Comic Genius

Portraits of Funny People

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• Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781452125381
• eBook ISBN:
  9781452131955
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Television

This star-studded tribute to the kings and queens of comedy draws together such legendary names as Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and many more. Granted extraordinary access, photographer Matt Hoyle has captured his subjects in portraits that are works of art in themselves—by turns zany and deadpan, laugh-out-loud and contemplative. Accompanying them are first-person reflections from each of the comedians on life and laughter that always cut straight to the heart of comedy: it's funny because it's true. Page after sidesplitting page in Comic Genius offers prose as engaging as each portrait is memorable. Here, in one handsome package, is the gift of laughter itself. Comic Genius is proud to support Save The Children.

Biographies

MEL BROOKS

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER

b. June 28, 1926, Brooklyn, New York

Mel Brooks is one of only fourteen entertainers who have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. As a writer for the variety television series Your Show of Shows in the 1950s, he met star and co-writer Carl Reiner. Together they developed “The 2000-Year-Old Man in the Year 2000” improvised comedy routine, recording five comedy albums, the fifth winning a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1998. Brooks wrote and directed his first film, The Producers, in 1968, winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and later adapting the script into a Broadway musical that won twelve Tony Awards—a record for the most ever won by a musical. He has written, directed, and acted in a number of comedy films, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. He is a Kennedy Center honoree and in 2013 he was named as the recipient of the American Film Institute’s forty-first Life Achievement Award.

TIM ALLEN

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, WRITER

b. June 13, 1953, Denver, Colorado

Tim Allen began performing as a stand-up comedian at the Comedy Castle in Detroit in 1979. His 1990 televised comedy special Men are Pigs was the basis for the sitcom Home Improvement in which Allen played the character Tim Taylor. It became one of the highest rated American television series of the 1990s, with Allen winning numerous awards including the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Performer for eight years in a row and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series. In 1994 Allen achieved an unprecedented feat, having the number-one TV show, book, and film in the country, all during the same week. Home Improvement was the nation’s highest rated TV show, the film The Santa Clause, in which he starred and won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy Motion Picture, was number one at the box office, and his book Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man was at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List. Some of Allen’s other film credits include the animated Toy Story trilogy, in which he voices the character Buzz Lightyear, Galaxy Quest and Wild Hogs. In 2011 he returned to television, starring in the sitcom Last Man Standing.

BOB BALABAN

ACTOR, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER

b. August 16, 1945, Chicago, Illinois

Bob Balaban’s first film role was in Midnight Cowboy in 1969. Since then he has appeared in more than one hundred films, including Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind; the Christopher Guest mockumentaries Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration; Woody Allen’s Alice and Deconstructing Harry; and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. Also an experienced television actor, Balaban appeared in five episodes of the television sitcom Seinfeld. In 2001 Balaban created and produced the film Gosford Park, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and which won the Alexander Korda Award for the Outstanding British Film of the Year at the BAFTA Awards in 2002.

JASON BATEMAN

ACTOR

b. January 14, 1969, Rye, New York

Jason Bateman made his acting debut at age twelve in the television series Little House on the Prairie, but he is best known for his role as Michael Bluth in the television sitcom Arrested Development, for which he has won a number of awards including the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series—Comedy or Musical in 2005. He has starred in numerous films including The Break-Up, Hancock, and The Switch.

MICHAEL IAN BLACK

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, DIRECTOR, WRITER

b. August 12, 1971, Chicago, Illinois

While at New York University, Michael Ian Black co-founded the sketch-comedy troupe The State, which was given its own television show of the same name by MTV in 1993. He developed his career as a comedian and actor on the television shows Viva Variety, Ed, Stella, and Michael & Michael Have Issues. In 2001 he acted in the comedy film Wet Hot American Summer. He wrote and directed the comedy Wedding Daze, and co-wrote Run, Fat Boy, Run. Black performs regularly as a stand-up comic and has released two full-length comedy albums on Comedy Central Records. He has also written a memoir, You’re Not Doing It Right, a book of humorous essays, an exploration of American political culture, and four children’s picture books.

CAROL BURNETT

ACTRESS, AUTHOR, COMEDIENNE

b. April 26, 1933, San Antonio, Texas

Carol Burnett is widely recognized for her work on stage and screen, most notably the long-running television series The Carol Burnett Show, which garnered twenty-five Emmy Awards. In addition to her television work, Burnett has appeared in numerous films, including Annie, Noises Off, and Four Seasons, and two animated features. On Broadway, she originated the role of Princess Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress and starred in Fade Out Fade In, Putting It Together, and Moon Over Buffalo. Burnett has been honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is a Kennedy Center honoree, and has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. She has also written two New York Times bestsellers, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection and her autobiography, One More Time. Her most recent book is Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story.

STEVE CARELL

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER

b. August 16, 1962, Concord, Massachusetts

Steve Carell was a comedian on the sketch-comedy television show The Dana Carvey Show and then a regular correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 until 2005. His break-out acting roles were in Bruce Almighty and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. However, it was his starring role in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which he also co-wrote and executive produced, that established him as a huge comedic talent, with Carell being nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2005 Carell began playing Michael Scott on the acclaimed television comedy show The Office, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series and receiving both Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations every year until his departure from the show in 2011.

JIM CARREY

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, PRODUCER, WRITER

b. January 17, 1962, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Jim Carrey is an award-winning actor who has been honored for both his comedic and dramatic work. He got his start in stand-up as a teenager performing at comedy clubs in Toronto. He quickly caught the attention of comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield who signed him as his opening act for his touring show. He eventually moved to Los Angeles and became a regular at The Comedy Store. Carrey’s talents landed him a role on the sketch-comedy television series In Living Color. Soon after, he established himself as a major Hollywood actor, with starring roles in the comedy films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, Liar Liar, and Bruce Almighty, among others. Moving beyond the comedy genre, he starred in the dramas The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. His other film credits include the films Me, Myself & Irene, The Cable Guy, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and the animated Horton Hears A Who! Carrey won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama for his role in The Truman Show. He won his second Golden Globe, for Best Actor in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy, for his portrayal of comedian Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Over the course of his career, Carrey has also been recognized numerous times by the MTV Movie Awards, People’s Choice Awards, and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

CHEVY CHASE

ACTOR, COMEDIAN, WRITER

b. October 8, 1943, New York, New York

Chevy Chase was one of the original cast of the iconic live-comedy television show Saturday Night Live, receiving two Emmy Awards in 1976 for both his writing and acting, and becoming known for his opener, “Good evening, I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.” He also shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special with his co-writers for The Paul Simon Special that aired in 1977. His film credits include Foul Play, for which he received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture—Com...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Hello
• Introduction: Comedy is like an egg
• Mel Brooks
• Tim Allen
• Bob Balaban
• Jason Bateman
• Michael Ian Black
• Carol Burnett
• Steve Carell
• Jim Carrey
• Chevy Chase
• Andrew Dice Clay
• John Cleese
• Billy Connolly
• Jennifer Coolidge
• David Cross
• Billy Crystal
• Rhys Darby
• Dame Edna Everage
• Tina Fey
• Zach Galifianakis
• Janeane Garofalo
• Ricky Gervais
• “Bobcat” Goldthwait
• Tom Green
• Kathy Griffin
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim
• Ed Helms
• John Hodgman
• David Koechner
• Martin Lawrence
• Cloris Leachman
• Denis Leary
• Jay Leno
• Eugene Levy
• George Lopez
• Jon Lovitz
• Matt Lucas
• Joanna Lumley
• Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders
• Jane Lynch
• Marc Maron
• Steve Martin
• Jackie Mason
• Adam McKay
• Stephen Merchant
• Bette Midler
• Tim Minchin
• Eugene Mirman
• Tracy Morgan
• Eddie Murphy
• Mike Myers
• Bob Newhart
• B. J. Novak
• Conan O’Brien
• Catherine O’Hara
• Bob Odenkirk
• Nick Offerman
• John Oliver
• Patton Oswalt
• Michael Palin
• Carl Reiner
• Paul Reubens
• Michael Richards
• Don Rickles
• Joan Rivers
• Jay Roach
• Mort Sahl
• Andy Samberg
• Adam Sandler
• Jennifer Saunders
• Kristen Schaal
• Martin Short
• Michael Showalter
• Sarah Silverman
• Tommy Smothers
• David Steinberg
• Jon Stewart
• Jerry Stiller
• Eric Stonestreet
• Jeffrey Tambor
• Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner
• Lily Tomlin
• Dick Van Dyke
• Kristen Wiig
• Fred Willard
• Robin Williams
• Rainn Wilson
• Jonathan Winters
• “Weird Al” Yankovic
• Biographies
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author