About this item
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 the pages of 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 forty-five years Billy Crystal, with whom he co-wrote and co-produced the upcoming film Here Today that stars Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy.
About the Author
An original "Saturday Night Live" writer who the New York Times says has "earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture," Alan has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (which he co-created and produced) , "Monk," "PBS's Great Performances," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm". A frequent guest on late night talk shows, Alan's theatrical contributions include his collaboration with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award winning play "700 Sundays", Martin Short's Broadway hit "Fame Becomes Me", and the off-Broadway play "Bunny Bunny - Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy" which he adapted from his best-selling book. Other books by Alan are the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel "The Other Shulman", the popular children's book "Our Tree Named Steve", "North", a collection of short stories and essays titled "Clothing Optional, the novel "Lunatics" that he co-wrote with Dave Barry, as well as the middle grades book "Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain In My ____" that he co-wrote with Adam Mansbach.Alan's humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post and MAD Magazine. He has also penned two best selling e-books titled "From My Bottom Drawer: Vols. I and II".The co-writer of the screenplays for the films "Dragnet", "North", and "The Story of Us", Alan has received an honorary PhD. from the State University of New York and because of the diversity of his body or work, in 2010 the Writers Guild of America, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Alan is currently an executive producer on Showtime's documentary series "Inside Comedy" starring David Steinberg, is writing and producing a pilot for IFC, is awaiting publication of a parody of the Haggadah titled "For This We Left Egypt? ' (Flatiron) which he co-wrote with Dave Barry and Adam Mansbach. And in addition to the late night talk shows, on the TV screen he's also appeared in episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Law & Order".But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he's co-produced with his wife Robin; their children Adam, Lindsay and Sari; and their grandchildren Zachary, Alexis, Jordan, Kylie and Sydney.
