never heard of or wasn't interested in so I didn't read those interviews. I guess I was a little underwhelmed. A few of the interviewees did describe in a kind of technical sense how they wrote funny stuff but 80 percent of the content is just chatter - although perhaps that's the best that one could hope for.
caseythereader's review
4.0
This book was much better than I thought it would be. At first I thought I didn't recognize the names of many of the people interviewed, but after reading their bios, all of their work is comedy that everyone knows. Everyone included here is extraordinarily accomplished in their field(s), and are very open about their experiences. While most of them were not laugh out loud funny, they are smart and clever and willing to help younger generations succeed.
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