How to Do It Standing Up: The Friars Club Guide to Being a Comic, a Cut-Up, a Card, a Character or a Clown

Rating:
Summary: Life on the comedy club circuit, not a guide to being funny
Review: First of all, what this book is not: It is not about how to be funny, nor is it an analysis of what humour is. The title is blatantly misleading. The book itself is not funny, because these are comedians describing things that happened to them, not attempting to get the reader to laugh.

This is a collection of first-person narratives in which comedians reminisce about performing in comedy clubs, especially at the beginning of their careers when they were unknowns. Their stories are surprisingly similar - struggling for stage time, desperate for money, honing their craft, and so on. The stories are repetitive and, after awhile, seem interchangeable. At times the narrators engage in a bit of introspection about why some things are funny and some are not, but one has to search for those analytical moments. To a large extent, these comedians just kind of "wing it" and have trouble articulating why one joke is hilarious while another leads to dead silence.

Of the 30-plus comedians interviewed for the book, I've heard of about one third of them. The most famous participants are Richard Belzer, Phyllis Diller, and Lily Tomlin.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah. I wanna do it standin up, sittin down, on the phone...
Review: I have a friend who thinks she is funny. She isn't. I think one of the hardest things to do is teaching someone how to be funny. This book comes very close. It's more than just "timing" (that trite often used excuse some use in explaining how to amuse others) and it's more than just having that innate natural ability. Through the many interviews with those that are professionally funny, Mr. Dougherty manages to highlight and tie together the lessons that these jokemasters, prop comics and humorists relate. With their varying comedic styles, Mr. Dougherty successfully documents these truths in a way that they make sense. Comedy is hard. Teaching it is harder. Will this help my comedically-challenged friend? God...I hope so. But it's a good book and I liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Now Am I Funny???
Review: Let's get this much straight: this book will not make unfunny people funny, but it will certainly provide an entertaining read. The comics whom Dougherty interviews are all successful and, ergo, extremely amusing. The author manages to capture their anecdotes and reflections in a tight framework which could, conceivably, provide a useful blueprint for the novice comic. It's a fun, zippy read, even if you aren't looking for a future in stand-up. I am a fan of Belzer, Pat Cooper, and Susie Essman to name a few of those profiled, so it was fun to read their responses to some of Dougherty's queries about their backgrounds, their missteps, etc.