NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - An all-new collection of honest,
hilarious, and enlightening conversations with some of the most exciting
names in comedy--from lifelong comedy nerd Judd Apatow.
"When I need to read an interview with a comedian while in the
bathroom, I always turn to Judd Apatow for deeply personal insights into
the comedic mind. Place one on your toilet today."--Amy Schumer
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Vulture
No one knows comedy like Judd Apatow. From interviewing the biggest
comics of the day for his high school radio show to performing stand-up
in L.A. dive bars with his roommate Adam Sandler, to writing and
directing Knocked Up and producing Freaks and Geeks, Apatow has
always lived, breathed, and dreamed comedy.
In this all-new collection of interviews, the follow-up to the New York
Times bestselling Sick in the Head, Apatow sits down with comedy
legends such as David Letterman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Will Ferrell, as
well as the writers and performers who are pushing comedy to the limits,
and defining a new era of laughter: John Mulaney, Hannah Gadsby, Bowen
Yang, Amber Ruffin, Pete Davidson, and others. In intimate and
hilariously honest conversations, they discuss what got them into
comedy, and what--despite personal and national traumas--keeps them
going.
Together, they talk about staying up too late to watch late-night
comedy, what kind of nerds they were high school, and the right amount
of delusional self-confidence one needs to "make it" in the industry.
Like eavesdropping on lifelong friends, these pages expose the
existential questions that plague even the funniest and most talented
among us: Why make people laugh while the world is in crisis? What ugly,
uncomfortable truths about our society--and ourselves--can comedy
reveal? Along the way, these comics reminisce about those who helped
them on their journey--from early success through failure and rejection,
and back again--even as they look ahead to the future of comedy and
Hollywood in a hyper-connected, overstimulated world.
With his trademark insight, curiosity, and irrepressible sense of humor,
Apatow explores the nature of creativity, professional ambition, and
vulnerability in an ever-evolving cultural landscape, and how our
favorite comics are able to keep us laughing along the way.
