But How Will It Play in Pretoria?

The Humor Code: a global search for what makes things funny by Peter McGraw, PhD, and Joel Warner (Simon & Schuster, 2014)
The jacket copy sounds like a reality TV series promo:  "Two Guys.  19 Experiments.  Five Continents.  91,000 miles.  And a Book That Will Forever Change the Way You Think About Humor."  After reading the international exploits of Dr. Peter McGraw and his traveling companion, accomplice, and chronicler, writer Joel Warner, that would be a TV show I would watch happily.

Told through Warner's eyes, we follow Dr. McGraw, founder of the Humor Research Lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder, as he travels the globe to find out if there is a secret to comedy, and if so, can one become funnier by using it. Researchers, it seems, believe they have already discovered the funniest joke in the world (included in the book), so McGraw has his work cut out for himself. The duo start their quest in a comedy club in Denver, where Dr. McGraw tries his hand as a stand-up comedian at an open mic. (Spoiler alert: He survives.)  Their quest takes them to L.A. where they discover what it takes to be a professional live TV audience member; to New York, to find out how to create a cartoon that The New Yorker will publish; and to Osaka, to experience the bizarre world of Japanese improv and comedy duos. Other stops have them exploring the dark side of humor in Scandinavia, discovering the reason why we laugh in Africa, finding humor in hard times in the Middle East, and participating with a medical clown troupe in a South American jungle.  Then comes the moment of truth:  Can Dr. McGraw take what he has learned and "kill" at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival, the largest festival in the world?  You'll just have to read The Humor Code to find out.

If you want to explore the anatomy of humor further, read Ha!: The science of when we laugh and why by Scott Weems (Basic Books, 2014).  Unlike The Humor Code, which explores humor from the human aspect, Ha! focuses on how the brain processes varied input and determines what is funny.  Weems, a cognitive neuroscientist, breaks down the characteristics of a joke, answers the question whether comedians can be replaced by computers, and explains how having a sense of humor improves one's health.  Weems comes to similar conclusions as McGraw, but takes a much more scientific approach.
 

Groucho's Girls

"Groucho's Girls?"  You Bet Your Life!

It's a long-held belief by numerous men (Jerry Lewis and Christopher Hitchens come immediately to mind), and even some females, that "women aren't funny."  For decades, though, one would be hard pressed to name a female comic other than Phyllis Diller or Joan Rivers, and since the 1980s, Roseanne.  There were a handful of others, but they were often considered cabaret performers (they sang as well as did jokes). Yet even today, when you look at the ads for a majority of comedy clubs, including the best-known ones, for every 10 or 20 men listed, you may find one woman on the roster of upcoming shows.  In the Psychology Today's article "Groucho's Girls," this dearth has less to do with whether women can be "funny" as it does with the overall nature of the business and our own attitudes towards women.  It is irrefutable that women are on the rise in comedy, but is it because they are behaving more like men on stage or feeling more free to be themselves unfettered by society's expectations?  In just the past 10-15 years, we've seen the likes of Sarah Silverman, Lisa Lampanelli, Chelsea Handler, Ellen Degeneres, and more achieve headliner and star status.  Read about how and why women are succeeding here.

Ellin, Abby. "Groucho's girls: today's stand-up comediennes are fast, funny, and leave no taboo untouched. Just whose problem is that?" Psychology Today May-June 2014: 64+. Popular Magazines. Web. 16 May 2016.

Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Did You Enjoy the Show?

Hurricane Sandy, the Challenger explosion, 9/11, Tiger Woods' infidelity...Why is it in the aftermath of a tragic event or a public figure's (particularly a celebrity's) misfortune we make jokes?  Trevor J. Blank tries to explain.

The Last Laugh: folk humor, celebrity culture, and mass-mediated disasters in the digital age by Trevor J. Blank (University of Wisconsin Press, 2013)

We all know the punchlines - the pressed red button, the imbedded golf club, the rumored pedophilia.  They're tasteless, inappropriate, and cringe-inducing, but we laugh anyway.  Trevor J. Blank, an assistant professor of communications at SUNY/Potsdam, explains that it's all a part of being human, of creating a form of folklore.  These awful jokes seep into our collective consciousness, allowing us to cope with horrific events, show our anger, and express schadenfreude while modulating our fear, disappointment, hostility, and disgust.

Although peppered with many examples of these jokes, this very academic book is recommended only for those who are interested in cultural anthropology, psychology, or human communication.  

You Won't Find These Titles in Your Library...

Reading on our smartphones and tablets in public have taken some of the fun, social aspect, and opportunities to craft the perfect pick-up line.  However, sometimes - just sometimes - it's probably better not to broadcast to the world what you're perusing.  Here, comedian Scott Rogowsky reimagines the experience of reading an actual book on the subway with hilarious results.  Click here and enjoy. (NSFW) 

For Your Listening Pleasure....

There's nothing like an expert to explain "the funny."  Listen to Larry David, Amy Poehler, and Randy Newman discuss what they know best in this interview from The New Yorker Festival. Thank you, NPR.

A Bag of Dicks and a Few Chicks

Get ready for some information overload!  

The Comedians:  Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff (Grove Press, 2015)
Comedy is not pretty, and self-described "comedy nerd" Kliph Nesteroff wants to make sure that you don't miss one ugly inch.  His exhaustive and fascinating tome (400+ pages, with footnotes and index), comes at you rapid fire, leaving you feeling like you watched a Laugh-In marathon.  There is just so much here, and yet there is something vitally missing (more on that later).

Starting with the early 20th century, Neteroff shows us the roots of stand-up comedy, beginning with Frank Fay, a vaudeville comic (later actor) who eschewed pratfalls and slapstick,and instead stood in front of an audience and told straightforward jokes. (But that's not where the term "stand-up comedian" originated...and I ain't tellin'.)  He moves on to the likes of Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, et al, and rather than fawn over their comic genius, Neteroff prefers to show how each comic screwed the others, or were screwed by others.  From stealing jokes to stealing the spotlight, one comes away feeling that they will never look at these adored luminaries in the same way, or will feel a little twinge of guilt when they laugh at their jokes. 

Now, here's the missing stuff:  

My first beef is semantical.  The first half of the subtitle is quite accurate.  However, I would have preferred that Nesteroff called the book "a history" rather than "the history," as it does not cover anything before the 20th century, and I'm sure funny stuff was going on in the country prior to 1900 (except when the Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock.  They were real buzzkills.).  Even better, he should have called it "a history of stand-up comedy."

My other beef is where are the women?  With the exception of a few paragraphs devoted to Pearl Williams (an early "dirty comic"), Joan Rivers, Jean Carroll, Moms Mabley, and Lily Tomlin, plus some discussion of Mitzi Shore, the evil queen of The Comedy Store, women are essentially missing.  The contribution of the likes of Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller, Sarah Silverman, Sophie Tucker, et al, are pretty much non-existent.  Women, if anything in this book, are just names.   Aren't women part of the history of American comedy, too?  They're certainly part a huge part of its future.

Despite its flaws, this is a must-read.

"Start Up Your Stand Up" with Stevie GB

Per Jerry Seinfeld, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking.  Number two is death.  Death is number two.  Does that sound right?  This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

Doing stand-up comedy is, in my opinion, the scariest kind of public speaking.  Unlike making a speech before your peers, stand-up requires you to put yourself out there before a room full of anonymous strangers.  Because the feedback is instant, you'll know in a matter of seconds whether they like what you're saying.  It also requires you to make this bunch of strangers like you just as quickly.  Probably the best way to get started, as the sneaker ads say, is to "just do it."  In other words, get up there, and get up there, and keep getting up there.  But if you're not that gutsy, you may be able to find a class at your local comedy club where you can learn and practice in a safe, supportive atmosphere.  If that's not an option for you, there is help.

Comedian Steve Giantuco, known professionally as "Stevie GB, the World's Funniest Accountant," has created a YouTube series, "Start Up Your Stand-Up."  Among the lessons you'll learn are how to get started, how to handle bombing, how to get press, etc.  After doing stand-up on Long Island for more than 20 years, and opening for the likes of Louie Anderson, Rob Schneider, Bobby Collins, Caroline Rhea, and Lewis Black, he knows what he's talking about.  You'll find his short, informative videos here bit.ly/1LQ3eBt. 

Some Thoughts on Garry Shandling

For years now, whenever the family gathers for a photo or my husband tries to photograph me (a story for another day), I invariably ask someone, "How's my hair?"  I'm not a particularly vain person, knowing that the breeding ground for cowlicks that I call "hair" will always be askew.  I couldn't recall when that question became part of my photo routine until I heard the news about Garry Shandling's death.  It came from him.  I wasn't asking it about me, but rather, I was imitating the fictional "Garry" of the "It's Garry Shandling's Show."  In almost every episode, he'd ask that question out of anxiety, as if having every strand in place would mean that the rest of his life would be just as neat.

I didn't know much about Garry Shandling before the Showtime series, but from the minute I heard the theme song, I was in love.  That catchy, goofy, self-aware wink at the audience was all it took to hook me -- that, and my strange crush on Michael Tucci, as his neighbor "Pete Schumacher."  It was one of my "appointment" TV shows (what they now call "Must-See TV"), and my husband and I would watch, singing along with the song, swaying and boucing like two kids around a campfire. 

One of the most poignant and heartbreaking episodes was what we didn't know then to be the final appearance of Gilda Radner on TV.  We saw it as her comeback to comedy after ovarian cancer, little knowing that a short time later, she would be gone.  The scene involved her returning ta wagonload of books to Garry that he had lent her to read.  When he asked her why he hadn't seen her on TV for a while, she chirpily responded, "I had cancer.  What did you have?"

After that show ended, and Garry went to HBO with his "The Larry Sanders Show," I felt deprived.  My husband no longer worked in the cable TV trade and we had to drop our premium channels (First World Problems, yes, I know.)  This was in the days before one had other options, like waiting months for the DVDs or piggybacking on a relative's HBO GO account. Everyone was talking about it, and I had no frame of reference, except from occasional promotional clips when Garry appeared on (real) talk shows.

Many comics are hailed to be geniuses, but there are only a few who truly qualify.  Garry was one of them, doing on TV what others wish they thought of first.  He will be missed.

"How's my hair?"

This Is No Pity Party

We Killed: the rise of women in American comedy by Yael Kohen (Sarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012).

Almost anybody who is, and was, anybody in the field has a say about the status of women in comedy in this anecdotal history.  While the choppy format is a bit annoying (a string of attributed vignettes), the stories and opinions from the 150 comics, writers, producers, actors, and critics, from Phyllis Diller to Chelsea Perretti, elicit anger and awe.  No one whines here or feels sorry for themselves. 

The book opens with a helpful "Cast of Characters," a list that identifies all the interviewees, both female and male, and their relationship to comedy.  Each chapter represents an era, starting with the 1960s and ending in 2011.  Interspersed among these chapters are sections that spotlight one outstanding person who changed the playing field:  Carol Burnett, Merrill Markoe, and Ellen DeGeneres.  While Elayne Boosler, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler are discussed, but not interviewed, the most notable absence in these pages is that of Amy Schumer, whose thunderclap appearance on the scene happened just as this book was hitting the shelves.

Comedian/Comedienne or Comic?

Does "a rose by any other name smell just as sweet?"  What we call ourselves matters.  For example, I'm a librarian by profession, and there are folks out there who think the title is quaint or outdated.  Some people have suggested that we call ourselves "information technicians."  It sounds "hip and modern," but doesn't touch on the nuance of what I do.  (Personally, I prefer "Person you never knew you needed, but now can't do without," but that doesn't fit on my business card.)  

There is also the "sexism" attached to the title.  When most people think of the word "librarian," they think of a woman (hairbun and sweater set, optional).  But if you say someone works as an "information technician," odds are you're going to think of a man (pocket protector and social awkwardness optional). However, the library profession, once a male-dominated field until the early 20th century, is overwhelmingly female.

So what do you call yourself - comedian/comedienne or comic - and why?  

Full disclosure: I have a particular interest in knowing so that I use the preferred term in my entries.

Look for the Union Label

Being a comedian is not all fun and games.  Like any other profession, it takes a lot of work, and when your livelihood depends upon the largesse of others, there is bound to be exploitation.

 I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era by William Knoedelseder (Public Affairs, 2009).

After cutting their comedy teeth in New York City at clubs such as Catch a Rising Star, comics began to flock to Los Angeles.  The goal was to catch the eye of a talent booker for The Tonight Show, where an appearance could make one's career (or in a few cases, break it).  Everyone was there - Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Andy Kaufman, Robin Williams,Tom Dreesen, and more - all vying to get noticed.  It was a golden time of camaraderie, fun times, and hard work, until the comics realized they were being exploited by club owners who hoarded precious stage time, meting it out to their favorites, giving nothing in return except "exposure."  The comedians' solution was to take a page from the labor movement.  They formed a union and went on strike.

There were few heroes and and one big villain in Knoedelseder's chronicle.  The "big bad" was Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore, the bitch mother of the L.A. comedy scene and the Marie Antoinette of the comedians' uprising.  She would alternate between being supportive and oppressive, and took advantage of her position.  Most striking was her treatment of women.  Rather than give female comics a chance in the Main Room (a rare occurence), she relegated them to "The Belly Room," which, in her mind, was a separate, but equal, nurturing space for them.  This also highlights a big void in the book.  With the exception of the appearance of Elayne Boosler, there isn't much focus on the women who also struggling for stage time.  The names are there - Alison Arngrim, Lois Bromfield, Susan Evans, and Marsha Warfield, to name a few, but hardly any get more than a mention or a few sentences.

As with every war, there are casualties. I'm Dying Up Here tells the parallel story of Steve Lubetkin, an aspiring comedian, who came to seek his fame and fortune in L.A., but ultimately finds frustration and a downward spiral that provides the balancing tragedy to the laughs.  

NOTE:  Jim Carrey received a green light from Showtime to create a series based on this book. 

A Memoir of a Man, His Mom, and Mileage

I love offbeat book titles. Ever since a publisher offered me a copy of Living With Killer

Bees at a library conference, I'm always on the lookout for the oddball. There are some real doozies out there, including Everything I Know About Women, I Learned From My Tractor.  (Check out more here.)  While scanning a forthcoming book list, Michael Ian Black's memoir title caught my eye.  I know this sounds strange, but this is one of the first books I've read that "looks" like its author.

 

Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird) by Michael Ian Black, Gallery Books, 2016

When someone writes a memoir, they either choose an outstanding time in their life and share that "Oh, wow!" moment or they take something mundane and give it great meaning.  Michael Ian Black does a little of both, and the result is a sincere story of a man/boy coming into his middle-age.  Using his mother's cancer as a touchstone, Black provides a straightforward review of his life without so much as arching a comedic eyebrow. (His career as a comedian/comedic actor is barely touched on; he focuses more on his role as a writer.) He examines being raised by lesbians, his interfaith marriage, being a dad, his stint in a punk band, and why one should not picking a fight with another author, even an imaginary feud.  Throughout the book, Black discusses becoming a runner, something he decided to do for health reasons, despising it at first, but ultimately coming to terms with it.  The book is sweet without being mawkish and funny when it needs to be, leaving the reader nodding the head in recognition, especially if one is a member of the "sandwich generation." 

100 Jokes

They say it's all in the timing, and the timing for this (at least for me) could not have come at a better time.  Jesse David Fox, senior editor for The Vulture, New York Magazine's pop culture website, gathered journalists, historians, and comedians to reflect on what are our most seminal jokes.  Fox admits they defined "joke" rather broadly, and while one may not agree with everything on the list (or anything on the list), I think they did a darn good job.  If you missed it, here it is.  I'd love to know what your favorites are that were not included. 

A True Fan Fiction

As a fan of the art of comedy, I feel the roots are sometimes neglected.  Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Joan Rivers are the modern masters, but we mustn't forget our Rembrandts, Da Vincis, and, especially, Artemisia Gentileschis. 

I Am Sophie Tucker: A Fictional Memoir by Susan and Lloyd Ecker, Prospecta Press (2014)

Considering how little has been written about Sophie Tucker, who influenced so many performers, most notably Bette Midler, I so much wanted to like this book more. I can't fault the authors' passion for their protagonist; they've made a documentary about Tucker ("The Outrageous Sophie Tucker") and hope to bring her story to Broadway as a musical. The error they made was to write this biographical novel in the first person.  Even if one is familiar with Tucker's raucous and raunchy voice, the book reads like a recitation of facts or a comprehensive "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" type essay.  Even when the family secret that drives part of the narrative is revealed, it is more "oh" than "OH!" The result is an ambitious "fan fiction" rather than a novel as fully-fleshed as its subject.

I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary, and do hope the Eckers can bring the show to Broadway so as to introduce a new generation to the person whose influence can be seen, and sometimes acknowledged, in the performances of not only Bette Midler, but Bridget Everett, Lady Gaga, Amy Schumer, and others.

Welcome to the FunnyPagez!

E.B. White

In a Village Voice article (December 31, 2015) by Brian McManus, two popular club comics Sam Morril and Sean Donnelly delineated the many types of comedians in New York City.  One of them was "The Blogger Comic," whom they disparage as the person who takes "an academic approach to standup" and thereby takes "everything fun and interesting about it."  I don't want to be that person.  (As E.B. White, one of my literary heroes, once said, “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.”)  What I do hope to do, through sharing reviews, articles, videos, etc., is to introduce "the reader" - that's you, buckaroo - to whomever and whatever brings "the funny."

I'm also interested in learning more about people and things you find funny.  If you've read a great biography or non-fiction or seen a documentary about a comedian or comedy-related subject, let me know. 

On occasion, I'll put out a question or opine about the state of comedy, and I'll invite you to do the same. 

Watch this space... and in the meantime, enjoy this musical interlude
with Dean Friedman.