Laugh Lines
My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier
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Narrated by:
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Alan Zweibel
About this listen
With his tender, funny memoir of four decades in the business, Alan Zweibel traces the history of American comedy.
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.
Throughout Laugh Lines, Zweibel weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and contemporaries, including Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Saget, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, and more. The book also features a charming foreword from his friend of 45 years, Billy Crystal, with whom he cowrote and coproduced the film Here Today starring Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Alan Zweibel (P)2020 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Nicholas Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A best-selling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and - armed with that insight - set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.
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Mostly good
- By David W Braddock on 06-07-21
By: Nicholas Meyer
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Robert Altman
- The Oral Biography
- By: Mitchell Zuckoff
- Narrated by: Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, Cher, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.
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Enthralling!
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By: Mitchell Zuckoff
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I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else
- My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies
- By: Danny Aiello, Gil Reavill
- Narrated by: Danny Aiello
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Beloved stage and screen actor Danny Aiello’s big-hearted memoir reveals a man of passion, integrity, and guts - and lays bare one of the most unlikely success stories ever told. Danny Aiello admits that he backed into his acting career by mistake. That’s easy to see when you begin at the beginning: Raised by his loving and fiercely resilient mother in the tenements of Manhattan and the South Bronx, and forever haunted by the death of his infant brother, Danny struggled early on to define who he was and who he could be.
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I want to give Danny Aiello a big hug.
- By Mari K. on 01-22-15
By: Danny Aiello, and others
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The Improv
- An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up
- By: Budd Friedman, Tripp Whetsell, Jay Leno - foreword
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1963, 30-year-old Friedman - who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to his hometown of New York to become a theatrical producer - opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. His goal? Simply to make a living, and if all went according to plan, to also make enough professional contacts to be able to mount his first Broadway show within a year's time. Later shortened to the Improv, its first West 44th Street location was in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen.
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Shockingly tone deaf
- By JenniferW on 06-28-23
By: Budd Friedman, and others
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All About Me!
- My Remarkable Life in Show Business
- By: Mel Brooks
- Narrated by: Mel Brooks
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
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Wonderful and nostalgic
- By GAT on 12-07-21
By: Mel Brooks
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Stories I Only Tell My Friends
- An Autobiography
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
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Great Book and Great Story
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 04-30-11
By: Rob Lowe
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How to Save a Life
- The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy
- By: Lynette Rice
- Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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More than 15 years after its premiere, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of the most beloved dramas on television and ABC’s most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the top 20 most watched shows in primetime for most of its 17-season run. It currently averages more than nine million viewers each week. How to Save a Life takes a totally unauthorized deep dive into the show’s humble start, while offering exclusive intel on the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures, and the more polarizing plotlines.
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Perfect for fans
- By Pink Amy on 09-23-21
By: Lynette Rice
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Dirty Daddy
- The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian
- By: Bob Saget
- Narrated by: Bob Saget
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
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Overall
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Millions of viewers know and love Bob Saget from his role as the sweetly neurotic father on the smash hit Full House, and as the charming wisecracking host of America's Funniest Home Videos. And then there are the legions of fans who can't get enough of his scatological, out-of-his-mind stand-up routines, comedy specials, and outrageously profane performances in such shows as HBO's Entourage and the hit documentary The Aristocrats.
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Meh to the 2nd Power
- By Hilary on 06-30-14
By: Bob Saget
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Top of the Rock
- Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV
- By: Warren Littlefield, T. R. Pearson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Warren Littlefield was the NBC President of Entertainment who oversaw the Peacock Network’s rise from also-ran to a division that generated a billion dollars in profits. In this fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining oral history, Littlefield and NBC luminaries including Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wylie, Debra Messing, Jack Welch, Jimmy Burrows, Helen Hunt, and Dick Wolf vividly recapture the incredible era of Must See TV.
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Nostalgic Look at NBC in the 90's
- By Jill on 10-10-12
By: Warren Littlefield, and others
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This Is Your Captain Speaking
- My Fantastic Voyage through Hollywood, Faith, and Life
- By: Gavin MacLeod
- Narrated by: Gavin MacLeod
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The remarkable life, career, and faith journey of the star of The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For 16 years, millions of Americans welcomed Gavin MacLeod into their living rooms every Saturday night. This veteran of stage and screen transformed himself from a seasoned character actor into the leading, lovable father-figure of The Love Boat at the height of TV's boom years. For more than 30 years, Gavin MacLeod has served as the global ambassador for Princess Cruises.
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Get to know Gavin as a person, not the actor
- By Don Lance on 11-16-13
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You Might Remember Me
- The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
- By: Mike Thomas
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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The Simpsons
- An Uncensored, Unauthorized History
- By: John Ortved
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson, Justine Eyre
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
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John Ortved's oral history is the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of the television phenomenon known as The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who produce it.
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Great Content, Awful Reading
- By JH Easton on 03-13-11
By: John Ortved
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Long before Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled through time in a flying DeLorean, director Robert Zemeckis and his friend and writing partner Bob Gale worked tirelessly to break into the industry with a hit. For the first time ever, the story of how these two young filmmakers struck lightning is being told by those who witnessed it. We Don't Need Roads includes original interviews with Zemeckis, Gale, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis, and over 50 others who contributed to one of the most popular and profitable film trilogies of all time.
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Great for fans - good for others.
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The Darkest Year focuses on Americans’ state of mind not only through what they said, but in the day-to-day details of their behavior. William K. Klingaman blends these psychological effects with the changes the war wrought in American society and culture, including shifts in family roles, race relations, economic pursuits, popular entertainment, education, and the arts.
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In 1963, 30-year-old Friedman - who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to his hometown of New York to become a theatrical producer - opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. His goal? Simply to make a living, and if all went according to plan, to also make enough professional contacts to be able to mount his first Broadway show within a year's time. Later shortened to the Improv, its first West 44th Street location was in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen.
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Decades before The Daily Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour proved there was a place on television for no-holds-barred political comedy with a decidedly antiauthoritarian point of view. In this explosive, revealing history of the show, veteran entertainment journalist David Bianculli tells the fascinating story of its three-year network run---and the cultural impact that's still being felt today.
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Informative & touching. You need to read it.
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Absolutely fantastic
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What listeners say about Laugh Lines
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Elizabeth Andrews
- 08-16-20
I laughed–cried–googled throughout
Thank you, Alan Zweibel for sharing your full-write-stuff life. I loved your NY accent and rhythm of your reading and each vignette and histories of your world as a writer –for comedy, TV, movies, books in NYC & LA....you took me behind the scenes of a related world I enjoyed as a dancer in the 70s, also employed in Rockerfeller Center, across the street from SNL. I lost my husband 18 months ago to dementia so I super cried at your tender friendships throughout –esp. with Gilda, Garry and the eventual collaboration with Marty Short –I was touched with your description how Marty's wife Nancy looked on and reacted with such love during each of his touring shows. For those of us who day dream about someday being a writer--uh, dream on...MUCH here to give us pause or... give us the needed kick. In the meantime, eagerly awaiting your writing and Billy Crystal's directing and acting in your upcoming movie "Here Today."
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3 people found this helpful
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- Laurie Adair Grove
- 10-25-21
A wonderful book!
Oh how this took me back to those hysterical early skits on SNL, some of which we “replayed” in our family over the years. I enjoyed every minute, it made me cry, but it also made me laugh—a lot! I’m sorry the book ended, but I learned so much from it that I have a lot to ponder for a long time. It was a pleasure to listen to this audiobook.
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- Aggman
- 10-12-22
Well worth listening to
This is a very entertaining Audible book about a fine comic writer. I enjoyed it immensely.
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- Jeff Heiman
- 08-30-20
A book so nice, I listened twice
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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1 person found this helpful
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- RohmerOzuFan
- 11-13-22
Loved it!
A unique insight into the craft of writing comedy. Zweibel’s story of what he said to Roger Ebert years after receiving a scathing review of “North” is worth the price of the audiobook. Highly recommended!
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- Linda C Davis
- 09-17-23
Pure humor gold
I grew up in with my dads comedy records. This book was a joy. Alan does a wonderful job of detailing so many comedic moments in my life. Thanks for a great read(listen).
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- Kristina Joyce
- 11-03-22
Loved it!
It was a great journey into the insights of some of my very favorite shows, comics, actors and, of course, writers. Thanks Alan!
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- Robert W. Gaines
- 06-28-22
Good humor but great storytelling
The laughs that hit hit very hard but they were far fewer than expected. However the depth and richness of the storytelling was far beyond what I had expected.
You get a real sense of what a wonderful person the author is. His influences and a clear portrait of those that imprinted his life. The characters that figured most prominently were Gilda Radner, Garry Shandling, and several influential comedy writers both sung and unsung.
This book was not what I expected it was very much worth the time.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-27-21
WONDERFUL!
Superbly written, This was wonderful to hear how things that I've loved watching for years have been created in the common robbery and friendships that have come in friendships they've come from it.. I couldn't get enough of this story. As a matter of fact as soon as I was over with the book I purchased his latest movie That he speaks about in the last chapter.
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- Jeffrey Smith
- 09-03-23
From the guy who wrote “If you want to lick it, it’s a quarter”
A wonderful telling of a life in comedy. He wrote so many bits, jokes and stories I remember front SNL, Gary Shandling, Billy Crystal and so many more. It was great to spend a day with him by listening to this book.
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