The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and Tv's Golden Age - Softcover

Young, Jordan R.

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9780940410374: The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and Tv's Golden Age

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0940410370 ISBN 13: 9780940410374

Publisher: Past Times Pub Co, 1999

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Twelve of Hollywood's top comedy writers and speak their minds about the so-called good old days, and recall the outrageous backstage antics of legendary comedians. No one is spared in frank, uncensored and frequently hilarious conversations about the stone age of broadcasting -- the 1930s, '40s and '50s -- when advertising agencies controlled the programs, stars ran amok and writers were treated with profound disrespect, like a necessary evil.

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From the Author:

I live in the past, and I readily admit it. In fact, I've made a career out of it. I would love to have written comedy for radio in its heyday. Having grown up during the television era -- Jack Benny made his TV debut the week I was born -- I did not have this opportunity. As a show business historian, however, I have been able to live this dream vicariously, interviewing many of those who did.

For an oral history of radio drama (a work-in-progress at this time) I have interrogated a number of comedy writers about their work in radio and early television. And while I have sat at the feet of countless actors, comedians, musicians, announcers, producers and other industry veterans, the writers were a revelation. They proved, invariably, to be the best raconteurs and the most articulate interview subjects.

While screenwriters have finally won a measure of recognition in recent years, far less attention has been paid the writers of radio and television's Golden Age. Several of the writers featured in this book have been celebrated for their creative efforts of the 1960s and '70s, but most have seldom, if ever, talked about their work in the early days of broadcasting -- the '30s, '40s and '50s -- a decidedly different era of popular culture that has been largely forgotten.

I have been a lover of comedy and comedians all my life. This book may present a somewhat unflattering portrait of some of my favorite entertainers. But as we know, there are at least two sides to every story. Behind every successful radio and TV comic was a hard-working writer -- or a platoon of them -- who toiled in virtual anonymity. It is high time these invisible comedians took a bow.

These interviews were conducted between 1990 and 1995. Many of the subjects required little or no prodding, and since my philosophy as an interviewer is simply, "shut up and listen," and I let them go right on talking. I have edited the interview transcripts only slightly and rephrased next to nothing.

From the Back Cover:

"Jordan Young has performed an excellent -- and long overdue -- examination of the men who made millions and millions of Americans laugh, only to wind up as Writers Anonymous." -- Larry Gelbart.

"Jordan Young's 'The Laugh Crafters' is enjoyable for its spark, spunk and humor, but there are also sobering insights into the exploitation of comedy writers in the early days of radio, when royal talents were treated like serfs, by ego-fixated comedians and feral producers. This book is a Must with a capital M for writers and a Should with a capital S for the general reader." -- Norman Corwin.

"In the emerging history of radio, 'The Laugh Crafters' is a welcome piece of work. Jordan Young interviews a dozen of radio's best comedy writers, and what emerges is oral history of the first order. These guys were unsung heroes behind such brand names as Jack Benny, Fibber McGee, Bob Hope and Red Skelton. They've been given short shrift in all the books on radio, but here Young lets them speak for themselves. Together they tell a story that is rich, not only with who-wrote-what details, but with the rough-and-tumble way of life of the comedy writer in radio's glory years." -- John Dunning, author of "On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio."

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