Jeff Heiman
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Laugh Lines
- My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier
- By: Alan Zweibel, Billy Crystal - foreword
- Narrated by: Alan Zweibel
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 354
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 354
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Comedy, A Tragedy, A Guide
- By Yenrab Namrehs on 04-23-21
- Laugh Lines
- My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier
- By: Alan Zweibel, Billy Crystal - foreword
- Narrated by: Alan Zweibel
A book so nice, I listened twice
Reviewed: 08-30-20
I liked Laugh Lines so much, I listened to it twice. Alan Zweibel has had and still has a very successful career as a joke, sketch, TV and film writer. The book is read by the author himself and I can’t imagine anyone else reading it. These are his stories, his jokes and he knows how they are supposed to be told. The stories range from writing for old Catskills comics when they were twice his age and stuck in a different time, to one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, the development and launch of This is the Garry Shandling Show, 100 Sundays with Billy Crystal and so many more iconic shows. It’s an honest book and he talks about his successes AND his failures, leaving no detail out.
Overall, the stories about his life and career are fantastic, he comes across as a mensch, a guy with a loving marriage, good children and lots of very close friends, some of them the most creative and comic geniuses of our time. Alan may be lesser known, but using the genius word to describe him and his lasting jokes and characters he has created, is as valid as any of the comics with more familiar names. Fans of the history of comedy and television, what it’s really like to be in a writer’s room, work with brilliant talent and survive the industry is all in this book. Finally. fans of Gilda Radner and Garry Shandling will be moved by his stories about his special friendship with both of these complicated personalities. It’s a testament to Alan’s personality that he stuck with them and did everything he could to help them. Listen to this book at least once.
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