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Why Not? Lessons on Comedy, Courage, and Chutzpah
From master comedian Mark Schiff, a long-time touring partner of Jerry Seinfeld, comes a hilarious account of decades of foolery with comedy and acting legends and how he honed his mensch skills in all of life’s arenas.
Pursuing a career in comedy has always taken a lot of chutzpah. Today Mark Schiff looks back at his fifty-year career as a stand-up comic, actor, and writer and knows he’s laughed with the best of them. His comedy and character have been widely praised by everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Bill Maher and Colin Quinn—as Seinfeld writes in his foreword, Mark is “the greatest comedy pal a guy could ever wish for”—but it hasn’t always been easy. In this brilliantly honest collection of essays inducing both heart tugs and deep belly laughs, Mark recounts growing up Jewish in the outer boroughs of New York City and shares how he survived a harrowing childhood and managed health crises, aging, marriage, parenting, and career highs and lows. With wit and wisdom, Mark reminds us that no matter the troubles at-hand, the show must always go on. The result is an unforgettable and highly relatable account from one of the best humor writers of our time that will leave readers of all faiths energized and feeling like they’ve schmoozed with the best of them.
Pursuing a career in comedy has always taken a lot of chutzpah. Today Mark Schiff looks back at his fifty-year career as a stand-up comic, actor, and writer and knows he’s laughed with the best of them. His comedy and character have been widely praised by everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Bill Maher and Colin Quinn—as Seinfeld writes in his foreword, Mark is “the greatest comedy pal a guy could ever wish for”—but it hasn’t always been easy. In this brilliantly honest collection of essays inducing both heart tugs and deep belly laughs, Mark recounts growing up Jewish in the outer boroughs of New York City and shares how he survived a harrowing childhood and managed health crises, aging, marriage, parenting, and career highs and lows. With wit and wisdom, Mark reminds us that no matter the troubles at-hand, the show must always go on. The result is an unforgettable and highly relatable account from one of the best humor writers of our time that will leave readers of all faiths energized and feeling like they’ve schmoozed with the best of them.
- GenresHumor
272 pages, Hardcover
Published November 8, 2022
20 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 10, 2023
Why Not?
Lessons on Comedy
Courage, and Chutzpah
Nonfiction
Biography
By Mark Schiff
Foreword by Jerry Seinfeld
Book review by Sylvia Jacobs
This book was dedicated to the author's wife, who was also the editor of the book and to his children who support all his ideas. He also dedicated the book “to all the people who have listened to my jokes and decided that they were funny enough not to ask for their money back after my show.”
The Foreword is written by Jerry Seinfeld discussing how he became instant friends with the author/comedian Mark Schiff in the year of 1976. They have been working together for years, and still do dozens of performances all over the country. If you read this book as per Jerry Seinfeld you will get to know Mark Schiff too. This is how the foreword ends in the book.
The Introduction starts off by saying “thank you for purchasing (I hope) a copy of my new book.” It also says “ this book is for everyone who wants to laugh, wants to cry, and wants to lose weight and not gain it back.”
The title of the first chapter is called May You Live Till 120.
It starts off with a joke, but you will have to read the book to find out what the joke is. “Jews are always wishing to other Jews that they should live to 120.” The author tells us that he meditates twice a day and exercises as well. There is much inspiration in the book, it starts in the first chapter. Jewish words and terminology are explained in the first chapter and throughout the book for all who are not Jewish to understand.
Mark’s first taste of community was when he became a comedian. He would see the same people every single night at the comedy clubs. They shared a common bond in comedy. Night after night, he would see these comedians who were first starting out in comedy. Some of the comedians he would see were Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser, Gilbert Gottfried, George Wallace, Rita Rudner, Sandra Bernhard, singer Pat Benatar, and many others. Mark‘s parents didn’t belong to a synagogue when Mark got married, he joined a synagogue with his wife.
He was now part of another community, and his loneliness as a child will now be gone. Isn’t it amazing, that at the age of 12, he already knew he wanted to be a comedian, and here we are today seeing, that is just what he became, and a great one at that.
A major positive of the book is that there is much humor in the book, and you will laugh your head off. There’s Yiddish thrown into the book. One will quote many valuable things from this book about life. “ Every day that I sit down and write, I get better at writing.” One will be thankful to have read such a book.
One could sit down and quote all day from this book. A major thanks to the author for this book, so lucky to have the opportunity to read and review such a fine book.
The only negative I found in this book was upon reading that the author was lonely as a child, as he was an only child.
This book deserves the rating of 5 out of 5 Stars for making one laugh, one cry, and for so much more. One more quote one will adore is “everyone must find the special key that fits their lock.” I realized that I love reading and reviewing books. It wasn’t realized until I reached the middle ages of my life. That is certainly the key that fits my lock. One will sum this book up as amazing.
This book is recommended for people who want to laugh, cry and read a well written enjoyable book about the life of an amazing comedian. It will inspire you and you will learn a lot about life.
Lessons on Comedy
Courage, and Chutzpah
Nonfiction
Biography
By Mark Schiff
Foreword by Jerry Seinfeld
Book review by Sylvia Jacobs
This book was dedicated to the author's wife, who was also the editor of the book and to his children who support all his ideas. He also dedicated the book “to all the people who have listened to my jokes and decided that they were funny enough not to ask for their money back after my show.”
The Foreword is written by Jerry Seinfeld discussing how he became instant friends with the author/comedian Mark Schiff in the year of 1976. They have been working together for years, and still do dozens of performances all over the country. If you read this book as per Jerry Seinfeld you will get to know Mark Schiff too. This is how the foreword ends in the book.
The Introduction starts off by saying “thank you for purchasing (I hope) a copy of my new book.” It also says “ this book is for everyone who wants to laugh, wants to cry, and wants to lose weight and not gain it back.”
The title of the first chapter is called May You Live Till 120.
It starts off with a joke, but you will have to read the book to find out what the joke is. “Jews are always wishing to other Jews that they should live to 120.” The author tells us that he meditates twice a day and exercises as well. There is much inspiration in the book, it starts in the first chapter. Jewish words and terminology are explained in the first chapter and throughout the book for all who are not Jewish to understand.
Mark’s first taste of community was when he became a comedian. He would see the same people every single night at the comedy clubs. They shared a common bond in comedy. Night after night, he would see these comedians who were first starting out in comedy. Some of the comedians he would see were Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser, Gilbert Gottfried, George Wallace, Rita Rudner, Sandra Bernhard, singer Pat Benatar, and many others. Mark‘s parents didn’t belong to a synagogue when Mark got married, he joined a synagogue with his wife.
He was now part of another community, and his loneliness as a child will now be gone. Isn’t it amazing, that at the age of 12, he already knew he wanted to be a comedian, and here we are today seeing, that is just what he became, and a great one at that.
A major positive of the book is that there is much humor in the book, and you will laugh your head off. There’s Yiddish thrown into the book. One will quote many valuable things from this book about life. “ Every day that I sit down and write, I get better at writing.” One will be thankful to have read such a book.
One could sit down and quote all day from this book. A major thanks to the author for this book, so lucky to have the opportunity to read and review such a fine book.
The only negative I found in this book was upon reading that the author was lonely as a child, as he was an only child.
This book deserves the rating of 5 out of 5 Stars for making one laugh, one cry, and for so much more. One more quote one will adore is “everyone must find the special key that fits their lock.” I realized that I love reading and reviewing books. It wasn’t realized until I reached the middle ages of my life. That is certainly the key that fits my lock. One will sum this book up as amazing.
This book is recommended for people who want to laugh, cry and read a well written enjoyable book about the life of an amazing comedian. It will inspire you and you will learn a lot about life.
March 12, 2023
"Why Not?" or "Say WHAT?"
This book has some great stories, a lot of laughs, and the author is a thoroughly likable, admirable man. It's also puzzling. I wasn't surprised that I've never heard of the author, a successful stand-up comic since I never watch stand-up comics.
I WAS surprised that he portrays himself as an elderly man, but (at the same time) as a contemporary of Jerry Seinfeld. I'm still thinking of Seinfeld at "that kid who got his own sit-com." The "kid" is now seventy-years-old and his friend is a few years older. Not "elderly" by my standards, but it's all relative.
I was also puzzled that I enjoyed the first half of the book so much, but then it began to drag a bit. Still good, but LONG. It's like I was reading the Jewish version of "War and Peace", although Amazon says it's less than three hundred pages and surely they counted.
Then I got to a chapter where he discusses his devotion to his family and his determination to spend as much time with them as possible. His reasoning is that his own father died at the young age of thirty-six. I agree that we aren't guaranteed a certain life span and it makes sense to use it wisely. But I remembered an earlier chapter when he talked about the changes he saw in his parents' marriage as they aged.
So I went back and (sure enough) early in the book he says that his parents were married for thirty-nine years. Now, typos can occur, but I think the answer is in the book's title. Many years ago he was asked to write a weekly column for a Jewish newspaper. His answer was "Why not?" and he found he liked to write about his life and his beliefs. I suspect that many of the chapters of this book are reprints of the columns he wrote through the years.
Nothing wrong with that. When newspapers were King, we all had our favorite columnists and we bought the books of compiled columns and enjoyed those just as much. But such books need careful editing to avoid repetition and outright contradictions.
The man is a good writer and I liked all his stories about his childhood, his struggles to get into show business, his marriage, and his now-grown sons. His mother was mentally ill and horribly abusive and his father lacked the will to protect his son. It was a sad childhood but he made the decision to forgive his parents. Again, nothing wrong with that, but I was amused that his justifications (taken from ancient Jewish traditions) sound exactly like New Age mumbo-jumbo. Maybe everything comes back in style if you wait long enough.
I like the man and agree with him in many (not all) areas. I am reminded that I've read a number of books by Jews who turned to their faith as adults and found comfort in it. Is this more common for Jews than for Christians? If so, why?
It's an entertaining book if you have the patience to stick with it.
This book has some great stories, a lot of laughs, and the author is a thoroughly likable, admirable man. It's also puzzling. I wasn't surprised that I've never heard of the author, a successful stand-up comic since I never watch stand-up comics.
I WAS surprised that he portrays himself as an elderly man, but (at the same time) as a contemporary of Jerry Seinfeld. I'm still thinking of Seinfeld at "that kid who got his own sit-com." The "kid" is now seventy-years-old and his friend is a few years older. Not "elderly" by my standards, but it's all relative.
I was also puzzled that I enjoyed the first half of the book so much, but then it began to drag a bit. Still good, but LONG. It's like I was reading the Jewish version of "War and Peace", although Amazon says it's less than three hundred pages and surely they counted.
Then I got to a chapter where he discusses his devotion to his family and his determination to spend as much time with them as possible. His reasoning is that his own father died at the young age of thirty-six. I agree that we aren't guaranteed a certain life span and it makes sense to use it wisely. But I remembered an earlier chapter when he talked about the changes he saw in his parents' marriage as they aged.
So I went back and (sure enough) early in the book he says that his parents were married for thirty-nine years. Now, typos can occur, but I think the answer is in the book's title. Many years ago he was asked to write a weekly column for a Jewish newspaper. His answer was "Why not?" and he found he liked to write about his life and his beliefs. I suspect that many of the chapters of this book are reprints of the columns he wrote through the years.
Nothing wrong with that. When newspapers were King, we all had our favorite columnists and we bought the books of compiled columns and enjoyed those just as much. But such books need careful editing to avoid repetition and outright contradictions.
The man is a good writer and I liked all his stories about his childhood, his struggles to get into show business, his marriage, and his now-grown sons. His mother was mentally ill and horribly abusive and his father lacked the will to protect his son. It was a sad childhood but he made the decision to forgive his parents. Again, nothing wrong with that, but I was amused that his justifications (taken from ancient Jewish traditions) sound exactly like New Age mumbo-jumbo. Maybe everything comes back in style if you wait long enough.
I like the man and agree with him in many (not all) areas. I am reminded that I've read a number of books by Jews who turned to their faith as adults and found comfort in it. Is this more common for Jews than for Christians? If so, why?
It's an entertaining book if you have the patience to stick with it.
May 11, 2023
Sounds like a great guy, who admirably overcame a very difficult childhood and a rough start as an adult, notably a severe drinking problem, to become a devoted family man and successful standup comic. He knows lots of famous people, some quite well (e.g., Jerry Seinfeld wrote the foreword and appears in many of the pics/stories) and others more as cameos. A recurring motif is self-effacing "imagine me getting to have tea/dinner/a chat with......" [Katherine Hepburn, Milton Berle, Bob Dylan, Neil Simon, and so on] stories.
They're not as random as my own celebrity sightings (put your email address in the comments if you want the long-play version of the time I met Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz at the American U. track) since he's actually in the entertainment business, but almost as tangential.
Then again, "tangents" are not really a distraction here, as the book is less linear autobiography and more loosely organized riffs on various topics about family, life, the road, etc. often involving introduction and definition of Yiddish words applicable to the situation. The loose organization may have made it a challenge to edit--for instance, he says twice more than a hundred pages apart (p. 82 and p. 210) that opera consists of "pudgy Italian people" screaming at him for hours and that it puts him to sleep.
Anyway, seems like a nice and wise man, and I did finish it, but can't say I found it as funny as many blurbers suggested. I was not surprised when a chapter near the end revealed his profound admiration of Rodney Dangerfield. I'm only about 10 years younger than the author, but a lot of it had a dated, old-fashioned feel. A chapter on how it was a big deal for the whole neighborhood when he was a kid if someone got a new car, for example --- i know what you're talking about, but kind of who cares? just didn't grab me. I developed empathy reading this for the times my children or my students seem less than fascinated by my recaps of having a black-and-white TV that you had to walk up to in order to change the channel to one of only 3 or 4 other possible channels..........
They're not as random as my own celebrity sightings (put your email address in the comments if you want the long-play version of the time I met Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz at the American U. track) since he's actually in the entertainment business, but almost as tangential.
Then again, "tangents" are not really a distraction here, as the book is less linear autobiography and more loosely organized riffs on various topics about family, life, the road, etc. often involving introduction and definition of Yiddish words applicable to the situation. The loose organization may have made it a challenge to edit--for instance, he says twice more than a hundred pages apart (p. 82 and p. 210) that opera consists of "pudgy Italian people" screaming at him for hours and that it puts him to sleep.
Anyway, seems like a nice and wise man, and I did finish it, but can't say I found it as funny as many blurbers suggested. I was not surprised when a chapter near the end revealed his profound admiration of Rodney Dangerfield. I'm only about 10 years younger than the author, but a lot of it had a dated, old-fashioned feel. A chapter on how it was a big deal for the whole neighborhood when he was a kid if someone got a new car, for example --- i know what you're talking about, but kind of who cares? just didn't grab me. I developed empathy reading this for the times my children or my students seem less than fascinated by my recaps of having a black-and-white TV that you had to walk up to in order to change the channel to one of only 3 or 4 other possible channels..........
January 10, 2024
Schiff's stories about his life and career have heart, soul, and the courage to reveal a great deal of a painful past. While revealing personal pain has become a favorite American sport among writers, Schiff does it in a way that retains respect and empathy for those who had caused him pain--most particularly, his mother.
I've admired the comedian's stand-up routines for years. He's clever and clean, an increasingly rare combination. Reading this memoir in essay form let me feel that I really know the author and am glad of it. You don't have to be a performer to appreciate the life lessons about determination, courage, persistence, and humility that he shares. I especially like the Jewish sensibility he brings to these stories and to his life.
I've admired the comedian's stand-up routines for years. He's clever and clean, an increasingly rare combination. Reading this memoir in essay form let me feel that I really know the author and am glad of it. You don't have to be a performer to appreciate the life lessons about determination, courage, persistence, and humility that he shares. I especially like the Jewish sensibility he brings to these stories and to his life.
March 29, 2023
More inspirational than many of the "inspirational" books I've read. We saw Mark Schiff open for Jerry Seinfeld in Knoxville in the fall of 2022...3 years later than our tickets stated. It was worth the wait. Great comedy that wouldn't offend anyone, but definitely have you laughing out loud.
Buy the book. Why Not?
Buy the book. Why Not?
August 9, 2023
I teach a course titled “the worlds religions” at a local University and Mark’s book is an excellent recommendation to offer my students to learn about Judaism. What a fun and informative book to read!
November 7, 2024
(well, the format was actually audible audio look, not hardback)
It was our book club book November for our Temple.
It was OK, and I like that it expressed The importance that he was able to a attribute to Judaism in his life. It's nice to find such An expression of a non-Christian or other thing who is actually not trying to convert anyone
It was our book club book November for our Temple.
It was OK, and I like that it expressed The importance that he was able to a attribute to Judaism in his life. It's nice to find such An expression of a non-Christian or other thing who is actually not trying to convert anyone
February 19, 2023
Very fun and interesting look at comedy and Judaism!
May 17, 2023
Humorous essays about life
June 23, 2023
I got to meet Mark at a comedy club in Vegas. His stand up was funny….the book was so-so. Was hoping for funny anecdotes from his life, received more of a “how to live your best life” kind of book.
February 15, 2024
Charming, sweet, and funny from the opening tribute to his family, to the lovely Forward praise from a special, close friend, to the very last sentence. A portrait of how to overcome difficulties, build stamina, step out of your comfort zone, make lasting friendships, draw strength from religion ... – all by a kind soul with the gift of spreading smiles.
November 16, 2022
I loved this brilliant book by comedian Mark Schiff. It's hilarious throughout, but also incredibly moving. He clearly has had his ups and downs and yet stuck to core principles rooted in integrity. For anyone who loves comedy, Jewish humor, the entertainment biz, or simply could use an inspiring memoir, this gets my highest recommendation. Prepare to laugh, cry, and find the stories returning to you to make you chuckle long after you've put the book down.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews