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I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era
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 Carsonâ€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 couldnâ€t last.William Knoedelseder was then a cub reporter covering the burgeoning local comedy scene for the Los Angeles Times. He wrote the first major newspaper profiles of several of the future stars. And he was there when the comedians—who were not paid by the clubs where they performed— tried to change the system and incidentally tore apart their own close-knit community. In Iâ€m Dying Up Here he tells the whole 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. As comedy clubs and cable TV began to boom, many would achieve stardom.... but success had its price.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published August 25, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
October 31, 2023
Come with me to a time when “comedian” was more an honorific and less of a profession. It’s the early 70s, and young Richard Lewis realizes he might just be able to make a career of making people laugh. So, he stands up (pun intended) at a New York club called the Improv, and lo and behold, people give him money for it. Soon, the almighty Johnny Carson shifts the epicenter of comedy to Los Angeles, and hence Lewis and a host of funnymen (and not nearly enough women) set up camp on the Sunset Strip. The Comedy Store then becomes a “college” for comedians to learn their craft…but also morphs into a nasty, money-fueled business.
This is one of the most unique history books I’ve ever read: a look at a highly specific time, group of people, and art form, if we can call it that. I suppose I never considered the explosion of comedy clubs in that decade, nor had I realized how many great comedians cut their teeth in LA. Always refreshing to learn something brand-new, and who wouldn’t want to learn more about comedians?
The reporting and research are solid. Consider that Knoedelseder (gesundheit) had to have gained access to a very long line of celebrities to get their interviews. Or, at least, it must have required a tremendous amount of time and energy searching for appropriate news articles. The organization is tight and clear. I can appreciate the biopic that sticks with, for the most part, the chronology of events. It also stays on topic, not veering too far into anyone’s life or side story. That makes for easy and enjoyable reading.
For the most part, it avoids partisanship when it comes to the Comedy Store labor dispute. I get a good sense of the history of Mitzi Shore and how she established her business. At the same time, I saw the rationale behind Dreesen and the CFC. It does get ugly, and Knoedelseder (it’s allergies, I swear) spares us none of the detail. Maybe too much detail in the first 50%, but it was worth it to stick around. Kind of like a long Andy Kaufman schtick.
I was one of those kids who stayed up late, waiting until my parents went to sleep, and flicked on the series of foul-mouthed stand-up routines on HBO. So, it was enjoyable to learn how so many of those stars made their careers. Also, I’d never heard of Steve Lubetkin, but his story was told delicately and tenderly.
Borrowed this from a coworker, way back in June. Promised to read it that summer, failed, asked him for an extension, and he dropped a dad joke on me. After I retched and rolled my eyes, I knocked this out and finally returned it, but only after he promised not to have my legs broken. Thanks, Ed!
Enjoy this interesting glimpse into the “Golden Age” of stand-up!
This is one of the most unique history books I’ve ever read: a look at a highly specific time, group of people, and art form, if we can call it that. I suppose I never considered the explosion of comedy clubs in that decade, nor had I realized how many great comedians cut their teeth in LA. Always refreshing to learn something brand-new, and who wouldn’t want to learn more about comedians?
The reporting and research are solid. Consider that Knoedelseder (gesundheit) had to have gained access to a very long line of celebrities to get their interviews. Or, at least, it must have required a tremendous amount of time and energy searching for appropriate news articles. The organization is tight and clear. I can appreciate the biopic that sticks with, for the most part, the chronology of events. It also stays on topic, not veering too far into anyone’s life or side story. That makes for easy and enjoyable reading.
For the most part, it avoids partisanship when it comes to the Comedy Store labor dispute. I get a good sense of the history of Mitzi Shore and how she established her business. At the same time, I saw the rationale behind Dreesen and the CFC. It does get ugly, and Knoedelseder (it’s allergies, I swear) spares us none of the detail. Maybe too much detail in the first 50%, but it was worth it to stick around. Kind of like a long Andy Kaufman schtick.
I was one of those kids who stayed up late, waiting until my parents went to sleep, and flicked on the series of foul-mouthed stand-up routines on HBO. So, it was enjoyable to learn how so many of those stars made their careers. Also, I’d never heard of Steve Lubetkin, but his story was told delicately and tenderly.
Borrowed this from a coworker, way back in June. Promised to read it that summer, failed, asked him for an extension, and he dropped a dad joke on me. After I retched and rolled my eyes, I knocked this out and finally returned it, but only after he promised not to have my legs broken. Thanks, Ed!
Enjoy this interesting glimpse into the “Golden Age” of stand-up!
August 18, 2017
A total comfort read, the literary equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. I'm Dying Up Here allows us to spend 280 pages in the company of the great 1970s comedians, from Dave and Jay to Richard, Robin, Andy, and many more. I would have preferred more time on the comics' antics and less on The Comedy Store strike, but that's a minor quibble for such a soul-satisfying reading experience.
December 29, 2014
One of the reasons I read so few books in the last year and a half is that I spent a lot of my commute time - usually my prime reading time - listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast interviews with comedians, writers, actors, directors, chefs, artists, musicians, and others that are a serious master class in the creative process and incredibly inspiring. Marc mentioned this book on one of the podcasts, and it's a perfect companion piece, looking at the history of the stand-up comedy world in 1970s LA, when the scene completely exploded around Mitzi's Shore's Comedy Store, and then caused an enormous rift in the comedy world over the dispute with Mitzi and subsequent long strike of her club because she refused to pay any of the comedians that performed there. She fostered the careers of so many now-legendary comedians that it's mind-boggling - Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Jimmie Walker, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Gary Shandling, Elayne Boosler, Richard Lewis, Freddie Prinze, Andy Kaufman, and many, many others. It's a great, engrossing read.
June 3, 2012
I'd never heard of this book, but it popped up on some list of titles under $3 available for the Kindle, so I tried a sample. I whipped through that pretty quickly, so the few bucks weren't much of a consideration as I wondered what came next.
Written by a reporter who covered the comedy club scene in L.A. for the Los Angeles Times, the book focuses primarily on a period between 1972 and 1979, when a new and distinct generation of comedic talent broke through into the entertainment industry, and into television in particular.
Johnny Carson moved "The Tonight Show" from New York to Burbank in 1972, and when he did, the local comedy scene took off in a big way as the scouts who used to look for talent in NYC looked for new standups a little closer to the new home. Back then, if you wanted to make it as a comic, you had to play for Johnny. There just weren't that many places for standup comedians to play on TV, so if you could kill the audience, if you could break up Johnny, and most especially if you could get the "OK" sign from him at the end of your five minutes, you had it made. You were blessed, and you were going to get work. You might headline in a real night club, or you might get a TV deal, or you might open for someone big in Las Vegas, and to kill on Carson was the surest way there.
But to get on Johnny's show, you had to be seen by one of his scouts. How to be seen by a scout? Enter Mitzi Shore. At around the same time as Carson's move to the west coast, Shore took over a ratty little club, "The Comedy Store", that her husband owned as a kind of clubhouse for him and his friends, and turned it into a showcase for young and emerging talent. Jimmie Walker, Richard Pryor, Freddie Prinze, Tom Dreesen, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Elayne Boosler, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman—all got, if not their starts, then huge exposure in "The Store".
If not THE Golden Era, it certainly was A Golden Era, for this generation, at least. The comics worked for free, grateful for a stage and mic to try their material in front of an audience, hopeful that a scout, an agent, or a network executive might be in the audience that night and like what they saw and heard. They often did. Jimmie Walker went on to "Good Times," Freddie Prinze to "Chico and the Man," Robin Williams to a one-shot on "Happy Days" that led straight to "Mork and Mindy". David Letterman's 30-plus-year career in late-night television is traceable back to his time at "The Store" and his work as emcee.
But not everyone was as lucky. A struggling comic named Steve Lubetkin makes recurring appearances in the story, never quite in the right place at the right time, never with the right material that fit the tenor of the time, never with the look or the delivery that got noticed, never with the breakout bit that made him the star he so desperately wanted to be. He seems to be a stand-in for Everyone Else, all of the others who took the stage at "The Comedy Store" or "The Improv" or "The Laugh Factory" and didn't get a TV pilot or a chance to open in Las Vegas. Most probably headed back to the real world and took straight jobs, regaling friends and coworkers with stories about knowing Jay or Dave back in the day. But some had things end tragically, like Lubetkin, who jumped from the roof of the hotel next door and to his death in the parking lot of "The Store."
Lubetkin's death came in the midst of a walkout by the comics over a lack of compensation for their work for Shore. They argued that the dynamic had long since shifted from people coming to a club for some drinks and getting to see a comic to people coming specifically to see comics and getting to have some drinks. The comics were the draw, and while some had been able to parlay their sets at "The Store" to steady paying work, many had not. It struck Tom Dreesen as deeply unfair that a comic who had killed the night before, who had managed to make a room full of people laugh and applaud and buy another round, was reduced to begging $5 from one of the headliners for breakfast, especially after the members of that audience had paid a cover charge ostensibly to "cover" the cost of the entertainment.
"Comedians for Compensation"—CFC—was formed as a way to bring the grievances to Mitzi Shore and to try and find a way to get the up-and-comers a little something—$5 a set as "gas money"—and to recognize the comics as talent worth compensating. Shore countered that the club was a showcase—a workshop or a college, even—where the comics could take their material, try it out, and hone it into something polished. That experience could lead to bigger and better work, and the cover charge and bar receipts helped her to cover her expenses in keeping the place up and running.
The strike and its negotiations take up a considerable part of Knoedelseder's book, which, at the equivalent of about 170 pages, isn't that long to begin with. It's hardly a comprehensive history of that period, and I'd be hesitant to term it, or probably any era, as a Golden Era of standup. Certainly there were comics working on the east coast at the same time who were pushing their own boundaries; the eighties brought a boom in outlets for comedians, both on stage on and TV; and the nineties and early 2000s brought in an alt-comedy scene that remade things yet again. The generation that came before—Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Robert Klein, et al—could lay claim to the idea of a standup being a sui generis talent in itself. But it is hard to deny that, in that time and in that place, there was a considerable concentration of talent and ambition, and that it was shaped and nurtured by Mitzi Shore.
July 1, 2013
This book is very likeable - it covers an interesting topic and does so with a pleasingly breezy style - but doesn't go into as much detail as I would have liked. It mostly focuses on the politics of the Comedy store in L.A. from it's founding till the end of the comedians strike in 1979, without a lot of tangents to focus on the lives of the individual comedians who worked there. The problem is that the store itself isn't what's interesting; what's interesting is the people it attracted, some of whom are amongst the most famous comedians of all time. There's some discussion of Richard Lewis, and some of Tom Dreesen, and a handful of others, but whenever you read the roll-call of strikers you have to ask, wait - whose that name? And where were they up till now?
That said, giving this book a star rating is a pretty arbitrary affair. I wolfed it down in about twenty four hours; saying that a book could have been longer is almost as much a compliment as it is a complaint. And even if it did feel a bit slight in the end, I would prefer that to it coming off as pretentious; writers often write about innovative movements like this with a tone that sounds more portentious than someone telling a dick-joke to drunk strangers really deserves, but Knoedelseder manages to frame the breakthroughs in a way that gives these artists the proper credit without overhyping them.
I would recommend this book to people interested in stand up comedy, but then again, I would also recommend Marc Maron's WTF podcast where you can hear a lot of this material first hand from the people who lived it in more expansive detail.
That said, giving this book a star rating is a pretty arbitrary affair. I wolfed it down in about twenty four hours; saying that a book could have been longer is almost as much a compliment as it is a complaint. And even if it did feel a bit slight in the end, I would prefer that to it coming off as pretentious; writers often write about innovative movements like this with a tone that sounds more portentious than someone telling a dick-joke to drunk strangers really deserves, but Knoedelseder manages to frame the breakthroughs in a way that gives these artists the proper credit without overhyping them.
I would recommend this book to people interested in stand up comedy, but then again, I would also recommend Marc Maron's WTF podcast where you can hear a lot of this material first hand from the people who lived it in more expansive detail.
August 24, 2013
I devoured this book in two days, loved getting the inside dish from someone who was there and experienced it and was affected by it. Yes, this book is certainly about a specific scene in a certain era, but there are timeless elements involved as well such as the tension between commerce and art and the conflict of management/ownership versus labor. I like that the author doesn't try to glamorize the comics, I would say he reveals his biases in favor of the comics (labor) and against the comedy establishment (Mitzi Shore) in this case. I am a wannabee stand-up comic and absolutely nothing has changed in the way he describes the personality traits and flaws of comics and those of the folks who run the comedy club business. This is a social history, not a how-to book or biography, but this book was just a good, gripping human story. Fascinating to catch glimpses of the character and struggles of some the comedy biggies, this book forever changed my mind in a negative way towards Garry Shandling, damn scab! I would like to read more of this author's work, we need more investigative journalists out there like him!
October 31, 2021
Fun and interesting read. Wish it was longer.
August 17, 2025
I thought Id know a lot of this from other books but it really was a well told, pacy account of a time I'd dream of seeing first hand.
September 8, 2014
I can't remember where I heard of this book, but somehow it ended up in my library queue and I set about to read it. That said - I'm so glad that I did. I really enjoyed the writing, and the progression of the story. I had always heard of this Mitzi Shore person, but didn't know who she was or what an impact she had on the comedy scene in the 70s. That said - the first half of the book was very interesting to learn about the comics of that day (Leno, Letterman, Lewis & Boosler with some Pryor thrown in here and there). The second half of the book dealt almost entirely with the Comics strike of 1979 which I a) didn't know happened and b) am so amazed by their attempted organization of collective bargaining. I will say this - the one thing about the book that was so well written, and something I had no knowledge about, was the tragic story of Steve Lubetkin. I am glad this book exists and that I read it just for the fact that I now know his story. Hats off to the author for his very sympathetic and kind retelling of his deserved tale. I do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in stand-up and/or history, and how the people who make you laugh got their start. Quick read, for sure.
I would just like to say this, as my opinion part of this particular review: I take my hat off to Mitzi Shore for her vision, and the way that she really did craft and create a wonderful method of promoting comedians. What is truly tragic is either her massive greed or her Roman Empire style ego that for all intents and purposes ruined a great thing. When you look at the piles of $$ that The Comedy Store took in, and the fact that she wasn't even willing to concede a stipend for gas or breakfast to these comics who were making her all that $$ just seems completely insane. I am sure there are other issues in play here, and if I read a book that is 100% written from the perspective of her side of the story, maybe I'd feel a little bit different. But overall, the idea of one person becoming rich on the backs of others talent who can't even afford to eat just seems altogether wrong. I feel things got out of hand because she was entirely unreasonable, and it's really too bad things went down that way. To this day I am amazed that comics still work so hard for so little - but I'm glad that it's gotten a little bit better thanks to the resolve of Tom Dreesen - a man I knew nothing about before reading this book, and now am aware of and have massive respect for. And now I know why I had such a strange feeling about the energy of The Comedy Store when I drive by there. Great stories and great comedy turned into bad juju. Sad for them, and us.
I would just like to say this, as my opinion part of this particular review: I take my hat off to Mitzi Shore for her vision, and the way that she really did craft and create a wonderful method of promoting comedians. What is truly tragic is either her massive greed or her Roman Empire style ego that for all intents and purposes ruined a great thing. When you look at the piles of $$ that The Comedy Store took in, and the fact that she wasn't even willing to concede a stipend for gas or breakfast to these comics who were making her all that $$ just seems completely insane. I am sure there are other issues in play here, and if I read a book that is 100% written from the perspective of her side of the story, maybe I'd feel a little bit different. But overall, the idea of one person becoming rich on the backs of others talent who can't even afford to eat just seems altogether wrong. I feel things got out of hand because she was entirely unreasonable, and it's really too bad things went down that way. To this day I am amazed that comics still work so hard for so little - but I'm glad that it's gotten a little bit better thanks to the resolve of Tom Dreesen - a man I knew nothing about before reading this book, and now am aware of and have massive respect for. And now I know why I had such a strange feeling about the energy of The Comedy Store when I drive by there. Great stories and great comedy turned into bad juju. Sad for them, and us.
September 14, 2016
Hey, believe it or not, Jay Leno was a very respected comedian before everyone got mad at him for that Tonight Show thing with Conan...
Stand up comedy has been a huge interest of mine for a long, long time. While many stand up comics release books today where they're just publishing their bits and trying to be funny, I've grown to be more into memoir style books about comedy that feature road stories or how they came up with some of their jokes. So, when I saw there was a book about the comedy boom and strike in L.A. from the 70's and 80's I was pretty excited.
The book has a very basic arch to it, in that it introduces many of the main players, then talks about comedy getting popular and then finally moves into the comedy strike where all the comedians, no matter what level they were at, would like to get paid for their performances at the Comedy Store.
If you have any interest in stand up comedy, and I mean passed whatever Louie or Amy Shumer are doing right this second, then you should check out this book. Comedians have always been around but interest in stand up always seems to ebb and flow; I guess like anything. However, this is a very important part of comedy history.
It hearkens back to a time when the internet wasn't a thing and comradery between you and your friends was the best part of the day. Should we call it Comederadry? No probably not.
This book is that much more enjoyable if you're familiar with the people in it. While I don't know everyone mentioned from the time, we all know many of the heavy hitters (Robin Williams, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Elaine Boosler, Richard Pryor and many others). Regardless, it was very cool to read about what they were all dealing with back then and even to learn about a few people who didn't really make it to where they wanted to be.
If you don't know many of the names, do yourself a favor and look them up on google or youtube and watch a little bit of their work so you can put a face to the name. It really makes the book that much better.
Again, fully recommended for the stand up fan!
Stand up comedy has been a huge interest of mine for a long, long time. While many stand up comics release books today where they're just publishing their bits and trying to be funny, I've grown to be more into memoir style books about comedy that feature road stories or how they came up with some of their jokes. So, when I saw there was a book about the comedy boom and strike in L.A. from the 70's and 80's I was pretty excited.
The book has a very basic arch to it, in that it introduces many of the main players, then talks about comedy getting popular and then finally moves into the comedy strike where all the comedians, no matter what level they were at, would like to get paid for their performances at the Comedy Store.
If you have any interest in stand up comedy, and I mean passed whatever Louie or Amy Shumer are doing right this second, then you should check out this book. Comedians have always been around but interest in stand up always seems to ebb and flow; I guess like anything. However, this is a very important part of comedy history.
It hearkens back to a time when the internet wasn't a thing and comradery between you and your friends was the best part of the day. Should we call it Comederadry? No probably not.
This book is that much more enjoyable if you're familiar with the people in it. While I don't know everyone mentioned from the time, we all know many of the heavy hitters (Robin Williams, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Elaine Boosler, Richard Pryor and many others). Regardless, it was very cool to read about what they were all dealing with back then and even to learn about a few people who didn't really make it to where they wanted to be.
If you don't know many of the names, do yourself a favor and look them up on google or youtube and watch a little bit of their work so you can put a face to the name. It really makes the book that much better.
Again, fully recommended for the stand up fan!
November 9, 2012
I've become increasingly interested in stand up comedy after I discovered the Marc Maron podcast. I think I even found this book through his Twitter feed. The first half of the book was exactly what I wanted - great stories and inside knowledge of stand up comedians and their relationships. The book really stalled when the conflict between the comedians and the Comedy Store with Mitzi Shore. Most of the rest of the book was about that conflict and the formation of (or the proposed formation of) a comedian union. I understand the importance of the event, but when one half of the book is about how well known famous comedians (Letterman, Dreesen, Lewis, Leno, etc.) became who they are today plus the ups and downs of their interpersonal relationships, it's not a surprise that the other half of the book about the strike legalities wasn't as interesting. It left me feeling like there were probably a lot of stories untold.
December 23, 2014
During the seventies, I was hoovering up as much stand-up comedy as I was able. Granted, with access to only four tv channels, a bedtime of 10 pm, and no internet, it wasn’t easy.
I was vaguely aware of a comedian’s strike against the Comedy Store, but knew none of the details until I read this book.
I found the book fascinating and enlightening. Still relevant, as well, inasmuch as it illustrates the prevalent attitude of “job creators” who believe they’re entitled to collect the fruits of other people’s labor without providing any compensation.
Reading this made me even sadder that Letterman is closing up shop. The end of an era, indeed.
June 9, 2017
Great story, I was hoping there would be a bit more humorous stories, but was satisfied with what was portrayed. I knew a bit about Mitzi Shore from other sources, even the view from the other side when I saw a documentary by her son. Pauly Shore. I was always intrigued by this time in stand up comedy and how so many talented people went on for so long for no money, and was finally glad to get the whole story, or at least a larger picture of what went on in that turbulent era. Interesting and fact filled and some fun to read.
July 19, 2023
Reading this as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are happening was a good move because it goes to show that Hollywood has always been screwing their workers over and will probably continue to do so forever.
The idea that comedians weren’t paid for their work at one point, because some people (Mitzi Shore) believed they didn’t deserve it, is baffling to me. Big props to those who went on strike, risked their entire livelihoods and changed the game for comedians everywhere.
Everyone deserves to be compensated for their work, even in the 70’s when everyone was off their faces on coke ✌🏼
The idea that comedians weren’t paid for their work at one point, because some people (Mitzi Shore) believed they didn’t deserve it, is baffling to me. Big props to those who went on strike, risked their entire livelihoods and changed the game for comedians everywhere.
Everyone deserves to be compensated for their work, even in the 70’s when everyone was off their faces on coke ✌🏼
September 15, 2017
Most of the book was about The Mitzi Shore Dilemma; when she didn't want to pay the comics that were on their way to becoming stars, and how they had to live on the bar food that they ate before their sets because they were starving, and wearing shoes that had no laces or soles.
I didn't enjoy that.
I didn't enjoy that.
February 13, 2014
Remember Steve Lubetkin. He used to work at The Comedy Store.
April 21, 2023
Learned a lot about comedy history with this one. Dressen is one stand up dude. Literally.
January 24, 2018
Mitzi Shore? More like Shitzi Shore... Am I riiiiiiight?
December 10, 2017
This book is an interesting study in human ambition, power struggle and the power of money, and its lack. The only choice for many comedians just getting started was to work for free, and they often didn't have enough to pay for the next morning's breakfast.
It's fascinating to be in on part of the backstories of comedians who are now mostly household names. But the book may leave you with a sense of melancholy over how things maybe could have gone better, but didn't. Mitzi Shore does not emerge from the account smelling like a rose. But this book will hit you in the face with how the blacks are never all black, nor the whites all white - life is complicated. And what you end up considering the best times of your life may slip by before you notice, and after it's too late to experience anything like them again.
It's fascinating to be in on part of the backstories of comedians who are now mostly household names. But the book may leave you with a sense of melancholy over how things maybe could have gone better, but didn't. Mitzi Shore does not emerge from the account smelling like a rose. But this book will hit you in the face with how the blacks are never all black, nor the whites all white - life is complicated. And what you end up considering the best times of your life may slip by before you notice, and after it's too late to experience anything like them again.
March 4, 2018
Excellent read. Phenomenal
July 26, 2017
‘I’m Dying Up Here’ chronicles the careers of comedians who built their careers at a place called The Comedy Store, a legendary Southern California comedy club run by the tough-minded businesswoman Mitzi Shore. Stories of comedians including Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis and many others keep the reader engaged. I loved reading about how great talent was born and developed in the 1970s Los Angeles comedy scene showing us their triumphs and challenges trying to make people laugh. The author is also great at describing the era when young comedians got together in the wee hours of the southern California mornings to collaborate on comedy ideas and forge deep friendships.
The good times and successes were also met with tragedy in many circumstances. 'I'm Dying Up Here' never dodges those facts, writing extensively about comedians’ struggles with drugs, depression and financial hardship. The book confirms much of what is known about the comedy business: it’s incredibly tough.
The only negative I walked away with after reading the book is the heavy detail on how the comedians formed their own organization to set up a strike against Shore's Comedy Store.
Certainly, there's no doubt that those who are either comedians from that time or even part of the audience could find those ‘strike sections’ of the book interesting, I found it to be too much 'inside baseball.'
I’m told that there’s a Showtime premium cable television series based on this book. I’m eager to view those episodes after reading ‘I’m Dying Up Here.’
The good times and successes were also met with tragedy in many circumstances. 'I'm Dying Up Here' never dodges those facts, writing extensively about comedians’ struggles with drugs, depression and financial hardship. The book confirms much of what is known about the comedy business: it’s incredibly tough.
The only negative I walked away with after reading the book is the heavy detail on how the comedians formed their own organization to set up a strike against Shore's Comedy Store.
Certainly, there's no doubt that those who are either comedians from that time or even part of the audience could find those ‘strike sections’ of the book interesting, I found it to be too much 'inside baseball.'
I’m told that there’s a Showtime premium cable television series based on this book. I’m eager to view those episodes after reading ‘I’m Dying Up Here.’
January 1, 2018
Pro tip: If you read this book, have YouTube open and take a look at the standup of these comics: Many of them have become dim memories at this point, and some are quite funny.
I originally gave this a 4 but after sleeping on it, downgraded it to a 3 because there is almost no way this book is going to satisfy readers based on the title. The book is a history of the scene around Mitzi Shore's Comedy Store on Sunset Strip, and in particular how the scene got through the 1979 "strike."
If you're interested in the history of the LA comedy scene in the mid/late 70s, pretty narrowly: Read it. If you're interested in what made the scene's comedy tick, or if you're interested in the book with relation to the Showtime series, I'm not sure this is the one.
The first problem here is it is actually rather light on the heartbreak and the "high times" -- there isn't much about comedy per se. We get a fair amount about the individual comics and their travails, which is genuinely interesting, but it doesn't really build to much. (You will learn some tidbits about Leno, Letterman, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, etc.) On the other hand, as a history of a labor movement, it's quite good. If you want a textbook case of how to mobilize support, you can't do much better than this. I'd quote some details but they would be spoilers.
The second problem is that people are going to read this as the book that motivated the Showtime series of the same name. But after reading this book, it is pretty clear that it was only inspiration, not a blueprint. I really like the Showtime series, but it has gotten some negative reviews owing to the fact that all of the characters are new (maybe "Goldie" in the series is based on Mitzi - but if so, we never see here with her kids). You would be hard-pressed to decide which of the other characters is based on Jay Leno or Dave Letterman . . . mostly because they're not. I think this is much to the credit of the series: They made some pretty believable characters but didn't tread on the real histories from this book. As of the end of Season 1 of the series, the show producers might want to think about dramatizing even more the economic issues of mid/late-70s comics. It's there in the series: But there could be even more specification of direct relationship between the lack of pay in the club and the comics' hardships (I know it's there, but it's structural in the book, not so much in the series). And then the divergences from history are problematic: For instance, Mitzi's response to the rise of strong women in comedy was to create a women-only "Belly Room" in her club -- in the show, the young women comics are recruited for a women-only variety show: The latter provides for some interesting plotting, but it's just at odds with the history.
Now that I'm re-reading this I think I'm maybe being too negative . . . so I'll see what the other reviewers had to say.
I originally gave this a 4 but after sleeping on it, downgraded it to a 3 because there is almost no way this book is going to satisfy readers based on the title. The book is a history of the scene around Mitzi Shore's Comedy Store on Sunset Strip, and in particular how the scene got through the 1979 "strike."
If you're interested in the history of the LA comedy scene in the mid/late 70s, pretty narrowly: Read it. If you're interested in what made the scene's comedy tick, or if you're interested in the book with relation to the Showtime series, I'm not sure this is the one.
The first problem here is it is actually rather light on the heartbreak and the "high times" -- there isn't much about comedy per se. We get a fair amount about the individual comics and their travails, which is genuinely interesting, but it doesn't really build to much. (You will learn some tidbits about Leno, Letterman, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, etc.) On the other hand, as a history of a labor movement, it's quite good. If you want a textbook case of how to mobilize support, you can't do much better than this. I'd quote some details but they would be spoilers.
The second problem is that people are going to read this as the book that motivated the Showtime series of the same name. But after reading this book, it is pretty clear that it was only inspiration, not a blueprint. I really like the Showtime series, but it has gotten some negative reviews owing to the fact that all of the characters are new (maybe "Goldie" in the series is based on Mitzi - but if so, we never see here with her kids). You would be hard-pressed to decide which of the other characters is based on Jay Leno or Dave Letterman . . . mostly because they're not. I think this is much to the credit of the series: They made some pretty believable characters but didn't tread on the real histories from this book. As of the end of Season 1 of the series, the show producers might want to think about dramatizing even more the economic issues of mid/late-70s comics. It's there in the series: But there could be even more specification of direct relationship between the lack of pay in the club and the comics' hardships (I know it's there, but it's structural in the book, not so much in the series). And then the divergences from history are problematic: For instance, Mitzi's response to the rise of strong women in comedy was to create a women-only "Belly Room" in her club -- in the show, the young women comics are recruited for a women-only variety show: The latter provides for some interesting plotting, but it's just at odds with the history.
Now that I'm re-reading this I think I'm maybe being too negative . . . so I'll see what the other reviewers had to say.
October 20, 2017
A history of the mid-1970s stand up comedy scene at Mitzi Shore's Comedy Store in LA (including Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Elayne Boosler, Robin Williams, and many more), written by a journalist who covered the comedy beat for decades and knows the comics from that scene well. This is very readable, although sometimes a little scattered as Knoedelseder tries to capture the antics and personalities of a whole stable of comedians. The book gets better as it focuses in on the organization of a group to protest the lack of payment for comedy "showcases" even when the Comedy Store and other clubs were bringing in thousands of dollars in cover and drink money. The standoff between the young comedians and the stubborn Shore is interesting and (for the most part), well told, there are some great digs at strike-buster Garry Shandling, and the death of one of comedians at the end of the strike is really moving. Knoedelseder has some writing quirks (some of which are pretty sexist in an old white dude journalist clueless kind of way -- are all lesbians really "militant feminist lesbians?"), but he knows his stuff and any lover of the comedy scene will find something to love in this book. I'm still trying to figure out why we the lives and careers of stand up comics and professional chefs are so super interesting, but that's probably a question for another venue....
June 5, 2018
Being old enough to remember some of the events of this book and the personalities involved, this book was great fun to read and I couldn't put it down. William Knoedelseder’s writing is smooth, graceful, and practically reads itself directly into the brain. If you're interested in a little slice of Hollywood history from the 1970s, the golden era of stand-up comedy, check out this book.
Unfortunately, the Showtime series with the same name is only based on this book and is not about the real people and places discussed in the book. I understand how it would be awkward, psychologically as well as legally, to portray Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Elayne Boosler, Tom Dreesen, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and many others, while so many of those comics portrayed in this book are still alive. Luckily for the TV series, however, it still has the same feeling as the book -- the same claustrophobic clubs, the same ambition, struggle and heartbreak of the comics, and the same greed and control of the club owners over the talent they showcased night after night.
Interestingly, I read this book in May, 2018, just a month before Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store portrayed in the book and founder of the Comedy Channel, Inc., 1982, had died. At the time of her passing in April, 2018, Ms. Shore was 87 years old.
I found this book fascinating and thoroughly enjoyably.
Unfortunately, the Showtime series with the same name is only based on this book and is not about the real people and places discussed in the book. I understand how it would be awkward, psychologically as well as legally, to portray Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Elayne Boosler, Tom Dreesen, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and many others, while so many of those comics portrayed in this book are still alive. Luckily for the TV series, however, it still has the same feeling as the book -- the same claustrophobic clubs, the same ambition, struggle and heartbreak of the comics, and the same greed and control of the club owners over the talent they showcased night after night.
Interestingly, I read this book in May, 2018, just a month before Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store portrayed in the book and founder of the Comedy Channel, Inc., 1982, had died. At the time of her passing in April, 2018, Ms. Shore was 87 years old.
I found this book fascinating and thoroughly enjoyably.
September 14, 2017
Meh. I don't what I was expecting other than MORE. It wasn't dishy enough for me, although the stories he did tell were good. I guess I was hoping to know how difficult living was for these people, how having their day jobs interfered with their writing, or helped it. I have been watching the TV series and I liked it, but I'm sure that's because the stories are being embellished a little. There wasn't enough substance here.
July 7, 2017
Interesting, as far as it goes
Very well reported. A detailed history of the comedians' strike. But there was not a lot of fleshing out of the comedians as individuals. I also would have loved to see the comedians' strike and the idea of working for free at a showcase compared to current ideas about interning and working for free for exposure.
Very well reported. A detailed history of the comedians' strike. But there was not a lot of fleshing out of the comedians as individuals. I also would have loved to see the comedians' strike and the idea of working for free at a showcase compared to current ideas about interning and working for free for exposure.
August 27, 2013
An easy read about stand-up comedy in the 1970s. Strongest when detailing comedians boycotting The Comedy Store. Starving comics really were starving comics!
September 12, 2015
A must read for anyone who is or was a Stand-Up Comedian, and a great read for anyone who may want to know what misery and insecurity comedians go through.
June 12, 2017
Informative fun!
August 24, 2017
This is a interesting window into what sounded like a wild time in that explosive age of comedy.
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