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Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America
From the most popular routines and the most ingenious physical shtick to the snappiest wisecracks and the most biting satire of the last century, MAKE 'EM LAUGH illuminates who we are as a nation by exploring what makes us laugh, and why. Authors Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor draw on countless sources to chronicle the past century of American comedy and the geniuses who created and performed it-melding biography, American history, and a lotta laughs into an exuberant, important book.
Each of the six chapters focuses a different style or archetype of comedy, from the slapstick pratfalls of Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball through the wiseguy put-downs of Groucho Marx and Larry David, to the incendiary bombshells of Mae West and Richard Pryor . And at every turn the significance of these comedians-smashing social boundaries, challenging the definition of good taste, speaking the truth to the powerful-is vividly tangible. MAKE 'EM LAUGH is more than a compendium of American comic genius; it is a window onto the way comedy both reflects the world and changes it-one laugh at a time.
Starting from the groundbreaking PBS series, the authors have gone deeper into the works and lives of America's great comic artists, with biographical portraits, archival materials, cultural overviews, and rare photos. Brilliantly illustrated, with insights (and jokes) from comedians, writers and producers, along with film, radio, television, and theater historians, MAKE 'EM LAUGH is an indispensible, definitive book about comedy in America.
Each of the six chapters focuses a different style or archetype of comedy, from the slapstick pratfalls of Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball through the wiseguy put-downs of Groucho Marx and Larry David, to the incendiary bombshells of Mae West and Richard Pryor . And at every turn the significance of these comedians-smashing social boundaries, challenging the definition of good taste, speaking the truth to the powerful-is vividly tangible. MAKE 'EM LAUGH is more than a compendium of American comic genius; it is a window onto the way comedy both reflects the world and changes it-one laugh at a time.
Starting from the groundbreaking PBS series, the authors have gone deeper into the works and lives of America's great comic artists, with biographical portraits, archival materials, cultural overviews, and rare photos. Brilliantly illustrated, with insights (and jokes) from comedians, writers and producers, along with film, radio, television, and theater historians, MAKE 'EM LAUGH is an indispensible, definitive book about comedy in America.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published December 2, 2008
6 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Laurence Maslon
19 books9 followersLaurence Maslon is an arts professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, as well as associate chair of the Graduate Acting Program. He is the writer and coproducer of the American Masters documentary, Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, broadcast on PBS in 2019, as well as the artistic director and writer of “Yes I Can: The Sammy Davis, Jr. Songbook” at the 92Y’s “Lyrics and Lyricists” series. He is also the host and producer of the radio series, Broadway to Main Street on the local NPR-affiliate station WPPB-FM. The program is winner of the 2019 ASCAP Foundation/Deems Taylor Award for Radio Broadcast. His most recent book is the companion volume to the Broadway phenomenon Come From Away, as well as an update third edition companion volume to the PBS series Broadway: The American Musical. His history of recorded music from Broadway, Broadway to Main Street: How Show Music Enchanted America, was published in 2018 by Oxford University Press. He edited the two-volume set American Musicals (1927-1969) containing sixteen classic Broadway librettos, published by the Library of America in 2014 to national acclaim, as well as the Library of America’s Kaufman & Co., an anthology of Broadway comedies by George S. Kaufman. He wrote the American Masters documentary Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds in 2001 and with producer/director Michael Kantor, he cowrote the PBS series Make ‘Em Laugh (Emmy nomination) and two episodes of the Emmy-winning Broadway: The American Musical as well as its companion volume (third edition upcoming in fall 2019). He served on the nominating committee for the Tony Awards from 2007 to 2010. He was written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Opera News, Stagebill, and American Theatre.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 8, 2021
A big and wide-ranging book of humor and celebrities. While the choice of who is profiled is subjective and sometimes curious, the individual essays about each, from Charlie Chaplin to George Carlin, are sharp and funny. Much is written about the media that comedians have used, and I learned more about them, such as the difference between burlesque and vaudeville, that I’d have guessed. Baby boomers will especially enjoy the selections that we grew up with: Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Diller, up through Roseanne Barr and Jerry Seinfeld. It’s a companion to a PBS series on comedy, now to just find it, and I’ll have American comedy nailed.
January 14, 2020
Learned a bit about the history of American comedy that I didn’t know before. Also I enjoyed their breakdown of the different types of comedians, more so than I did from the Scott Sedita point of view
January 8, 2010
Subtitled "The Funny Business of America," this encyclopedic overview of professional comedy focuses mainly on performers from the silent movie and vaudeville eras onward into this century.
Most chapters are about a specific personality or duo and what he-she-they contributed to American humor that was unique. Some of the chosen subjects are obvious: Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, the Smothers Brothers...
Other chapters highlight specific shows, such as "The Simpsons." One champions Norman Lear, a break-through TV producer but not a performer.
Sub-chapters touch on specific eras or mediums: cartoons, the Borscht Belt nightclubs, Vaudeville and Broadway, Burlesque, radio, record albums, cable TV.
To avoid making this coffee table book heftier than an unabridged dictionary, the authors had no choice but to leave out a lot of details about many of the subjects' lives and careers. Even so, this is an impressive study - practically the text for a college course.
Yet it is curious that so much talent can little or no mention: TV pioneer Milton Berle, insult king Don Rickles, "Tonight Show" founder Steve Allen, mime great Red Skelton, radio host Garrison Keillor, Steve Carell, Nichols & May, Lily Tomlin, Jay Leno, Flip Wilson, Ernie Kovacs...
To be fair, some of the performers the book skims over get at least some attention in the PBS mini-series of the same title for which many of the same people were interviewed.
The book and the video largely do not repeat each other. We highly recommend that you get both, especially since the DVDs include additional interview excerpts not used in the series or book and features in which comedians share some of their favorite jokes.
"Make 'em Laugh" will make you laugh indeed.
Most chapters are about a specific personality or duo and what he-she-they contributed to American humor that was unique. Some of the chosen subjects are obvious: Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, the Smothers Brothers...
Other chapters highlight specific shows, such as "The Simpsons." One champions Norman Lear, a break-through TV producer but not a performer.
Sub-chapters touch on specific eras or mediums: cartoons, the Borscht Belt nightclubs, Vaudeville and Broadway, Burlesque, radio, record albums, cable TV.
To avoid making this coffee table book heftier than an unabridged dictionary, the authors had no choice but to leave out a lot of details about many of the subjects' lives and careers. Even so, this is an impressive study - practically the text for a college course.
Yet it is curious that so much talent can little or no mention: TV pioneer Milton Berle, insult king Don Rickles, "Tonight Show" founder Steve Allen, mime great Red Skelton, radio host Garrison Keillor, Steve Carell, Nichols & May, Lily Tomlin, Jay Leno, Flip Wilson, Ernie Kovacs...
To be fair, some of the performers the book skims over get at least some attention in the PBS mini-series of the same title for which many of the same people were interviewed.
The book and the video largely do not repeat each other. We highly recommend that you get both, especially since the DVDs include additional interview excerpts not used in the series or book and features in which comedians share some of their favorite jokes.
"Make 'em Laugh" will make you laugh indeed.
September 1, 2009
This is a coffee-table book. Lots of pictures and changes in font, perfect for those with short attention spans. Like me.
As someone who has vague but real comedic aspirations, I appreciated how different these comedians were/are, to the point where they sometimes couldn't work together. (Example: Buster Keaton, the silent movie hero, languished later as a writer for the Marx Brothers.) It encouraged me to continue trying to discover my own voice and my own style, and thus find my own audience.
I didn't get to finish the book, because I'd maxed out my library renewals and had to return it. But I'd like to wrap it up at some point.
One sticking point: They took a lot of digs at Bob Hope, which just seemed unnecessary at best, and mean at worst. Don't know what their problem is with him, unless they disliked his Catholicism or his conservative (with a lower-case "c") bent. Whatever it was, it made me sad. With the other comedians, they did a pretty good job of affirming what was brilliant about them, in spite of -- or even because of -- their flaws and and imbalances. I felt safe being human. But I didn't feel safe when they slammed Bob.
As someone who has vague but real comedic aspirations, I appreciated how different these comedians were/are, to the point where they sometimes couldn't work together. (Example: Buster Keaton, the silent movie hero, languished later as a writer for the Marx Brothers.) It encouraged me to continue trying to discover my own voice and my own style, and thus find my own audience.
I didn't get to finish the book, because I'd maxed out my library renewals and had to return it. But I'd like to wrap it up at some point.
One sticking point: They took a lot of digs at Bob Hope, which just seemed unnecessary at best, and mean at worst. Don't know what their problem is with him, unless they disliked his Catholicism or his conservative (with a lower-case "c") bent. Whatever it was, it made me sad. With the other comedians, they did a pretty good job of affirming what was brilliant about them, in spite of -- or even because of -- their flaws and and imbalances. I felt safe being human. But I didn't feel safe when they slammed Bob.
January 6, 2011
Included a nice assortment of funny men (and didn't exclude the women). A great book to use as a reference as well as to pass the time with your favorite comedians. Breaks the comics down into six categories: "The Knockabouts" (Includes Lucy, The 3 Stooges, & Jim Carrey, etc..), "Satire and Parody" (Includes Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks and Carol Burnett, etc..), "Smart Alecks and Wiseguys" (Includes Groucho, Jack Benny and Paul Lynde, etc..), "Nerds, Jerks, and Oddballs" (Includes Harold Lloyd, Andy Kaufman and Gilda Radner, etc..), "Breadwinners and Homemakers" (Includes George and Gracie, The Dick van Dyke Show, and Roseanne, etc..), and "The Groundbreakers" (Includes Mae West, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin, etc..)
May 9, 2012
Great book about comedy in general.Covered comedians, comedy teams, sit coms, variety shows, etc. Everything about American comedy on TV, and then some.This is a book you pass to friends and family after you have read and looked through it several times.It also has wonderful pictures and quotes from all the greats. There is a lot of insight in this book and as a comedian and a writer, I took a lot away from these pages. Highly recomended!
September 6, 2014
Make ‘Em Laugh: the Funny Business of America by Laurence Maslon and Michael Cantor (Twelve Publishing 2008)(792.23). This is a companion book to a PBS series. It is a big oversized coffee table book with pages of photos and bios of great tv comics. It includes information about All in the Family, SNL, and Andy Kaufmann. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 2009.
January 2, 2009
I didn't see the PBS special, but this book will have me looking for it in reruns. Think you know comedy? You'll be surprised when you read the short bio of Will Rogers and learn of the social, cultural, and political influence credited to the cowboy from Claremore.
November 14, 2009
a companion book to the pbs series, it has lots of details and good stories about the greats of comedy. a great coffee table book-do people still have those?-but if you like comedy and comedians you'll enjoy this
February 15, 2011
3 stars for the lightness of content - but then it is meant to be a coffee table book
5 stars for the pictures
average stars = 4
5 stars for the pictures
average stars = 4
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews