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I'm Dying Up Here
Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era
Book Summary
In the mid-1970s, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Andy Kaufman, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Elayne Boosler, Tom Dreesen, and several hundred other shameless showoffs and incorrigible cutups from across the country migrated en masse to Los Angeles, the new home of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. There, in a late-night world of sex, drugs, dreams and laughter, they created an artistic community unlike any before or since. It was Comedy Camelot—but it couldn't last. William Knoedelseder was then a cub reportercovering the burgeoning local comedy scene for the Los Angeles Times. He was there when the comedians—not paid by the clubs where they performed—tried to change the system and incidentally tore apart their own close-knit community. Here he tells the story of that golden age, of the strike that ended it, and of how those days still resonate in the lives of those who were there.—From publisher description.
Genres:
This book is about:
- Stand-up comedy,
- 20th century,
- History,
- United States
NPR stories about I'm Dying Up Here
Books
'Dying Up Here' Chronicles Golden Age Of Stand-Up
September 3, 2009 With comics like Letterman and Leno on their way up, Los Angeles in the 1970s was a very funny place to be. William Knoedelseder chronicles the scene in his new book, I'm Dying Up Here.
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