The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades
May 1, 2021
Steinberg (The Book of David) offers a history of comedy filtered through 50-plus years of lived experience. It's hard to deny his comedy credentials--he's appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, guest-hosted the Carson-era Tonight Show, and directed episodes of Seinfeld. But Steinberg continually centers himself in this narrative, even when writing about fellow comedians. Anecdotes about smoking cigars with Groucho Marx and being flashed by Milton Berle are nestled among paragraphs of name-dropping; they're balanced by his warm remembrances of Robin Williams, Johnny Carson, among others--plus a wild Redd Foxx story. The last third of the book is drawn from interviews Steinberg conducted on his TV show Inside Comedy, about the early careers of dozens of comedians (including Chris Rock, Richard Lewis, and Sarah Silverman). This section is effective, yet Steinberg still dominates the spotlight. VERDICT Steinberg hits the history harder than the comedy and presents himself as a pivotal figure. Comedy fans who remember his onscreen work will likely agree with his self-assessment and enjoy his book.--Terry Bosky, Madison, WI
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2021
A half-century survey of the comedic landscape. Steinberg has a gift not only for stand-up and improvisational comedy, but also for the rhythms and mores of show business more generally. Born in Winnipeg, the author left pre-rabbinical studies during his teens. While in college in Chicago, watching Lenny Bruce inspired him to invent his own brand of socially conscious stand-up, and he joined the famed Second City troupe alongside Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols, and Elaine May. Steinberg went on to a hugely successful comedy career that included 30 years of stand-up, 140 appearances on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, directing successful sitcoms (Seinfeld, Mad About You, etc.), and producing and hosting Inside Comedy, his series of one-on-one conversations with more than 75 comedians. Along the way, he got to know just about everybody of importance in the comedy world, many of whom appear in these pages. The author charts a throughline of comics from the Borscht Belt to the Ed Sullivan Show to the Tonight Show, highlighting the work of Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Don Rickles, and countless others. As a writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late 1960s, Steinberg saw how CBS censors tried to shut down political humor. Now, as an elder statesman of entertainment, he reflects on "more than a good life, a dream built on laughter." Because the author interviewed his roll call of comedians for the Inside Comedy series, parts of the book read like transcripts, but beyond all the name-dropping and off-color anecdotes is a real love for the craft and its giants. Via dozens of memories from the leading lights of comedy over the past 50-plus years, Steinberg effectively expresses his "reverence for and experiences with Groucho Marx and George Burns and their world, for stand-up comedy, comedians in clubs and on television, and those who excel at being both actors and comedians." A lifelong story of comedy and its brilliant careers, told by a consummate insider.
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July 1, 2021
David Steinberg may not be as easily recognized in the annals of comedy as the likes of Sid Caesar, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, or Jerry Seinfeld, but he was just as influential. In a memoir that nearly qualifies as a history of American comedy during the last six decades, he shares illuminating tales of friends and colleagues. Even more impressively, he places the reader right next to the guy who was, seemingly, there for it all. From the 1960s, when Lenny Bruce was simultaneously censored and adored, to raucous stand-up tours, to endless shenanigans in The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour writing room in the 1970s, to directing some of the most historic television comedy seen so far with stints in Designing Women, Golden Girls, Friends, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not to mention Steinberg's record-setting 140 guest-host gigs on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Steinberg's recollections are vivid as they are hilarious. There is a sense that every memory and every person in his life in comedy is given equal weight as he tells stories about and expresses gratitude for his impressive career.
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