
The Improv
An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up
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Narrated by:
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Johnny Heller
About this listen
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 in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen had previously been a Vietnamese restaurant. Initially attracting the likes of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Albert Finney, Christopher Plummer, and Jason Robards, as well as a couple of then-unknowns named Dustin Hoffman and Bette Midler, Friedman's new venture was an instant hit. But while it drew near-capacity crowds almost from day one, it wasn't until comedians began dropping by to try out new material that the Improv truly hit its stride, not only becoming the first venue ever to present live stand-up in a continuous format, but in the process reinventing the art form and creating the template for all other comedy clubs that followed.
©2017 Budd Friedman with Tripp Whetsell (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Wonderful book!
- By EJ on 09-30-24
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You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried
- The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
- By: Susannah Gora
- Narrated by: Kelli Tager
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The landscape that the Brat Pack memorialized is rich with cultural themes and significance, and has influenced an entire generation who still believe that life always turns out like an '80s movie. You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that era, through Susannah Gora's interviews with key players such as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and John Cusack, and mines all the material from the movies to the music to the way the films were made to show how they helped shape our visions for romance, friendship, society, and success.
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Brings me back to my teenage years! Fantastic Narration! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- By Amazmama on 06-24-22
By: Susannah Gora
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The Late Shift
- Letterman, Leno, & the Network Battle for the Night
- By: Bill Carter
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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When beloved host Johnny Carson announced his retirement after 30 years on The Tonight Show, millions of Americans mourned. But inside the television industry, the news ignited a battle between two amazing talents - Jay Leno and David Letterman - who both yearned to occupy the departing legend's chair. For NBC, it would be a decision with millions of dollars at stake. Soon these two comedians with strikingly different styles, who had once shared a friendship as they worked the clubs together, would be engaged in a fierce competition for the prize.
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Very detailed, spectacular, and riveting!
- By John Collins on 02-09-21
By: Bill Carter
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Tied Up in Knotts
- By: Karen Knotts
- Narrated by: Karen Knotts
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about Don Knotts's career, especially about his iconic role as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, but personal views into the man himself are few and far between. In Tied Up in Knotts, a loving daughter provides a full-life narrative of her father: Don's difficult childhood in an abusive home, his escape into comedic performance, becoming a household name, his growth as a feature film actor, his failing health, and his family life throughout, leading to touching and hilarious moments that will make the listener laugh and cry.
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For diehard Don Knotts fans only
- By JIM HOWELL on 08-31-24
By: Karen Knotts
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I Lived the 80s
- A Gen X Life and the Pop Culture That Defined It
- By: B Harrison Smith
- Narrated by: B Harrison Smith
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Gen X is the “forgotten generation.”
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An enjoyable trip through time, especially if you loved through it.
- By Anonymous User on 02-27-25
By: B Harrison Smith
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Napalm & Silly Putty
- By: George Carlin
- Narrated by: George Carlin
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
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Yes, George Carlin is here with more of what he did better than any other comic: uproarious observations, laser-targeted crankiness, linguistic legerdemain, and inspired weirdness. ("If the shoe fits, get another just like it." "When you sneeze, all the numbers in your head go up by one.") Napalm & Silly Putty is just what his fans have been waiting for—another generous helping of notions, nonsense, assertions, assumptions, mockery, merriment, silliness, sarcasm, and, to be sure, plenty of disturbing references and toxic alienation.
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Good, but not like the stand-up
- By Anonymous User on 10-10-21
By: George Carlin
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Rat Pack Confidential
- Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin. Sammy Davis, Jr. Peter Lawford. Joey Bishop. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack. They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side - over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance - took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.
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If. You Are A Fan, Skip This Book
- By redheadmomx2 on 01-26-21
By: Shawn Levy
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Age of Cage
- Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career
- By: Keith Phipps
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
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Excellent filmography of a successful career
- By Pamela Plimpton on 04-04-22
By: Keith Phipps
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Rock Concert
- An Oral History as Told by the Artists, Backstage Insiders, and Fans Who Were There
- By: Marc Myers
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine, Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Decades after the rise of rock music in the 1950s, the rock concert retains its allure and its power as a unifying experience - and as an influential multibillion-dollar industry. In Rock Concert, acclaimed interviewer Marc Myers sets out to uncover the history of this compelling phenomenon, weaving together groundbreaking accounts from the people who were there. Rock Concert provides a fascinating, immediate look at the evolution of rock 'n' roll through the lens of live performances.
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Very fun
- By Kathy Neal on 10-13-24
By: Marc Myers
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Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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Live from New York
- An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
- By: Tom Shales, James Andrew Miller
- Narrated by: Christopher Burns, Eric Conger
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Abridged
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A history of Saturday Night Live that finally reveals what really went on backstage, on the set, in the writers' offices, and on the town. Dozens of stars, writers, and guest hosts recall the backstage gossip, feuds, foibles, drugs, sex, struggles, and calamities of the show that changed television.
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Interesting inside look, so-so presentation
- By Tim on 12-22-02
By: Tom Shales, and others
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Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties
- The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television
- By: Foster Hirsch
- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
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Captivating from start to finish
- By Steve C. on 02-01-25
By: Foster Hirsch
Fantastic work!
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very informative
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So many comics that got their start doing stand-up at the Improv went on to be famous on TV shows and in movies that it was really interesting to hear about their early years making people laugh; practicing and honing their craft!
Comedy Is Gritty, Not Pretty!
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The Improv and Budd
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Strange format, OK story.
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Shockingly tone deaf
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