May You Live During Funny Times

A while ago I read a book about stand-up comedians who arose in the 70s, Comedy At The Edge. I just finished another work on the same subject, William Knoedesleder's I'm Dying Up Here. If you're only going to read one, choose the latter.

The former has separate chapters on each comedian under discussion, while Knoedesleder tells a story. Through the various comedians who forged careers in the 70s, and influenced comedy up through today, we see the ins and out of the stand-up world as it was approaching a new level of popularity. I know enough old comedians that I've heard a lot of stories about the wild times at the Improv and the Comedy Store, but I'm Dying Up Here made me fill like I was in the middle of it.

(I'm willing to overlook the poor editing and fact checking. For instance, "Shecky Greene" is misspelled several times, including in the index. "King Tut" did not go to number one--it hit #17. Howard Cosell's show was called Saturday Night Live, and it was on ABC, not NBC. And Billy Crystal did not appear in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman--it was Soap.)