The Improv

Wonderful book about stand-up comedy

While the book is specifically about The Improv and Budd Friedman, it really is much broader than that. It is a history of stand-up comedy from the 1970’s onwards. And while author Budd Friedman might have been self-congratulatory, he included lots of quotes from a WHO's Who of stand-up comedy and not all of these were flattering. This book is an insider's look at stand-up, the good and the bad. Overall this is an amazing book and I strongly recommend it for fans of stand-up comedy.

The Improv An Oral History of the Comedy Club that Revolutionized Stand-Up by Budd Friedman and Tripp Whetsell was received direct from the publisher.  Who hasn't at least heard of the Improv, the comedy club?  Some of us had been to one or even been to them at different locations.  This book, by the founder of the club, gives the stand up comedy lover and Broadway shows lover the true behind the scenes story of the iconic original Improv.  While touted as a autobiography, it is more short snippets of famous people who went there before it or they were famous.  If you like stand up comedy, grab this book up.

5 stars

Fun to read about all my fav comedians who started at the Improv. My kind of history.

Mr. Friedman's story and his prose are equally entertaining.  He had the kind of old-time show business experience that you see in the movies.  When writing about the tragedies of his life, Mr. Friedman evokes the proper emotion without delving too deeply into pathos or evoking inappropriate laughter.  (In one particularly powerful passage, Mr. Friedman describes how his father died at the age of thirty-six from an infection that would be a total non-issue in the age of modern medicine.)  No, the author doesn't have to make you laugh on every page; he wisely modulates between different emotions in order to amplify the comic heights.   Just like a good hour of comedy, The Improv teaches you a little, makes you chuckle and leaves you wanting more.

The book comes highly recommended and should be on the shelf (physical or digital) of any student of comedy.  Those who don't consider themselves students of comedy should read the book to build up their understanding of the twentieth-century blossoming of comedy.  Sure, it's all about making people laugh, but comedians are such an important part of our society, and their understanding (and alternate take) on our world make them an invaluable part of our cultural conversation.

I really enjoyed this history of The Improv, the institution that was instrumental in bringing stand-up comedy to the front of pop culture.  Budd Friedman, the owner and founder of The Improv, is the narrator, but he splices in sound bytes from dozens of comedians who became household names.  

If you enjoy the inner workings of the stand-up circuit, you'll love this collection of stories. Some chapters are focused on the rise of the club and Budd's struggles/recollections, and others are focused on specific comics, like Jay Leno and Andy Kaufman.

The book rides this great high until the very end, which left me a little disappointed.  Budd mentioned bringing a lawsuit against an unnamed comedian, and it didn't seem to fit with the celebration of the rest of the book.  The rest of the book is so candid - so much so that Budd has included some less-than-flattering comments about him from comics - and bringing up this bad blood and then not naming the other party seemed unresolved.  The rest of the book paints the struggles of The Improv while also celebrating the successes.