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Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s | 
 enlarge | Author: Gerald Nachman
Publisher: Pantheon
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 473170
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0375410309
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.7028092273
EAN: 9780375410307
ASIN: 0375410309
Publication Date: April 15, 2003
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Amazon.com Review
It's been said that analyzing comedy is a bit like dissecting a frog: you arrive at a greater understanding of the frog but the frog does tend to die in the process. The purpose of Gerald Nachman's Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s is not to provide a laugh riot of his subjects' best punch lines, but rather to explore their lives, careers, and influence. Nachman's scope is impressive. He provides detailed biographies not only of household names Sid Caesar, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, and Woody Allen but also comics like Jean Shepherd, Shelley Berman, and Will Jordan whose legacies have far outpaced their name recognition. Nachman has done his research; the book profiles 26 comedians, each in exhaustive detail, and no fan of this era will feel cheated at the end of its 768 pages. There are plenty of entertaining show biz anecdotes (Sid Caesar throwing a lit cigar at young writer Mel Brooks, Bill Cosby punching out Tommy Smothers) along with tales of the darker sides of Mort Sahl, Jonathan Winters, and others whose private lives were far less amusing than their stage acts. But what makes Seriously Funny so compelling, and its dopey title at least partially forgivable, is the author's meticulous attention to each comedian's imprint on the landscape of comedy itself. And while the jokes cited often seem a bit stale and obvious, it bears noting that they were revolutionary when these comedians first made them. --John Moe
Product Description
The comedians of the 1950s and 1960s were a totally different breed of relevant, revolutionary performer from any that came before or after, comics whose humor did much more than pry guffaws out of audiences. Gerald Nachman presents the stories of the groundbreaking comedy stars of those years, each one a cultural harbinger:
• Mort Sahl, of a new political cynicism
• Lenny Bruce, of the sexual, drug, and language revolution
• Dick Gregory, of racial unrest
• Bill Cosby and Godfrey Cambridge, of racial harmony
• Phyllis Diller, of housewifely complaint
• Mike Nichols & Elaine May and Woody Allen, of self-analytical angst and a rearrangement of male-female relations
• Stan Freberg and Bob Newhart, of encroaching, pervasive pop media manipulation and, in the case of Bob Elliott & Ray Goulding, of the banalities of broadcasting
• Mel Brooks, of the Yiddishization of American comedy
• Sid Caesar, of a new awareness of the satirical possibilities of television
• Joan Rivers, of the obsessive craving for celebrity gossip and of a latent bitchy sensibility
• Tom Lehrer, of the inane, hypocritical, mawkishly sentimental nature of hallowed American folkways and, in the case of the Smothers Brothers, of overly revered folk songs and folklore
• Steve Allen, of the late-night talk show as a force in American comedy
• David Frye and Vaughn Meader, of the merger of showbiz and politics and, along with Will Jordan, of stretching the boundaries of mimicry
• Shelley Berman, of a generation of obsessively self-confessional humor
• Jonathan Winters and Jean Shepherd, of the daring new free-form improvisational comedy and of a sardonically updated view of Midwestern archetypes
• Ernie Kovacs, of surreal visual effects and the unbounded vistas of video
Taken together, they made up the faculty of a new school of vigorous, socially aware satire, a vibrant group of voices that reigned from approximately 1953 to 1965.
Nachman shines a flashlight into the corners of these comedians’ chaotic and often troubled lives, illuminating their genius as well as their demons, damaged souls, and desperate drive. His exhaustive research and intimate interviews reveal characters that are intriguing and all too human, full of rich stories, confessions, regrets, and traumas. Seriously Funny is at once a dazzling cultural history and a joyous celebration of an extraordinary era in American comedy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Seriously entertaining March 25, 2007
This book brings together more information about more comedians than any other book I've ever read. It is a collection of short biographies, not a comprehensive history of the 50s and 60s. Even so, the 50s and 60s came alive for me as I encountered in quick succession Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Steve Allen, Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, and a score of other comedians who hit it big during that time.
 Great Overview, Could Have Used More Analysis July 28, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an interesting book, a chapter per comic on "sick" comics of the 1950s and 1960s such as Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman, as well as other groundbreaking comics of that era such as Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters, Dick Gregory, Stan Freberg, Jean Shepard etc.
It's a great overview and gives you a good thumbnail sketch of each comic's talents and personal style. However, it could have been much better edited, much of the information is repeated again and again in chapters that relate to certain comics, such as chapters on Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Woody Allen, who all shared certain experiences, but they are all relayed again in each comic's individual chapter.
And, due to the format, little depth is provided in terms of analysis or the particulars of any one comic or style of comedy. In sum, I would recommend if you would like to learn a little about many of these great comics, but you would need to look elsewhere for substantive analysis or a deeper understanding of the era or the comics in question.
Brilliant ! May 7, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
After reading this book, and RAISED ON RADIO I'm convinced... Nachman is a brilliant chronicaller of generations, passioniate and on such a mission his enthuisiasm gushes through with each Peabody Award waiting to happen phrase whether or not you share his enthuisiasm. - - Like RAISED ON RADIO, the book is neither definitive nor wishy-washy either. The chapters simply paint portraits of the people. In fact, the book goes a bit DEEPER into the subject manner than RAISED ON RADIO though not too deep. Further, though Nachman did interview subjects and did research, a lot of the information isn't exactly new (atleast if you're a nerdish comedy album collector and already into what the book is about.) - - And although yes, sometimes he goes on and on to make a point, especially in the way he breaks down the personalities of the comics he analyzes, I have to say, Nachman's writing is so delightful its forgivable (whether or not some of the chapters could have been cut in half.) Also what I like about this book is the choice of comedians go well beyond the obvious and really make you think... recognizing not just the Lenny Bruce's and Mort Sahls, but radio and TV comics that paved the way... (Bob and Ray, Ernie Kovacs and Steve Allen included !)
All in all, this is a great book presented through the mind of a brilliant columnist... and yes NACHMAN definitely is a columnist... a master storyteller who can schpiel by the column inch and hold your attention all the way. The only danger of reading this book is that after each chapter you want to go out and get the CDs... but with so many comedians covered, that's a lot of bread !
Though I happen to be a fan of the topics covered in this and RAISED ON RADIO, I have to say, whatever Nachman decides to write about next, I'm fair game for it !
A compelling and well-structured work November 17, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I began flipping through this excellent book in a moment of boredom and just kept reading. Though I'm a fan of a few of the comedians covered in the book, many of them are of no particular interest to me -- moreover, I don't even care for most stand-up comedy (preferring sketch comedy), and the majority of the stories told here are stories of great stand-up comics. But the author is so good at describing the talents, contexts, and events that made these individuals important comic entertainers, that the book really grabbed and held my interest. I recommend it for anyone interested in glimpses into some brilliant comic minds from the heyday of sophisticated comedy, and in concise yet adequately detailed accounts of why and how these people evolved from unknowns to household words.
 Seriously Flawed August 14, 2004
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to this book; I had grown up with the comedy of Sahl, Lehrer, Freburg, Cosby and the others. I was unable to finish the book, primarily because of many egregious errors of fact that Nachman and his editor allowed to pass into print. I list here a few of the problems that I found with the chapters I read:
In the Introduction, re: Allan Sherman, Nachman mistitles "Shake hands with your Uncle Max", calling it "Shake hannds with your Uncle Moe"; he also erroneously attributes the original tune of the parody as "McNamara's Band"; it is actually a parody of a tune called "Dear Old Donegal", also called "Shake hands with your Uncle Mike"
Re: Tom Lehrer, he titles the song "MLF (Multi-lateral Force)Lullaby" as "MFL Lullaby"; and later claims that Lehrer "set his `Elements' to the tune of [Kurt Weill's song from Lady in the Dark] `Tchaikovsky'"; in fact "The Elements" is set to Sir Arthur Sullivan's song "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" from The Pirates of Penzance. In addition, Nachman
incorrectly transcribes and alters the order of the lyrics he quotes to "National Brotherhood Week":
It's national Brotherhood Week
National Everyone-smile-at-one-anotherhood Week
It's only for a week so have no fear
Be nice to people who are inferior to you
Be grateful that it doesn't last all year (Nachman's text)
Actual lyric:
But during National Brotherhood Week,
National Brotherhood Week
It's National Everyone-smile-at/One-another-hood Week
Be nice to people who/Are inferior to you
It's only for a week, so have no fear
Be grateful that it doesn't last all year.
Re:Stan Freburg, he attributes the source of Freburg's parody of "Rock Island Line" to Johnny Cash; actual source is a version of the song recorded by Lonnie Donnegan and His Skiffle Group, a popular English band
Re: Freburg's parody of "Sh-Boom"; Nachman calls Freburg "an engineer [presumably the recording engineer of the faux-recording session at the heart of the piece] screaming for more mumbling"; in actuality, Freburg's character on the recording is that of the lead singer of the group making the record
Re: Freburg's parody of "Rock Island Line", he states that " `Rock Island Line'. . . ridicules the whole precious folk-song craze ("Are you going to sing this or read it?" asks an irritated Freburg) [Nachman's italics]." In the parody, this question is actually asked by a character played by the actor Peter Leeds, a Freburg "repertory company" member for many years, who in this case is, in all likelihood, supposed to be either the producer or the recording engineer for the "session."
Re: Freburg's Lawrence Welk parody, "Wun'erful, Wun'erful"; after describing the confrontation Freburg claims to have had with Welk over the piece (where Welk denies ever having said "Wun'erful, Wun'erful"), Nachman states: "Decades later, to Freburg's everlasting joy, Welk titled his autobiography Wonderful, Wonderful." Which misses the entire joke, of course, since Welk's autobiography is actually titled Wunnerful, Wunnerful: The Autobigraphy of Lawrence Welk.
How any book, presumably edited and published by professionals, could have this many errors (and who knows how many more in the sections on comedians whose lives and careers I was not as familiar with) is beyond me.
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