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The Last Laugh: The World of Stand-Up Comics
The Last Laugh is the first and only book to take readers deep into the bizarre universe of the standup comic, from the classic years of Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Shecky Greene, to today's comedy superstars. Phil Berger shows how styles and trends in standup have changed over the past fifty years, but how taking the stage in a comedy club is as tough as it's always been. Performers profiled in the book include Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Elaine Boosler, Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Dick Gregory, Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, Cheech and Chong, Eddie Murphy, and a host of others. Filled with comics' hilarious routines and anecdotes, this substantially updated edition also chronicles the lives and careers of more recent artists, including Richard Lewis and Jay Leno.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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492 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 5, 2019
I liked it! doesn't go as in depth as I wanted, but it seems like it was one of the first books to take stand up seriously, and it was still interesting.
February 24, 2023
This interesting book lays out the history of standup comedy and details many famous comedians from the 1940s through 2000.
PROS:
1) Shares countless details and quirky stories about well-known and unknown comedians as they fought their way into the comedy scene and (some) reached great success.
2) Covers a wide range of comics, including Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, Lenny Bruce, Don Rickles, Shecky Green, Woody Allen, Dick Gregory, Robert Klein, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Lewis, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Jimmie Walker, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Lily Tomlin, Joan Rivers, Jay Leno, plus many more!
CONS:
1) Hard to read b/c the pages randomly jump from comic to comic (and then back to the first comic) without rhyme or reason. Instead of a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end, this book feels more like listening to the author's stream of conscience.
2) Way too long at 458 pages. In fact, it took me 3 months to finish. Ugh.
3) Only the last 80 pages cover "modern" comedians who were on the scene from 1975 to 2000, so most of this book covers less familiar comedians.
BOTTOM LINE:
This book contains interesting stories about famous comedians that you won't find anywhere else. Unfortunately, you have to wade through 458 pages that were strung together in a random and illogical fashion. If you are a die-hard lover of all things standup comedy, this book is worth the effort. If not, then I suggest finding another book to enjoy.
PROS:
1) Shares countless details and quirky stories about well-known and unknown comedians as they fought their way into the comedy scene and (some) reached great success.
2) Covers a wide range of comics, including Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, Lenny Bruce, Don Rickles, Shecky Green, Woody Allen, Dick Gregory, Robert Klein, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Lewis, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Jimmie Walker, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Lily Tomlin, Joan Rivers, Jay Leno, plus many more!
CONS:
1) Hard to read b/c the pages randomly jump from comic to comic (and then back to the first comic) without rhyme or reason. Instead of a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end, this book feels more like listening to the author's stream of conscience.
2) Way too long at 458 pages. In fact, it took me 3 months to finish. Ugh.
3) Only the last 80 pages cover "modern" comedians who were on the scene from 1975 to 2000, so most of this book covers less familiar comedians.
BOTTOM LINE:
This book contains interesting stories about famous comedians that you won't find anywhere else. Unfortunately, you have to wade through 458 pages that were strung together in a random and illogical fashion. If you are a die-hard lover of all things standup comedy, this book is worth the effort. If not, then I suggest finding another book to enjoy.
January 6, 2021
Interesting, but...
This book was originally written in the mid-1970s so it originally heavy with long-dead comics (e.g. Rodney Dangerfield, Jack E. Leonard, Vaughn Meader, etc.) It eventually got to names "I grew up with" like Robert Klein, David Steinberg, David Brenner, but I still felt left out in the cold. Women were basically mentioned but not explored.
The writing skill of the author is questionable.
This book was originally written in the mid-1970s so it originally heavy with long-dead comics (e.g. Rodney Dangerfield, Jack E. Leonard, Vaughn Meader, etc.) It eventually got to names "I grew up with" like Robert Klein, David Steinberg, David Brenner, but I still felt left out in the cold. Women were basically mentioned but not explored.
The writing skill of the author is questionable.
March 29, 2018
There are plenty of interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout this book - an exhaustive number of interviews must have been conducted and innumerable nights spent in comedy clubs to get the raw material here - but the way Berger jumps around makes it sometimes difficult to follow and sometimes unclear where Berger is even attempting to lead us. It’s split into three sections but there’s no real rhyme or reason for the splitting. From beginning to end it reads like one long run-on, jumping from club to club and comedian to comedian. Great for comedy history buffs but not something an average reader would want to sit down with and plow through.
One big takeaway: this book was published in 1975 and this quote perfectly captures how many people feel about today’s comedy scene: “We occasionally got into battles with some women who were really heavy into women’s lib. For a comic, that’s deadly, ya know... And that’s the funny thing about new comics, they have to be in some ways more sensitive to their audience and offending people. Young kids would criticize the old comics... but let a comic go out and joke with women’s lib people, joke racially, and that’s not funny because it’s politics. And there’s a real lack of humor that way. It’s - watch it!” - Larry Brezner (page 345-346)
One big takeaway: this book was published in 1975 and this quote perfectly captures how many people feel about today’s comedy scene: “We occasionally got into battles with some women who were really heavy into women’s lib. For a comic, that’s deadly, ya know... And that’s the funny thing about new comics, they have to be in some ways more sensitive to their audience and offending people. Young kids would criticize the old comics... but let a comic go out and joke with women’s lib people, joke racially, and that’s not funny because it’s politics. And there’s a real lack of humor that way. It’s - watch it!” - Larry Brezner (page 345-346)
November 6, 2024
Honestly hated this book. It was boring and written so poorly. How did this guy actually have a career as a writer? It doesn’t make any sense. This dude wrote a whole final chapter on his thoughts about comedy and how he was like “screw you im writing this book” well I wish you hadn’t cause I wouldn’t have gotten the recommendation and then I wouldn’t have wasted hours reading it. I did learn a couple new things about Kaufman which is why this deserves at least 1 star. Some comedian recommended this book and said he rereads it every few years. What a nerd!
August 9, 2017
Good subject matter, but I thought the author "bounced around" with his views...sort of like at Stephen Wright comedy routine (well, without the funny bits, of course). There was also a large amount of time discussing Lenny Bruce and Robert Klein, but very little on Robin Williams and nothing about Bob Newhart. These are just examples, and I know everyone has their own taste/opinions, but I was still surprised.
June 9, 2023
Well, I really did want to like it. And I almost did about 1/3 of the way in, but it was finally only a collection of notes for a history of the the middle years of standup and desperately in need of an adequate editor. Out of 450 plus pages of text, maybe 3 jokes made me smile. There are other, better, books that cover the same era. Mel Watkins is brilliant when it comes to black humor. Any others recommended ?
Want to read
August 10, 20138.9.13
I first heard about this book a few weeks ago, when I heard that this was the book that inspired Jerry Seinfeld to become a standup. Makes me want to read this very much.
I first heard about this book a few weeks ago, when I heard that this was the book that inspired Jerry Seinfeld to become a standup. Makes me want to read this very much.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews