Delighted to include this title in The Globe and Mail newspaper’s extensive annual Holiday Gift Books package in the weekend section of Globe Arts.

I've been following Fox's work on the Good Ones podcast and his articles for Vulture, so I was pretty excited to dive into his book about the state of stand-up comedy.

Instead of going through the history of stand-up chronologically, Fox breaks it down into themes. It's a cool approach because it lets you see how different aspects of comedy have evolved. For instance, he talks about how dark comedy and alternative comedy scenes drew in audiences who hadn't really been catered to before. There's a section on how comedy isn't always about making you laugh - think of those specials that mix humor with serious stuff.

Fox balances well-known comedians with insights into their styles and themes. While the book does focus a lot on the bigger names, I picked up a few new comedians to check out. This is a great read!!

"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." Steel Magnolias

Comedy Book is not a funny book, I think that is on purpose. Rather, writer Jesse David Fox takes a step back and dives into the past 25 years of comedy through the lens of it as a form of art. Humor is such an intrinsically human experience, and as humans we all find different things funny depending on our experience, demographics, power, politics, and privilege. This was a rich and fascinating read on how humor is ever-evolving, from the library of Adam Sandler movies, cancel culture, social media, and the isolation of humanity during the pandemic. This book was dense and definitely worth exploring again as an audiobook as this covered a lot of ground.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

Fox is as authoritative a guide on the current state of funny business as you could want. He produces comedy shows, hosts a comedy-centric podcast, and reviews comedy for Vulture. That "Vulture voice" - avid and chatty, a little too much so - takes some getting used to in the early going of COMEDY BOOK. It works in small doses, but at book length can be wearying. A conversational tone spliced with heady quotes from academia doesn’t bode well, particularly given the subject matter. Fox cites E. B. and Katharine S. White: “Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind.” A few times in COMEDY BOOK's opening chapters, the frog doesn’t look too good.

Eventually, though, Fox’s deep knowledge of and boundless enthusiasm for comedy carries the day. He knows anyone who’s anyone, thinks deeply, and considers his subject from every conceivable angle. There’s a nuanced critique of Dave Chappelle that carries additional force because Fox clearly admires the comedian’s craft, and a defense of Adam Sandler motivated thusly: “lowbrow does not mean low quality.” Fox analyzes comedy in terms of timing, politics, truth, and other aspects before closing on a personal note that is truly effective. Inspired by the passage on memes, I’ll say this: Find someone who looks at you the way Jesse David Fox looks at comedy.

Comprehensive and insightful, without being inaccessible or overly esoteric, this treatise on all comedy is - and what it can be - made for an utterly joyful read. A great book for both diehard fans of comedy as well as those who want to learn more about the theories that shape the industry.

Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for the ARC of this title.

Comedy is hard. Writing a book about comedy seems even harder, but Jesse David Fox is definitely the person I'd trust to do it, having followed his coverage of the space on Vulture for years. The book aims high, and I think nails what it attempts to do, covering the different ways comedy has risen to its current peak in culture, adapted to the internet, and how it _works_, in general. It's a well-written read, and I didn't even notice places where I've read bits and pieces of this in Fox's columns before. Nicely done!

There’s a lot of really awesome stuff in here. If you want to learn about comedy’s impact on culture and society and why it’s so popular, this is the book for you. It’s often self-indulgent and high brow, sometimes making comedy feel inaccessible. But it also has some great insights. Perfect for comedy fans who want a deep dive into the elements of the “art.”

Comedy Book will be released November 7, 2023. Farrar, Straus and Giroux provided an early galley for review.

Fox approaches the subject of comedy by its various aspects: audience, funny, timing, truth, context, and more. Per the first chapter, the lens used to analyze these things is specifically the comedy made from 1990 through the early 2020's (the last three decades). This approach is important as the world has changed so much in that time, and the comedy art form has had to adapt to those changes as well. It also shines a light on how the millennials and GenZ consume comedy (something this GenX-er has been doing for most of his life).

I appreciated how much this book made me think about comedy - the how and why it affects me in the way that it does. Many of the examples cited I was either very familiar with or would be able to locate easily enough. Comedy fans will definitely appreciate Fox's discussions.

As the subtitle of Jesse David Fox's first book (of many?) asserts, comedy has ascended to cultural centrality. Culturally important forms require deft, connected, insightful, and sensitive critics to help make sense of movements while they are in... movement. We are incredibly lucky to have Jesse David Fox as our guide to this moment in comedy. His interpretation of connections between cultural phenomena and seemingly silly little jokes is so rich, drawing from his deep knowledge of comedy history, especially recent history, as well as a downright beautiful appreciation for the human experience. Yes, I am an avid listener to Fox's podcast, "Good One." Other listeners will surely love this book. But, I will be recommending it widely, to anyone I think appreciates culture, comedy, and a deeply thoughtful author who doesn't take himself or his writing too seriously. Good one, Jesse!

I feel like I have been waiting for this book for a really love time, and I'm so glad Jesse David Fox finally wrote it. I've been a fan of his writing for years and years, always knowing he's the go-to for thoughtful comedy criticism and its role in pop culture. As a comedy fan (nerd/obsessive/harsh critic), this book was everything I could have asked for.

Fox examines how we use and view comedy in our everyday lives, how laughter has the power to transform our feelings about all aspects of life (for good and bad), and the role of the comedian in today's society. It's certainly no small task. Comedy trends ebb and flow, and right now it's sticky and I have a lot of complicated feelings about it, and I'm glad that Fox did not shy away from the hard stuff when talking about the funny stuff.

It was delightful to see lots of my favorite comedy people name-checked as well. Pulling from both classic and really current comedians, bits, shows, etc, Fox is able paint a full, in-depth, and critical perspective on what comedy means, and why it is so meaningful to so many of us. I didn't want it to end and could have read like, 10 more chapters honestly. It's like sitting with an old friend who shares all of your inside jokes but you can also have a philosophical discussion about why the things make you laugh make you laugh, and how our world is shaped by the people with the microphones, or better or for worse.

A must-read for culture vultures and alt-comedy fans like myself (and then let's chat about it!)

This book is needed and interesting, but I'll admit that I found that the author inserted himself too much into the topic for my taste. In the intro alone, there's A LOT of his thoughts on Jerry Seinfeld, not so much reporting on actual facts. I think pitching yourself as someone who enjoys comedy more than almost anyone else on the planet is a tough sell. An interesting read that I would have enjoyed more with a slight reframe of the author's role in the story he's telling.