Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
At the height of the McCarthy era, an experimental theater troupe set up shop in a bar near the University of Chicago. From this unlikely seed grew the Second City, the massively influential comedy theater troupe, and its offshoots--the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, SNL, and a slew of others.
Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv in this richly reported narrative. He shows us the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May. We hang out at the bar Dan Aykroyd opened so that friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner would always have a home. We go behind the scenes of landmark entertainments from The Graduate to Caddyshack to The Colbert Report. Along the way, we meet a host of pioneers--Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many more. Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century--and the most influential one today.
Synopsis
A finalist for the 2017 George Freedley Memorial Award "A compelling, absolutely unputdownable story . . . And, in case you're wondering, yes, the book is funny. In places, very funny. A remarkable story, magnificently told." --
Booklist In this richly reported, scene-driven narrative, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan Aykroyd hosted friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner, and go behind the scenes of cultural landmarks from
The Graduate to
The Colbert Report. Along the way, we befriend pioneers such as Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many others. Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century.
"One of the most important stories in American popular culture . . . Wasson may be the first author to explain improv's] entire history . . . For that reason alone, it's a valuable book." -- New York Times Book Review
"A compelling history . . . It holds the element of surprise--true to the spirit of its subject." -- Entertainment Weekly