Caesar's Hours: My Life in Comedy, With Love and Laughter [Hardcover]

Sid Caesar (Author), Eddy W. Friedfeld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

The legendary television star tells the backstage stories of the classic comedy of Your Show of Shows, Caesar's Hour , and other landmark programs. It is no exaggeration to say that without Sid Caesar, comedy in America would have been a lot less funny. He was the star and guiding force behind Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour , two of the most innovative programs in the Golden Age of Television, and the writers and stars of those shows went on to create the plays, movies, and sitcoms that we now think of as classic American comedy. So many of our greatest comedy writers - Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Woody Allen -were part of Sid Caesar's creative troupe. Sid was a master not only of comedic performance, but also of developing characters that the audience could relate to, finding the humor in ordinary situations rather than through vaudeville-type gags. His was a comedy truly drawn from the human condition. Caesar's Hours is Sid Caesar 's artistic autobiography, his account of how these great routines were fashioned and performed, and the interactions that gave birth to them. He takes us inside the famed writers' room, the rehearsal studios, and onto the stage itself, where some of the funniest moments in television history came to life. To read his book is to learn why his intelligent and sensitive brand of humor resonates so much with us, even half a century later.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the 1950s, Caesar was to comedy what Marlon Brando was to drama. Gifted in dialects, double-talk, linguistic logistics, mime, music, monologues and satirical sketches, all executed with razor-sharp timing, Caesar created "comedy based on truth" and received acclaim as a comic genius. His fade-out from the tube by the end of that decade left many wondering where he went. Caesar answered that question in his autobiography, Where Have I Been? (1982). Now, collaborating with film critic Friedfeld, he offers a satisfying salmagundi of memoir mixed with a probe into the mechanics of merriment. He opens with memories of saxophone lessons during his Yonkers, N.Y., childhood, followed by comedy in the Catskills. After studying at Juilliard, he played in several orchestras, and his WWII Coast Guard shows led to Hollywood, Broadway and TV's Admiral Broadway Revue (1949). On his legendary Your Show of Shows (1950-1954) and Caesar's Hour (1954-1957), he worked with the era's top comedy writers (Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon), and one chapter echoes the chortles and chaos of the famed Writers' Room (later recreated in films by Brooks, Reiner and Simon): "The energy in the Writers' Room was like a cyclotron.... No one ever finished a sentence that I can remember." Detailing many of his classic routines (some with script excerpts), Caesar's prose is appealing, informal and fun to read. Chapters like "The Art of Sketch Comedy" make this required reading for directors, writers and performers. Eight pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker

More than twenty years ago, Caesar delivered a memoir ("Where Have I Been?") that detailed his rise to comic stardom in the fifties and the addiction to alcohol and tranquillizers that obliterated the next two decades. This volume revisits much of the same material, but with greater focus on the sources of Caesar's style—for instance, he learned his trademark "double-talk," a stream of nonsense sounding plausibly like a foreign language, from listening to the immigrant clientele at his father's luncheonette. Some of his influences are more predictable than others. He admires the way Chaplin and Keaton worked "both sides of the street," playing humor off against pathos. Caesar was a professional saxophone player before he moved into comedy, and he feels that that skill "was integral to my performing."
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; First edition (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586481525
• ISBN-13: 978-1586481520
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,097,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HAIL, CAESAR!..., February 26, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Caesar's Hours: My Life In Comedy, With Love and Laughter (Paperback)

This is a wonderful memoir that takes the reader down memory lane. As anyone one reading this biography knows, Sid Caesar was one of the foremost comedians of his time. In fact, he was actually ranked the third all time great comedian (after Jackie Gleason and Lucille Ball) by a documentary about the greatest comedians of all time, which documentary was featured on the A & E cable television channel.

I know that my parents used to watch Cid Caesar's ground breaking television program, "Your Show of Shows". I myself was too young to have any recollection of it. I do, however, recall that as a young child, together with my family, I watched his subsequent show in the latter half of the nineteen fifties, "Caesar's Hour". Sid Caesar was the then king of comedy, and he broke trail for many of the comedians that were to follow him. Many of the greatest comedic writers to ever write for television started out writing for his shows. Greats such as Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Woody Allen were among some of his writers. No wonder that era was heralded as the Golden Age of Television!

In his memoir, Sid Caesar talks only a little about himself on a very personal level. Still, he comes across as an intelligent man who dearly loves his wife of over sixty years. He acknowledges his personal foibles, such as a drinking problem that, at times, threatened to overwhelm him, as well as a never ending quest for creative perfection. This book is not so much about Caesar, the man, but rather about Caesar, the performing artist. Consequently, Sid Caesar the man remains a bit of a mystery. On the other hand, Sid Caesar, the performer, comes vividly to life. This is more of an artistic autobiography rather than a personal one.

He lovingly reminisces about how he got his start on the road to fame and fortune. Born in 1922 in Yonkers, New York, to Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia, Sid was an accomplished musician who could play the saxophone with the best of them. Having started out as a musician, Sid Caesar would cut his comedic teeth in the borscht belt of the Catskill Mountains. It was there that he would also meet Florence, the love of his life. At the onset of World War II, Sid would play with a number of orchestras in Manhattan, before signing up with the Coast Guard in 1942, and in 1943 he married his beloved Florence.

While in the Coast Guard, Sid became part of a successful revue for the troops, which raised his profile. This propelled him to Hollywood after his discharge from the Coast Guard, where he would become involved in the movie industry, starring in a number of comedies. From there, he would go on to perform for the nightclub circuit on the East Coast. Sid was not a stand-up comedian, but rather, a comedic sketch artist. From there it would be a short trip to Broadway, where Sid would achieve tremendous success in a revue called "Make Mine Manhattan", in which he would turn in an award-winning performance. This would lead him right to television, which was still in its nascent stage, and into the homes and hearts of millions of Americans.

This book is chock full of information on the early days of television, which had more in common with theatre and stage work than with film, as it was live television. Undoubtedly, this factor was responsible for much of the frenetic pace and spontaneity which existed. Today, television is more like film rather than stage work, as very little is shot live. Sid Caesar lovingly lays out for the reader many of his comedic sketches that were his special shtick. He meticulously explains how his comedic routines were fashioned and performed.

He speaks glowingly about his wonderful professional partnership with the late Imogene Coca, the googly-eyed comedienne, with whom he would be in perfect comedic harmony. They would make beautiful music together with their hilarious sketches that parodied slices of life and the human condition. Together, these two would touch a chord among audiences that would forever enshrine them in television history, making them the golden couple of the Golden Age of Television.

This is an engaging artistic biography that will appeal to fans of Sid Caesar and to those with an interest in the early years of television. Those readers who enjoy memoirs and biographies will likewise find this to be a worthwhile and interesting book.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece!, April 2, 2004

By 

Eric S Silvia (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar's Hours: My Life in Comedy, With Love and Laughter (Hardcover)

I wholeheartedly recommend Caesar's Hours. Not only is this book an autobiography, but also an encyclopedia of sorts. Sid eloquently writes of his early years growing up in New York, his numerous tries at breaking into show business, his service to the country during WWII, and finally, his years on 'Your Show of Shows' and 'Caesar's Hour'. Along the way, Sid shares some of his favorite jokes and sketches that he has used during his reign as TV legend.

What makes Sid even more commendable and the book even more facinating, is how Sid gives credit to all those who helped him along the way. While most entertainers take all the credit, Sid carefully notes his comedy writers and fellow actors who, together, are the reason for his and the shows' great success.

I recommend this book to anyone wishing to read about Sid's life, and all those who want to know just how difficult it was to produce a show a week, in an entertainment medium that was in its infancy.

A magnificant work from the last of the Televion Legends!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells how his routines were fashioned and performed, May 15, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar's Hours: My Life in Comedy, With Love and Laughter (Hardcover)

Sid Caesar was the star of Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, two of the most innovative and popular programs in the Age of Television and a creator of some of the greatest comedy writers of his times. This informative autobiography tells how his routines were fashioned and performed, and examines the methods and creations of the writers who made him famous.