Clubbing

In the late 70s and 80s, there was a boom in stand-up comedy.  In fact, there was so much out there we're still living in the aftermath of the oversaturation.  Anyway, in that era there were a few comedy clubs in the big cities that did amazing work developing new names.  Out here in LA, three clubs above all--The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory and the (West Coast) Improv--saw the start of numerous careers.  Back in New York, you had the original Improv, Catch A Rising Star, and the newest, The Comic Strip.

Now there's a book out relating the story of that last place--Make 'Em Laugh: 35 Years Of The Comic Strip, The Greatest Comedy Club Of All Time.  Whether it's the greatest or not you can judge for yourself.  Alas, rather than making the case, the authors, Jeffrey Gurian and Richie Tienken--both associated with the club--have taken the easy way out and tell the story through a series of interviews with comics who've appeared there.  They were right to do the interviews, and I'm sure it took a lot of coordination, but they then should have weaved the material into a compelling tale.

Instead, we get one comic after another telling a fairly similar story of how they got started, and what The Strip was like.  Furthermore, in practically every interview they ask the subject about author Tienken as well as Lucien Hold, another major figure at the club. Never heard of them?  Neither had I, but now I know what 20 comics think of the two.

Not that the book is useless.  There are some entertaining anecdotes, and plenty of stories about how tough, but fun, it was to get started. And it's got quite a roster, including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Billy Crystal, Ray Romano and Paul Reiser.  I think my favorite interview is Gilbert Gottfried, who refuses to take any question seriously and just cracks jokes. We've already heard the story by that point. I'd rather hear jokes.