“Right now, a comedian can perform a joke in front of three hundred people, film it, and have it watched as part of a special by 5 million people on Netflix, record it and have it listened to by 300,000 people on Spotify, clip it and have it watched by 1.2 million people on YouTube, 640,000 people on Instagram, and 1.1 million on TikTok. This is what adapting to the audience looks like today, and the audience responds accordingly.” (p. 50)
Jesse David Fox is a senior editor at Vulture, where he works as the site’s comedy critic. Fox loves comedy and studies it through interviews with comedians. Fox’s new book, The Comedy Book, not only dissects jokes and stand-up routines, but goes into detail on key movers and shakers in the comedy world. Here’s Fox on Adam Sandler:
“Between 1995 when he came out with Billy Madison, and 2015, when he started making movies exclusively for Netflix, Adam Sandler starred in seventeen live-action movies that each grossed more than one hundred million dollars worldwide. During that 20 year period, that’s more hits than Ben Stiller made, more than Jim Carrey, more than Will Ferrell, more than Julia Roberts, more than Will Smith, more than Tom Cruise. It’s tied with Tom Hanks…” (p. 58)
Fox explores the various elements of comedy from adjusting to an audience to the timing of a joke. It becomes apparent that Fox prefers “cerebral” comedy. This leads him to focus on one of his favorite comedy TV shows:
“Getting through a lot of the early writing about The Simpsons, the Harvard of it all stand out. While none of the show’s three creators went to Harvard (Matt Groening went to Evergreen State College, James L. Brooks dropped out of NYU, and Sam Simon went to Stanford), four of the original seven staff writer did (Al Jean, Mike Weiss, Jon Vitti, George Meyer). Season 2 include writing from two more Harvards (Jeff Martin and Nell Scovell). Seasons 4 and 5 brought on another four (Conan O’Brien, Bill Oakley, Dan McGrath). In 2021, Harvard Magazine reported that over thirty writers from the show were Harvard alumni.” (p. 68)
Fox covers all the major comedians: Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Richard Pryor, Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Cosby, and over a dozen more. If you’re interested in comedy and how the magic works, read The Comedy Book. Who is your favorite comedian? GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Comedy — 3
Audience — 24
Funny — 51
Timing — 73
Politics — 99
Truth — 127
Laughter — 161
The line — 189
Context — 232
Community — 263
Connection — 297
Notes — 317
Acknowledgements — 335
Index — 339
“Who is your favorite comedian?” you ask.
Well one of the biggest laughs I ever got from a movie was provided by the talents of Howard Keel!
In KISS ME KATE, he plays a successful actor, and on his wall is a full-length portrait of him playing Hamlet.
Howard Keel as Hamlet? I ’bout choked on my popcorn!
Dan, that is pretty funny!
As you may realize, George, I don’t have high tastes in comedy. One bit that always gets me laughing is this scene from RAT RACE, where Jon Lovitz takes his family to the Barbie Museum since his daughter loves the plastic doll: https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Rat+Race+-+the+Barbie+museum&mid=E397D2489DF2B9B14A36E397D2489DF2B9B14A36&FORM=VIRE
Jerry, I remember that scene from RAT RACE well. Hilarious!
The older I get, the less “comedy” appeals to me. So much of it seems to be based on being “edgy” while making fun of marginalized groups. Things that I do find funny are episodes of the original run of Mystery Science Theater 3000 or its more recent iteration as Riff-Trax. I also still like to watch episodes of Seinfeld and Frasier along with anything from the first decade or so of The Simpsons. And I’m always happy to watch a Jim Gaffigan stand-up special. But, by & large, much of what passes for “comedy” these days leaves me cold.
/And stay off my lawn!
Deb, I can related to your attitude towards contemporary comedy. Too much of it is four-letter words (no funny to me) and sex jokes (usually fall flat) and “edgy” topics I have zero interest in. SEINFELD holds up well over the decades. Who can forget “Master of My Domain”?
Early seasons of SEINFELD tend much better.
Todd, I agree: the early seasons of SEINFELD were superior to the later ones. The last episode of SEINFELD was a huge disappointment.
Robert Klein, Lewis Black, Steve Martin (pre-pretentious era), Rodney Dangerfield, Robert Schimmel, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Pryor, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Cosby (when he used to be funny, not creepy), Paul Reiser, Judy Gold, Bob Newhart, Bill Murray, Jack Benny.
I love comedy.
Adam Sandler is NOT funny to me, at all, ever. His career success escapes me.
Jeff, I was surprised by the success of Adam Sandler, too. That’s why I quoted Fox on the scale of his movie successes.
Over the years we’ve seen many standup comics, some live and others on TV. One who lived up to his image live was Rodney. He was great. Robert Klein is definitely in the “cerebral” class of comics and we have several of his shows in a DVD collection.
Jeff, those are wonderful comedians. I’m not partial to standup acts that focus on poop and farts.
A good set of people who do good sets.
I like sit-coms more than standup. I like a plot. Standup is funnier to me when it is less blue and edgy and more about every day life.
Patti, welcome back! We missed you! Yes, I prefer sit-coms more than standup, too. My favorite episode of FRASIER is “The Ski Lodge.” So funny!
Most deft farce they did.
The deranged Katie Britt monologue was one of the funniest stand-ups I’ve ever seen. As with Trump, Santos, and Boeburt, though, the joke is on us. Seinfeld remains funny. So do The Honeymooners, Our Gang, and the first couple of seasons of Get Smart.
Fred, well said! I had forgotten about the absurd humor of Katie Britt!
Curly Howard! I’ve been laughing at his antics for over half a century! I’ve never liked Adam Sandler! For standup I’ve always liked George Carlin! Many others come in second! Jeff’s list is close to mine!
Bob, I agree with you on George Carlin! A great humorist! And, I always liked Curly better than Moe!
Most of Adam Sandler’s work, as I’ve noted elsewhere recently, is for teenage boys of all ages and all genders. Then he might do a PUNCH DRUNK LOVE or UNCUT GEMS every few years so as to demonstrate he Can do better. But all the money, and a devoted audience, wants the other things.
There are a number of comedians (stand-ups) who pitch at the fratboy level, but no one is required to listen to nor watch them. I gave a list of my favorites not too long ago, and one can catch them online in podcasts and concerts and clips….Jackie Kashian, Maria Bamford, Andy Daly, Tig Notaro, Jimmy Pardo, Cathy Ladman, Steven Wright, Robin Thede, Phoebe Robinson, indeed Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl when he was on, Tom Lehrer, Harry Shearer (even though he, like Newhart, has been as much actor as stand-up over the decades), Brooks and Reiner (with the 2000 Year Old Man), Bob and Ray (arguably doing sketch comedy most of the time), Jack Benny and Fred Allen (likewise), Jake Johannsen, Melissa Villasenor, Carmen Morales, and, again, this leaves out the sketch folks such as SCTV and other Second City offshoots, a whole lot of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE folks, the Firesign Theater, a lot of late night hosts (but not all) and so on, not least Andy Richter. My earliest favorites were probably the Smothers Bros. Carlin and Pryor. Ernie Kovacs. MONTY PYTHON. Like Jeff, I love comedy. Pity that Robert Benchley’s short films weren’t as good as his prose. Stanley Kubrick’s one real comedy film. Mel Brooks remaking Fred Allen’s best film (IT’S IN THE BAG, a very loose adaptation of THE TWELVE CHAIRS novel) and Jack Benny’s (TO BE OR NOT TO BE).
The notion he could corral *All* the Big Names seems unlikely….David Steinberg’s DISGUISED AS A NORMAL PERSON was the first comedy album I bought for myself.
Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner on CONAN O’BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND in December: https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/conan-obrien-needs-a-friend/episodes/albert-brooks-and-rob-reiner
I’m not sure which sitcom I watched first, though if we count ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE…I know often comic drama ROOM 222, PBS’s anthology THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE, and M*A*S*H in its first season were among my early favorites, as, indeed, was GET SMART.
Todd, I loved ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE as a kid and I have all the shows on DVD for occasional watching. Still funny!
We did not see much US comedy in Germany, probably because it would have been too difficult to translate or adapt the jokes.
But when I could see some originals later my favourie was SNL.
So obviously I’m not an expert there – and now I feel too old to watch comedy.
Wolf, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was great back when you were in the U.S. Today, it’s not as funny but occasionally can be politically astute.
It definitely has better and worse years, and good casts sometimes partly dragged down by the occasional Jim Breuer.
And, you know, I should’ve noted Taylor Tomlinson and her enjoyable series, the reboot version of AFTER MIDNIGHT (the original was @ MIDNIGHT)…probably the best comedians’ showcase in latenight at the moment, as a Fake Game Show. Follows Colbert on CBS.
The most amiable underappreciated sitcom might be the CTV/CW CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING (season has wrapped, but on CW onlne, I think), and ABC’s NOT DEAD YET. I’m also glad to see Fox’s ANIMAL CONTROL back.
Todd, I enjoy Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Jon Stewart’s political humor. Trump is comedy gold for those guys!