Comedy Central: the Essential Guide to Comedy (Because There is a Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever)

From standups to sitcoms, The Simpsons to Saturday Night Live, this is the book that no one who likes to laugh should be without. Designed for lively reading with photos, sidebars, excerpts, and lists, it runs the gamut from an overview of the late-night talk show scene to interviews with hot young standup comics. Comedy Central: The Essential Guide to Comedy is a backstage pass to the business and a behind-the-scenes tour with the talents who make it happen.

Comedy Central provides cable viewers with a veritable comedic cornucopia, from comedy specials to movies to British sitcom imports and more. According to the authors, this abundance of amusement?along with all the network sitcoms and comedy books, recordings, and clubs now popular?may be daunting to the dilettante. They offer here a guidebook to the land of laffs for those who don't know a spit-take from a spitball. In a light, casual style, they discuss all the aforementioned comedy formats and introduce the reader to nine of the newest "open mikers," comics who are just this side of major celebrity status. Two chapters are particularly amusing: one on "The Rules of Comedy," in which a few classic jokes and stock situations are examined in humorous style, and one on "The Future of Comedy." Die-hard comedy fans will already know this stuff, but this is an inexpensive way to update the humor section of general collections.?Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.