The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close
by Kim "Howard" Johnson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kim "Howard" JohnsonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN: 1556527128
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Book Reviews of The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close
Book Review: Thorough (but not flawless) examination of a genius
Summary: 4 Stars
I first heard about Del Close a good ten years ago when I read that the casts of all of the good years of SNL (see: the first 5 years and the late '80s/early '90s) were overrun by his students. Since then, most of my favorite comedians today have turned out to be students of Del's (including Bob Odenkirk, the Upright Citizens Brigade, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien's writing staff during the glory years of Late Night from 1995-2000). I wanted to know more about the man who is described as the most influential figure in comedy in the past fifty years (is it fifty? I could have looked this up beforehand. I think it's either fifty or thirty. Either way, very influential). And this book tells me everything I could ever want to know. It's a bit slow in the beginning (but necessary to get a feel for Del's upbringing), but the rest of it is extremely interesting. I loved the little stories included every so often to highlight scenes from Del's life, it really gave you a true feel for his personality. That's the best thing I can say about this book, after reading it I feel as though I sort of knew Del Close, even if we were more acquaintances than real friends.
That said, why just four stars instead of all five? Maybe I'm nitpicking, but one thing really annoyed me in how the book was written and that was the baseless speculation that repeatedly appeared. Like if Del got a one-off role on some TV show (like Don Adams' "Get Smart") that ended up being cancelled shortly after his appearance, the author would say something along the lines of "he would have surely had become a recurring character if the show had continued." This only happens around five times over the course of the book, but while it wasn't all that recurring in a 350-page book, it was enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed it.
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