Funny Man

A deeply textured and compelling biography of comedy giant Mel Brooks, covering his rags-to-riches life and triumphant career in television, films, and theater, from Patrick McGilligan, the acclaimed author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award–winner Mel Brooks was behind (and sometimes in front the camera too) of some of the most influential comedy hits of our time, including The 2,000 Year Old Man, Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. But before this actor, writer, director, comedian, and composer entertained the world, his first audience was his family. The fourth and last child of Max and Kitty Kaminsky, Mel Brooks was born on his family’s kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, and was not quite three-years-old when his father died of tuberculosis. Growing up in a household too poor to own a radio, Mel was short and homely, a mischievous child whose birth role was to make the family laugh. Beyond boyhood, after transforming himself into Mel Brooks, the laughs that came easily inside the Kaminsky family proved more elusive. His lifelong crusade to transform himself into a brand name of popular humor is at the center of master biographer Patrick McGilligan’s Funny Man. In this exhaustively researched and wonderfully novelistic look at Brooks’ personal and professional life, McGilligan lays bare the strengths and drawbacks that shaped Brooks’ psychology, his willpower, his persona, and his comedy. McGilligan insightfully navigates the epic ride that has been the famous funnyman’s life story, from Brooks’s childhood in Williamsburg tenements and breakthrough in early television—working alongside Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner—to Hollywood and Broadway peaks (and valleys). His book offers a meditation on the Jewish immigrant culture that influenced Brooks, snapshots of the golden age of comedy, behind the scenes revelations about the celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks’ troubled first marriage. Engrossing, nuanced and ultimately poignant, Funny Man delivers a great man’s unforgettable life story and an anatomy of the American dream of success. Funny Man includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert.

The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son, by night he performs in small clubs. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn't sound like much, but they're happy (more or less) - until the day he comes up with his magic gimmick. And what is it? He performs his set with his fist in his mouth. Jokes, impressions, commercials - all take place with his fist wrist-deep in his mouth. People are crazy for him, but he's tired of it. This brilliant debut documents one man's slide from everyman to monster.

Public speaking can be terrifying. For David Nihill, the idea of standing in front of an audience was scarier than cliff jumping into a thorny pit of spiders and mothers-in-law. Without a parachute or advanced weaponry. Something had to change. In what doesn't sound like the best plan ever, David decided to overcome his fears by pretending to be an accomplished comedian called "Irish Dave" for one full year, crashing as many comedy clubs, festivals, and shows as possible. One part of the plan was at least logical: he was already Irish and already called Dave. In one year, David went from being deathly afraid of public speaking to hosting a business conference, regularly performing stand-up comedy and winning storytelling competitions in front of packed houses. And he did it by learning from some of the best public speakers in the world: stand-up comedians. Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker shows how the key principles of stand-up comedy can be applied to your speaking engagements and presentations to make you funnier, more interesting, and better looking. (Or at least two of the three.) Whether you are preparing for a business presentation, giving a wedding toast, defending your thesis, raising money from investors, or simply want to take on something you're afraid of, this book will take you from sweaty to stage-ready. You'll learn how to: - Craft a story and content that your audience will want to listen to - Find the funniest parts of your material and how to get to them faster - Deal with stage fright - Master the two most important parts of your performance: timing and delivery Ten percent of the author's proceeds from this book will go to Arash Bayatmakou via Help Hope Live until he is fully back on his feet and thereafter to one of the many facing the same challenges after suffering a severe spinal cord injury.

This dark comedy about celebrity is from the author who is “among the most perceptive and edgy chroniclers of an increasingly coarse American culture” (New York Journal of Books). The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son; by night he performs in small clubs. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn’t sound like much, but they’re happy, more or less. Until the day he comes up with it. His thing. His gimmick. And everything changes. He’s a headliner, and the venues get bigger fast. Pretty soon he has a starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster, all thanks to the gimmick. Which is: He performs with his fist in his mouth. Jokes, impressions, commercials—all with his fist in his mouth. The people want him—are crazy for him—but only with his fist in his mouth. And the funny man is tired of having his fist in his mouth. Thus, as the novel begins, his career is in tatters, his family has left him, and he’s on trial for shooting an unarmed man six times. His lawyer argues that he is not guilty by reason of celebrity. It remains to be seen whether he can be saved . . . A smart satire of our absurd culture, The Funny Man documents one individual’s slide from everyman to monster—even as it reveals the potential for grace and mercy in his life.

In a world where frustration and sadness seem to be the norm, The Funny Guy breaks the mold. The comic strip focuses on a young man and his everyday situations, which become comical. The cartoon's main character (Fun) is a modern-day Charlie Chaplin! His days begin normal and end hilarious! and the people he interacts with each day represent every walk of life. From a pushy landlord, a quick-to-write-a-ticket traffic cop, and a slang-talking hobo. The Funny Guy is a cartoon in which every person—no matter what race, age, or religion—can appreciate and enjoy.

Anthony Powell's first, highly acclaimed novel maps the decline and fall of a characteristically seedy section of London society, and confirms the author's reputation as one of the great satirists of the twentieth century.

Documenting the amazing back story of the world's first Jewish superhero, Siegel and Shuster's Funnyman is an important document of comics and Jewish history. Funnyman, aka Larry Davis, is a red-haired television comedian whose agent talks him into performing a superhero-like stunt in order to obtain publicity. This stunt goes wrong when Larry finds himself in a real crime scene. Larry stops this criminal, not knowing what he is doing is real until after the fact. Discovering that he enjoys fighting crime, Larry begins a career as the costumed crime fighter Funnyman.