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Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life
Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman was the Larry David, the Adam Sandler, the Sacha Baron Cohen of 1963. He led Jewish humor and sensibilities out of ethnic enclaves and into the American mainstream with explosively funny parodies of classic songs that won Sherman extraordinary success and acclaim across the board, from Harpo Marx to President Kennedy. In Overweight Sensation, Mark Cohen argues persuasively for Sherman’s legacy as a touchstone of postwar humor and a turning point in Jewish American cultural history. With exclusive access to Allan Sherman’s estate, Cohen has written the first biography of the manic, bacchanalian, and hugely creative artist who sold three million albums in just twelve months, yet died in obscurity a decade later at the age of forty-nine. Comprehensive, dramatic, stylish, and tragic, Overweight Sensation is destined to become the definitive Sherman biography.
433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2013
8 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Mark Cohen
5 books3 followersOverweight Sensation: the life and comedy of Allan Sherman will be the first biography of the man behind three of the greatest comedy albums ever made -- My Son, The Folk Singer, My Son, The Celebrity, and My Son, The Nut.
My biography of the great song parodist admired by Weird Al Yankovic, Seinfeld star Jason Alexander (he gave me a great blurb!), and millions of others will be published in May 2013 by Brandeis University Press.
Special features include 25 photographs and the lyrics to more than 20 lost song parodies from his youth, college years, and pre-fame 1950s when he wrote his Jewish parodies of the Broadway musicals, including his fantastic "Seventy-six Sol Cohens" and "There is Nothing Like a Lox."
In addition to my other books listed here, my I've published journalism and research articles in the Saul Bellow Journal, Tablet, American Jewish History, The Forward, History of Photography, Modern Judaism, Midstream and other publications.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
My biography of the great song parodist admired by Weird Al Yankovic, Seinfeld star Jason Alexander (he gave me a great blurb!), and millions of others will be published in May 2013 by Brandeis University Press.
Special features include 25 photographs and the lyrics to more than 20 lost song parodies from his youth, college years, and pre-fame 1950s when he wrote his Jewish parodies of the Broadway musicals, including his fantastic "Seventy-six Sol Cohens" and "There is Nothing Like a Lox."
In addition to my other books listed here, my I've published journalism and research articles in the Saul Bellow Journal, Tablet, American Jewish History, The Forward, History of Photography, Modern Judaism, Midstream and other publications.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 11, 2014
Allan Sherman was a 1960s sensation, whose “fifteen minutes” of fame as a musical parodist came and went, before he received a grudging mention in the 1990s and finally something of a reappreciation in more recent years. Mark Cohen’s biography Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman will likely not find much appeal for a younger generation. But for those of us who grew up with My Son, the Folk Singer and other Sherman vinyl records, Cohen provides a window onto a sprawling and short-lived life that we barely were able to glimpse from a few album covers. (I was too young to remember the pre-album Sherman who created the TV game show I’ve Got a Secret.)
Allan Sherman was Jewish, likely a genius when it came to parody, and damaged goods. Reading his family history in the first chapter is enough to make one’s head spin. There are parents, multiple marriages, grandparents, siblings, step-siblings, adopted siblings, alcoholics, Jewish gangsters, rapid-fire moves from one city to another to another and to yet another. What does it do to a child’s formation when his obese father embarks on a 100-day fast in a treehouse that he can barely ascend without wheezing and then dies before the fast is over? Comedians are stereotypically but not unfairly known for having problem-festooned childhoods. Most, though, manage to survive for the long haul. Sherman did not. He died young, grossly overweight, and asthmatic at age 48.
There were three anchors, such as they were, in the midst of an otherwise turbulent life. From his grandparents, who afforded an escape from the insanities of the rest of his family, Sherman learned to love being Jewish and always naturally and unselfconsciously identified as such. His gift of parody, which showed up early on, was a second steady point. Unfortunately, the third point was his sexual proclivities which, along with his appetite for food, food, and more food, was part of his physical and emotional decline.
More than just a biography, Cohen also gives us sociological insight, especially into the nature of Jewishness in the Sherman years. For about fifteen years or so after World War II, American Jews became more American than Jewish. As Cohen puts it, “They joined synagogues, but Jewishness went underground. It became a secret. Sherman searched for a way to tell that secret.” Or in other words: “The takeaway lesson was that success depended upon leaving Jewish ethnicity behind. That was a message Sherman had been fighting all his life, and his Broadway parodies were his battle plan.” Ahead of and yet just right for his time, Sherman’s Jewish-flavored songs presaged the coming ethnic renaissance of the later ’60s and after.
And so Sherman took folk songs and other public-domain material—the Broadway songs he parodied were under copyright and his versions could not be legally recorded—and deconstructed them. He ended up stripping them of any pretentiousness, mocking their rosy outlooks or lack of authenticity (the ’60s folk movement was, according to Cohen’s sources, less “folk” than prettified professionalism.) Sherman had a predecessor in Mickey Katz, but Katz was definitely old-country in comparison with Sherman’s ’60s sensibilities.
But after just three hit albums, although the output continued, the flame was gone. Sherman turned from making Jewishness front and center in his parodies and turned to more general social commentary, often coming across as cranky and out of touch. Eventually, having been ahead of his time, he now fell behind it. Fame fled, marriage crumbled, the alcoholic tendencies grew more frequent. Allen died in 1973 of a heart attack. He would have turned 49 just ten days later.
You can still buy Allen’s material in box sets, and some of his work can be found on YouTube and music services like Spotify. He inspired later parodists as well. For those who heard Sherman in 1962 and for the next few years, he stands as a reminder of a time when Jews discovered that they could be Americans and still be Jews, when the Jewish experience was in many ways universal, and when laughter could help us understand who we were in the American landscape.
Allan Sherman was Jewish, likely a genius when it came to parody, and damaged goods. Reading his family history in the first chapter is enough to make one’s head spin. There are parents, multiple marriages, grandparents, siblings, step-siblings, adopted siblings, alcoholics, Jewish gangsters, rapid-fire moves from one city to another to another and to yet another. What does it do to a child’s formation when his obese father embarks on a 100-day fast in a treehouse that he can barely ascend without wheezing and then dies before the fast is over? Comedians are stereotypically but not unfairly known for having problem-festooned childhoods. Most, though, manage to survive for the long haul. Sherman did not. He died young, grossly overweight, and asthmatic at age 48.
There were three anchors, such as they were, in the midst of an otherwise turbulent life. From his grandparents, who afforded an escape from the insanities of the rest of his family, Sherman learned to love being Jewish and always naturally and unselfconsciously identified as such. His gift of parody, which showed up early on, was a second steady point. Unfortunately, the third point was his sexual proclivities which, along with his appetite for food, food, and more food, was part of his physical and emotional decline.
More than just a biography, Cohen also gives us sociological insight, especially into the nature of Jewishness in the Sherman years. For about fifteen years or so after World War II, American Jews became more American than Jewish. As Cohen puts it, “They joined synagogues, but Jewishness went underground. It became a secret. Sherman searched for a way to tell that secret.” Or in other words: “The takeaway lesson was that success depended upon leaving Jewish ethnicity behind. That was a message Sherman had been fighting all his life, and his Broadway parodies were his battle plan.” Ahead of and yet just right for his time, Sherman’s Jewish-flavored songs presaged the coming ethnic renaissance of the later ’60s and after.
And so Sherman took folk songs and other public-domain material—the Broadway songs he parodied were under copyright and his versions could not be legally recorded—and deconstructed them. He ended up stripping them of any pretentiousness, mocking their rosy outlooks or lack of authenticity (the ’60s folk movement was, according to Cohen’s sources, less “folk” than prettified professionalism.) Sherman had a predecessor in Mickey Katz, but Katz was definitely old-country in comparison with Sherman’s ’60s sensibilities.
But after just three hit albums, although the output continued, the flame was gone. Sherman turned from making Jewishness front and center in his parodies and turned to more general social commentary, often coming across as cranky and out of touch. Eventually, having been ahead of his time, he now fell behind it. Fame fled, marriage crumbled, the alcoholic tendencies grew more frequent. Allen died in 1973 of a heart attack. He would have turned 49 just ten days later.
You can still buy Allen’s material in box sets, and some of his work can be found on YouTube and music services like Spotify. He inspired later parodists as well. For those who heard Sherman in 1962 and for the next few years, he stands as a reminder of a time when Jews discovered that they could be Americans and still be Jews, when the Jewish experience was in many ways universal, and when laughter could help us understand who we were in the American landscape.
April 4, 2017
I have never been a big fan of biographies and didn't know if this would be as dry and boring as most. I didn't find it to be so. I thought it was a well-written, well-rounded and thoroughly researched story but I was already a fan of Allan Sherman's work and had read his autobiography so I was kind of prepared for it. What a sad, short, self-destructive life. The author was really fair to everyone involved, which I thought was important, although I did not agree with his assessment of some of the songs. But I laugh easily and enjoy this sort of humor and was a fan a long time ago, from the first time I heard, "Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder." This is one I will likely reread after a while. If you like biographies or if you are an Allan Sherman fan and especially if you've read "A Gift of Laughter: The Autobiography of Allan Sherman" then this book is worth reading.
Read
January 30, 2020I love the title of this book, a play (obviously) on the term “overnight sensation.” If Allan Sherman did not make this joke about himself (he often made reference to his being fat), then it’s the kind of joke he would have made. And I love the photo on the cover: Sherman with his dorky white shirt, and short hair, and glasses, with his arms flung back and his mouth wide, as he belts out some great note of a song, as if he were an opera singer on stage, and not the scratchy-voiced singer of cute “witty ditties.” I come to the book a long-time fan of Allan Sherman’s songs.
As for what’s inside the covers, the first third of the book is somewhat tedious, the middle third is wonderful, and the ending is sad, sad, sad.
In the beginning we learn about young Allan’s family background. His mother Rose married a lot, and traveled a lot. The family moved from Chicago to LA, to New York, and to several places in between, and then moved back again. Almost every year, a new school, a new father, a new name (this is the tedious part, because each change is documented). Sometimes Allan lived with his grandparents, the openly Jewish Esther and Leon Sherman. Rose was Jewish, too, of course, but preferred to hide it, as when she changed Allan’s father’s name from Kaplan to the more Anglicized Coplon. Rose’s last husband was a con man, and ended up being arrested.
Author Cohen calls this upbringing “chaotic,” and Allan was happy to get away from it. One way he did that was by choosing the name of his grandparents, Sherman, and by identifying with their Jewishness.
He went to college, where he threw himself into writing satirical articles for a campus paper, and writing satirical songs for parties and plays. He did not throw himself into his studies, however, and was eventually thrown out of college. He also did a stint in the Army, but he was discharged because of health reasons, mostly asthma. In college he also met Dee, the woman he would marry.
Sherman began his career as producer for the television show I’ve Got a Secret. He was not a great producer, because he was sloppy with deadlines, and preferred golfing to showing up for work. Meanwhile, on the side, he was writing parody songs, and he sang them to his friends at house parties. Eventually the TV jobs would fail, and the songs would take off.
Sherman put out a record of his silly little tunes, called My Son, The Folk Singer, and it surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a hot number one best-seller. He quickly followed it up with two more records: My Son, the Celebrity, and My Son, the Nut. All of them went to the top.
Now comes the glorious part. Yes, Sherman was irresponsible, but he was also lovable, open, gregarious, and very, very funny. Everyone, right up to President JFK was humming his songs. And the songs were playful, silly, joyous. They were also unapologetically Jewish, at a time when America was just starting to open itself toward the idea of diversity. Life was good, and the funny-looking fat kid was a star.
And then comes the sad part. Sherman did everything wrong. He smoked, he drank, he ate and ate and ate. He chased women. He divorced his wife. He became depressed and bitter, and not quite so funny any more. He spent too much, till he was desperate for any source of income, but none of his projects succeeded. He checked himself into the hospital to lose weight on a medically-supervised diet, but still his health failed. He died of a heart attack just short of age 49.
Eventually his reputation would become rehabilitated, and his records would be re-released. Doctor Demento would help with this, and a new generation of comics would say they owed him a debt. And indeed, his best songs are timeless. So let us just remember the good times.
As for what’s inside the covers, the first third of the book is somewhat tedious, the middle third is wonderful, and the ending is sad, sad, sad.
In the beginning we learn about young Allan’s family background. His mother Rose married a lot, and traveled a lot. The family moved from Chicago to LA, to New York, and to several places in between, and then moved back again. Almost every year, a new school, a new father, a new name (this is the tedious part, because each change is documented). Sometimes Allan lived with his grandparents, the openly Jewish Esther and Leon Sherman. Rose was Jewish, too, of course, but preferred to hide it, as when she changed Allan’s father’s name from Kaplan to the more Anglicized Coplon. Rose’s last husband was a con man, and ended up being arrested.
Author Cohen calls this upbringing “chaotic,” and Allan was happy to get away from it. One way he did that was by choosing the name of his grandparents, Sherman, and by identifying with their Jewishness.
He went to college, where he threw himself into writing satirical articles for a campus paper, and writing satirical songs for parties and plays. He did not throw himself into his studies, however, and was eventually thrown out of college. He also did a stint in the Army, but he was discharged because of health reasons, mostly asthma. In college he also met Dee, the woman he would marry.
Sherman began his career as producer for the television show I’ve Got a Secret. He was not a great producer, because he was sloppy with deadlines, and preferred golfing to showing up for work. Meanwhile, on the side, he was writing parody songs, and he sang them to his friends at house parties. Eventually the TV jobs would fail, and the songs would take off.
Sherman put out a record of his silly little tunes, called My Son, The Folk Singer, and it surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a hot number one best-seller. He quickly followed it up with two more records: My Son, the Celebrity, and My Son, the Nut. All of them went to the top.
Now comes the glorious part. Yes, Sherman was irresponsible, but he was also lovable, open, gregarious, and very, very funny. Everyone, right up to President JFK was humming his songs. And the songs were playful, silly, joyous. They were also unapologetically Jewish, at a time when America was just starting to open itself toward the idea of diversity. Life was good, and the funny-looking fat kid was a star.
And then comes the sad part. Sherman did everything wrong. He smoked, he drank, he ate and ate and ate. He chased women. He divorced his wife. He became depressed and bitter, and not quite so funny any more. He spent too much, till he was desperate for any source of income, but none of his projects succeeded. He checked himself into the hospital to lose weight on a medically-supervised diet, but still his health failed. He died of a heart attack just short of age 49.
Eventually his reputation would become rehabilitated, and his records would be re-released. Doctor Demento would help with this, and a new generation of comics would say they owed him a debt. And indeed, his best songs are timeless. So let us just remember the good times.
June 28, 2015
I'm a fan of Sherman's song parodies, but I can't say I really knew that much about his life, aside from bits and pieces I picked up from the Internet. The impression I get is that he was somewhat of a hedonist, overindulging in food, drink, smoking, and sex. Yeah, despite the prudish attitude he shows in some of his songs, he apparently had a lot of affairs and participated in orgies. It appears that he also had a somewhat disturbing tendency to fetishize childhood. The book mentions both his good and bad points, how he was a comic genius who had a way with words and a knack for entertaining, yet could also be self-destructive and full of himself. He was good at schmoozing, but bad with money, and had a lot of ups and downs in terms of his fame and finances. He was a big star in his day, but is now mostly just remembered for "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!" Coming from a childhood in which he moved around a lot, born to parents who were reticent about their Jewishness, he took comfort in his extended family and embraced American Jewish culture, helping to bring it into the mainstream. His humor is compared to that of other Jewish comedians whose careers started around the same time, like Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, and Woody Allen. Having died of a heart attack in 1973, shortly before his forty-ninth birthday, I guess you could say he lived fast and died young.
October 22, 2013
I have always been a fan of Allan Sherman, and i hope that i always will. The foundations trembled as i read this one, though. No surprises, his overnight rise to the spotlight in the early '60s was more than he could handle--how could anyone? He saw more about life than most people do, and he had a remarkable gift of inviting us to laugh. That much I can appreciate. And i appreciate the incredible amount of research that went into assembling this biography! Let's make that INCREDIBLE AMOUNT...perhaps a bit superfluous? The opinions of those who were left in the wake of his tsunami are valuable, but maybe best left for the editor's cut.
On that note, Mexican Hat Dance never fails to render me chortled. One hippopotami is pure genius! You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louie got me through French class. Brilliance!
On that note, Mexican Hat Dance never fails to render me chortled. One hippopotami is pure genius! You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louie got me through French class. Brilliance!
September 16, 2013
I'm a big fan of Allan Sherman, but not so much of this book. While I appreciate the obvious breadth and depth of research, and even the author's often insightful analysis of Sherman's work, the narrative got bogged down in irrelevant details (I don't need everyone's address and the name of every uncle, aunt, and cousin) and repetitiveness.
On the positive side, when the book covers the comedian's work and Business dealings, this reader learned things he wanted to know (I had no idea Sherman was instrumental in Bill Cosby's career). I just longed for more of this sort of thing.
On the positive side, when the book covers the comedian's work and Business dealings, this reader learned things he wanted to know (I had no idea Sherman was instrumental in Bill Cosby's career). I just longed for more of this sort of thing.
October 20, 2024
I grew up on Sherman's songs, so this went on my TBR as soon as I ran across it. He was so talented, yet died relatively young - what happened? Sadly, all the wrong things.
Interesting to learn that his (divorced) parents were quite secular, assimilated. His identity with the Jewish immigrants experience came from the time spent with his religious grandparents when he was a kid. Sherman did well in school, when he applied himself; author remarks that he sometimes received low grades in courses that should've been easy for him.
Anti-semitism was quite active at the time of Sherman's rise c. 1960, but he managed to tap into Jewish humor that translated well. In other words, in borrowing from (adapting) familiar tunes he gave the gentile audience something to latch onto, laugh along with the catchy music. However ...
He painted himself into a corner in doing so, by the time he realized he needed to break out to wider material, it was too late. Behind-the-scenes, his personal life was a mess, trusting folks who used him, as well as failing to address addictions and compulsions. This all took a toll on his health, so that in my opinion he just didn't have enough will to go on a decade later: obese alcoholic has-been (in his mind, likely).
Anyway, that's my take on his story. The author did a good job with putting together details. It would help to be familiar with Sherman's work first, reading it otherwise as a bio I don't think would work well.
Interesting to learn that his (divorced) parents were quite secular, assimilated. His identity with the Jewish immigrants experience came from the time spent with his religious grandparents when he was a kid. Sherman did well in school, when he applied himself; author remarks that he sometimes received low grades in courses that should've been easy for him.
Anti-semitism was quite active at the time of Sherman's rise c. 1960, but he managed to tap into Jewish humor that translated well. In other words, in borrowing from (adapting) familiar tunes he gave the gentile audience something to latch onto, laugh along with the catchy music. However ...
He painted himself into a corner in doing so, by the time he realized he needed to break out to wider material, it was too late. Behind-the-scenes, his personal life was a mess, trusting folks who used him, as well as failing to address addictions and compulsions. This all took a toll on his health, so that in my opinion he just didn't have enough will to go on a decade later: obese alcoholic has-been (in his mind, likely).
Anyway, that's my take on his story. The author did a good job with putting together details. It would help to be familiar with Sherman's work first, reading it otherwise as a bio I don't think would work well.
July 17, 2017
In the late fifties and early sixties, "party records" were the thing. That was euphemism for comedy albums; with comedians like Mort Sahl, Bob Newhart, Nichols and may. The best for me was Allen Sherman, he of "Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh" fame. We used to wear our record albums and needles until we memorized his song parodies.
This kind of tubby, black horn rim , short sleeve white shirt wearing everyman would leave us in stitches.
"Overweight Sensation" records the really troubled life of Sherman. Encouraged to lower his "jewishism" by his variety of parents; he chose to where it like a badge. A comedy and language genius; this happy go lucky guy was neither happy, nor go lucky.
He over ate, over drank, over womanized through his short time on earth .
He had a short 4 year arc of success (he discovered Bill Cosby and owned 1% of the royalties from ll Cosby albums...not bad). Failure greeted the end of his life has he continued to burn the candle at both ends until there was no more candle.
His life story turns out to be quite sad....but those albums; classic.
Four Jimmys out of five.
This kind of tubby, black horn rim , short sleeve white shirt wearing everyman would leave us in stitches.
"Overweight Sensation" records the really troubled life of Sherman. Encouraged to lower his "jewishism" by his variety of parents; he chose to where it like a badge. A comedy and language genius; this happy go lucky guy was neither happy, nor go lucky.
He over ate, over drank, over womanized through his short time on earth .
He had a short 4 year arc of success (he discovered Bill Cosby and owned 1% of the royalties from ll Cosby albums...not bad). Failure greeted the end of his life has he continued to burn the candle at both ends until there was no more candle.
His life story turns out to be quite sad....but those albums; classic.
Four Jimmys out of five.
September 5, 2024
If you don't know Allan Sherman, you need to. A notable musical comedian and observer of America in the early '60s, Sherman was "Weird Al" before "Weird Al."
Find any good comedy music compilation or station on streaming and you'll find Sherman's genius, with "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah!" or "Harvey and Sheila" or a number of other songs. He wrote, sometimes as parodies, in an American Jewish cadence and humor that emerged with perfect timing. In the early '60s, he had three million-selling albums in 18 months.
Then, it all fell apart as he failed to adapt to the changing scene, first with the Beatles and then with the protests of Vietnam. He had been fresh and funny, then he was an artifact as entertainment moved on (which makes Weird Al's longevity even more amazing).
Add to that his complicated life (absent family, crazy grandparents, numerous affairs, surprising sex life, weight problems, etc.) and his story ultimately becomes a sad tale that finishes with an early cardiac death.
Find any good comedy music compilation or station on streaming and you'll find Sherman's genius, with "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah!" or "Harvey and Sheila" or a number of other songs. He wrote, sometimes as parodies, in an American Jewish cadence and humor that emerged with perfect timing. In the early '60s, he had three million-selling albums in 18 months.
Then, it all fell apart as he failed to adapt to the changing scene, first with the Beatles and then with the protests of Vietnam. He had been fresh and funny, then he was an artifact as entertainment moved on (which makes Weird Al's longevity even more amazing).
Add to that his complicated life (absent family, crazy grandparents, numerous affairs, surprising sex life, weight problems, etc.) and his story ultimately becomes a sad tale that finishes with an early cardiac death.
August 1, 2025
In my early Gen X youth, there was a pantheon of humor - YMMV: Mad Magazine, Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, National Lampoon, SCTV, and The Dr. Demento Show. And if you liked Dr. Demento, you liked Allan Sherman. Allan Sherman was an obvious predecessor to Dr. Demento-popularized Weird Al, but that's all most people my age know.
Mark Cohen discusses Sherman's rocky childhood, his embrace of Jewishness at a time when American Jews were driven to assimilate, his relationship to folk music, the early television era, his naif tendencies, and his chaotic personal life and early death.
Sherman definitely has a place on the timeline of American music and humor. As a casual gentile fan, I ended up learning a lot about the Jewish experience in the US, which is good because we live in a time when the political right and left appear to be having a "say stupid things about Jews" contest. Understanding is good.
Mark Cohen discusses Sherman's rocky childhood, his embrace of Jewishness at a time when American Jews were driven to assimilate, his relationship to folk music, the early television era, his naif tendencies, and his chaotic personal life and early death.
Sherman definitely has a place on the timeline of American music and humor. As a casual gentile fan, I ended up learning a lot about the Jewish experience in the US, which is good because we live in a time when the political right and left appear to be having a "say stupid things about Jews" contest. Understanding is good.
April 26, 2024
The Most Complete Biography of Allan Sherman's Life
Years of research and interviews cultivated into this stellar book. As a huge Allan Sherman fan who had every one of his albums and listened to them over and over as a kid, I never knew a fraction of his life's work before and after his success. It is a shame he passed away way too soon and too young. His popularity has returned in cycles and he gets so much more recognition now then in his later years. Mark Cohen has written a complete book of his life and the aftermath.
Years of research and interviews cultivated into this stellar book. As a huge Allan Sherman fan who had every one of his albums and listened to them over and over as a kid, I never knew a fraction of his life's work before and after his success. It is a shame he passed away way too soon and too young. His popularity has returned in cycles and he gets so much more recognition now then in his later years. Mark Cohen has written a complete book of his life and the aftermath.
May 8, 2018
Having read Allan Sherman's autobiography "A Gift of Laughter" years ago, it was interesting to read this more objective biography. This book is obviously well-researched. It should have been checked more thoroughly for typographical errors (at least the Kindle version, which is the version I read).
September 26, 2018
Exactly what you want from a book with a target audience of 5% of all readers at best: meticulously researched. Both fun and scholarly. Insightful and communicative.
December 1, 2013
Most people have probably never heard of Allan Sherman, though there is a good chance they are familiar with his Ḧello Muddah, Hello Faddah¨ song about a boy at summer camp. Allan's claim to minor fame was writing parody lyrics to well known songs. He started doing this while attending college in the 1940's and continued to write and perform parody songs as a hobby while working as a TV game show producer in the 1950's. In the early 1960's, Sherman became an unlikely national singing sensation, despite his heavy weight, glasses, and crew cut hair. In a year's time he had three music albums become national best sellers, rising as far as #1 in the country. You can listen to these on Spotify for free and you can watch some of Allan's songs on YouTube.
Bet you didn't know: While guest-hosting ¨The Tonight Show¨ for Johnny Carson, Sherman arranged for a new young comedian to appear on the show for the first time. His name was Bill Cosby. For making a major contribution to Cosby's career, Sherman got 1% of Cosby's album sales for his first seven albums.
Sherman's success was cut short by his undisciplined life. He ate too much, drank too much, slept around too much, and spent too much. From a height of selling out lives shows nationwide, including one attended by President Kennedy, his career slowly lost steam and he was pretty much forgotten when he died of a heart attack at age 48 in 1973.
For those who enjoy the comedy songs of Tim Hawkins or Weird Al Yankovic, Sherman is a great find. His genius was to take familiar music and infuse it with funny, clever wit and satire. Here is a sample I did not know about until I read this book. It is sung to the tune ¨Over the Rainbow¨ from ¨The Wizard of Oz.¨
Somewhere, overweight people,
Just like me,
Must have someplace where folks don't count every calorie.
Somewhere, over the rainbow,
Way up tall,
There's a land where they've never heard of cholesterol.
Where folks can eat just what they want,
And still be slim and trim and gaunt,
You'll find me.
Where every little thing I taste,
Won't wind up showing on my waist, or worse,
Behind me.
If you read the book, don't forget to read the appendix with a great collection of Sherman's song lyrics from his 1950's Jewish parodies of Broadway musicals.
Bet you didn't know: While guest-hosting ¨The Tonight Show¨ for Johnny Carson, Sherman arranged for a new young comedian to appear on the show for the first time. His name was Bill Cosby. For making a major contribution to Cosby's career, Sherman got 1% of Cosby's album sales for his first seven albums.
Sherman's success was cut short by his undisciplined life. He ate too much, drank too much, slept around too much, and spent too much. From a height of selling out lives shows nationwide, including one attended by President Kennedy, his career slowly lost steam and he was pretty much forgotten when he died of a heart attack at age 48 in 1973.
For those who enjoy the comedy songs of Tim Hawkins or Weird Al Yankovic, Sherman is a great find. His genius was to take familiar music and infuse it with funny, clever wit and satire. Here is a sample I did not know about until I read this book. It is sung to the tune ¨Over the Rainbow¨ from ¨The Wizard of Oz.¨
Somewhere, overweight people,
Just like me,
Must have someplace where folks don't count every calorie.
Somewhere, over the rainbow,
Way up tall,
There's a land where they've never heard of cholesterol.
Where folks can eat just what they want,
And still be slim and trim and gaunt,
You'll find me.
Where every little thing I taste,
Won't wind up showing on my waist, or worse,
Behind me.
If you read the book, don't forget to read the appendix with a great collection of Sherman's song lyrics from his 1950's Jewish parodies of Broadway musicals.
November 24, 2013
Started reading this last night. Hmm. The introduction and first chapters are quirkily written. Insular. At least as of these early pages, Cohen is writing for the reader who is a fan and already in the know. ( I am a fan!) It is difficult to imagine a reader with a passing acquaintance with Allan Sherman's works (maybe "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah) feeling inspired or encouraged to continue and figure out what Cohen is talking about. I will, though, because the works of Allan Sherman shaped my childhood (and also some of my early parenting!) and, because I've already put in for a day off from work so I can go to the author's presentation at the JCA on December 4th. (Will I want my copy signed?)
Okay, at the half-way mark, I need to revise my opinion. Perhaps the early chapters are so angry because Sherman himself was angry? Once the narrative reaches California and his recording success begins, Cohen's writing changes; Sherman is still a less than stellar father and husband with little business savvy, but the reader does get to sense the excitement of Jewish humor finding its moment in America. You can feel the laughter in the live audiences.
To be fair, Cohen is detailing the man as he was, as well as a specific time in American show business and comedy. The comedy parts are fun, and the biography parts are not.
My brain nearly exploded to learn that Allan Sherman and Mel Brooks appeared on a game show together. Dork fangirl moment! If I can find a recording of it, I might plotz (but in a good way)!
Note: I am ever so grateful to my love for making the investment in My Son, the Box, several years ago. For a certain kind of wife, there is no better anniversary gift! The best antidote to Sherman's sad end is to pop in those CDs and belt out a little "Seltzer Boy" or "Old King Louie" at the very top of your lungs.
Okay, at the half-way mark, I need to revise my opinion. Perhaps the early chapters are so angry because Sherman himself was angry? Once the narrative reaches California and his recording success begins, Cohen's writing changes; Sherman is still a less than stellar father and husband with little business savvy, but the reader does get to sense the excitement of Jewish humor finding its moment in America. You can feel the laughter in the live audiences.
To be fair, Cohen is detailing the man as he was, as well as a specific time in American show business and comedy. The comedy parts are fun, and the biography parts are not.
My brain nearly exploded to learn that Allan Sherman and Mel Brooks appeared on a game show together. Dork fangirl moment! If I can find a recording of it, I might plotz (but in a good way)!
Note: I am ever so grateful to my love for making the investment in My Son, the Box, several years ago. For a certain kind of wife, there is no better anniversary gift! The best antidote to Sherman's sad end is to pop in those CDs and belt out a little "Seltzer Boy" or "Old King Louie" at the very top of your lungs.
October 2, 2013
I am a big Allan Sherman fan but when I was done reading the book, other than wanting to find the recordings that I am missing, I kind of felt like so what. The author does a good job of documenting Allan Sherman's childhood in a way to explain his adult life but that started to wear a little thin. The Jews in America and what his songs did for Jewish identification during the late 50's and early 60's makes sense but again, not sure it warranted the attention Cohen gave it.
October 4, 2013
Loved the subject; hated the writing. It read more like a Ph.D. thesis than a compelling biography. Plus, I did not agree with all of the author's "interpretations" of Sherman's work and I particularly didn't agree with his assessment of Jew's reactions to "Fiddler on the Roof." In fact, I found it, as a Jewish fan of the show, offensive.
January 28, 2014
A sad life, but genuinely funny lyrics. The amount of research to track down the complicated life of Mr. Sherman is impressive. I wished there were more of his songs printed in the book or better yet a CD with it. Not mentioned in book, his lyrics to "My Son the Vampire" which I heard many years ago and still remember with fondness.
May 24, 2015
The author couldn't get over the fact that Allen Sherman was fat and kept referring to his "obesity." We knew that going into the book. The insanity of Sherman's childhood was startling. I realized about halfway through I didn't care enough about Sherman to finish. Was hoping for a little more of his comic spirit to be present.
August 13, 2013
Biography of song parodist Allan Sherman, best known for "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah." An interesting if minor pop culture personality. The author tries to turn Sherman into a tragic figure but doesn't quite succeed.
July 9, 2013
didn't love all the sex, but yeah -- I did love it...but what did you expect?
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