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Make ‘Em Laugh: A Review

Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America / by Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon (Twelve: 2008) Hardcover, 384 p. ISBN: 9780446505314

Make ‘Em Laugh was issued as a companion to a six-part series on PBS about comedy in twentieth-century America. After an introductory chapter, the book follows the structure of the broadcast series:

• Slip on a Banana Peel: The Knockabouts
  Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, Harpo Marx, The Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Jim Carrey
• Sock it to Me?: Satire and Parody Will Rogers, Sid Caesar and Your Show of Shows, Tom Lehrer, Allan Sherman, Johnny Carson, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Carol Burnett, Mel Brooks, Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal, The Wayans Brothers, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show
• Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: Smart-Alecks and Wiseguys
  W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Tim (The Kingfish) Moore, Phil Silvers, Paul Lynde, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Larry David
• Would Ya Hit a Guy With Glasses?: Nerds, Jerks, Oddballs and Suckers
  Harold Lloyd, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, Jonathan Winters, Phyllis Diller, Woody Allen, Cheech and Chong, Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman
• Honey, I’m Home!: Breadwinners and Homemakers
  The Goldbergs, George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Norman Lear and All in the Family, The Odd Couple, Bill Cosby, Roseanne, Seinfeld, The Simpsons
• When I’m Bad, I’m Better: The Groundbreakers
  Mae West, Burlesque, Abbott and Costello, Moms Mabley, Fred Allen, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, The Smothers Brothers, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Maher

Obviously, a book like this cannot survey all of American comedy. Readers might miss some of their favorites, but any reader who loves comedy will find a great deal of pleasure reading this book.

Make ‘Em Laugh provides crisply written and interesting biographies of dozens of America’s best known comedians, along with many photographs and quotations. It also has transcripts of actual routines and television shows, some of which were never aired because they couldn’t get past network sensors.

Perhaps not all readers will be familiar with the work of some of the earliest comedians. They will surely want to investigate those they don’t already know. Make ‘Em Laugh gives everyone a chance to see how America’s sense of humor changed over the course of the century. The All-Purpose Guru Alert features one carefully selected title every day at bargain prices. Visit often.

About the Author

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