Customer Reviews

Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A wonderful look into the wit of Jerry Seinfeld. If you have an interest in standup, this CD is a special treat as he talks about how he prepared for his first Tonight Show appearance, what classes he might recommend for those interested in comedy, and running from club to club in New York constantly honing his set...for 18 months, completely unaware of what he was really getting himself ready for. If you're looking for material more like the Seinfeld TV show (which this is definitely not), check out Seinfeld's "I'm Telling You For the Last Time" CD.

Please be aware! This is not a stand up routine of Jerry Seinfeld. This is a copy of an interview done with him. Simply a question and answer interview. If that is what you want, than get it. If you are looking to laugh a lot, don't.

This CD is a must have for the aspiring stand-up or the Seinfeld (the man, not the show necessarily) fan. The interviewer is fair, but Seinfeld's answers and insights are what make this CD worth listening to again and again. Not a disappointment!

The interviewer is very annoying. At times he interrupted Jerry's answers, finished Jerry's sentences and blabbed on about his own ideas.

This album is really meant for comedians or possible comedy writers. It's not meant to be funny, but rather offer insight into Seinfeld's work. Particularly interesting is his discourse on preparing for The Tonight Show and on comedy timing.

A must for anybody involved in the comedy business.

I got this product fast and the quality is what I had expected it to be. I was happy I purchased with them.

Though this is not his stand-up, it was a very helpful tool for me as a starting out comedian. I suggest this CD, and the movie Comedian to get a very real insight into the life of a comedian.

As a new and developing comedian, this has been invaluable to me. I also have the book Great Comedians Talk About Comedy, full of print interviews including this one... and that is edited, so it's cool to hear Jerry Seinfeld actually say it here. You catch the nuances and overall meaning a bit better.

As my review title says, I've listened to this thing at least 5 times over the past 3 months and every time I catch something different.

A couple things about the interviewer: he has interviewed many of the greats in comedy going all the way back to Milton Berle, so he has a good basis for the questions he asks, and he chooses questions that, even if his theory (based on all these comedians) may not be perfect, it still stimulates Jerry to clearly explain his own perspective.

This is a funny CD about Jerry Seinfeld and his comedy career. It tells you about his comedy career with his own blend of humor. If you like Jerry Seinfeld then this is the CD for you. If you really don't know much about him then this is a good CD to start because it explains him and its him talking.

I hope no one actually *paid* for this CD. I got it at the public library, and while it's lightly entertaining, and probably even lighter in terms of its worth to aspiring comics, the overall effect is one of superficiality and amateurism.

For one thing, the interviewer, Larry Wilde, is NOT a good interviewer. As one reviewer pointed out, he talks too much, he answers his own questions, he asks dopey questions, questions that lack depth.

I realize that I may be run out of the universe on a rail, but Jerry Seinfeld's show, as far as I'm concerned, wasn't that great. *Very* overrated. In many markets, "Seinfeld" reruns are followed by reruns of "Everyone Loves Raymond," and "Everyone Loves Raymond," seems so much better: the acting, the writing, the conception of the characters. "Seinfeld," pales in comparison.

And so Jerry Seinfeld, it seems to me, is trapped. What has he done since "Seinfeld"?

-- A bee movie. Fine. If bees are your thing, go on with your bad self.

-- A documentary he produced about how he reconstructed his comedy act, joke-by-joke, from ground zero. ... Ok, mildly entertaining; but, in many ways, very sad. What next for "The Wandering Comedian"?

What can he do, the poor guy? I think he realizes that "Seinfeld" was what it was, to a large extent, because of the particular time it came into being. It was, if you will, "first on the field." Now, in retrospect, it seems, comedically, quite shallow.

As an astute student of comedy, I think that, in his heart of hearts, Jerry himself would have to admit that. The show is several notches below the quality of his stand-up routines, especially his pre-"Seinfled" HBO specials.

In fact, this CD, as much as it didn't strike me as particularly great, was more entertaining that any given "Seinfeld" episode.

And so what's poor Jerry doing? Answer: analyzing his career -- again and again and again. Who knows, being a Zen student, it may be a Zen/Nietzsche ("theory of eternal reccurence") thing with him.

I imagine he himself can't figure out just why his tv program was so successful.

Jerry Seinfeld is a very likeable person. I mean, how can you dislike the guy, he's relaxed, intelligent, ingratiating, tasteful. But how sad that he was so successful -- with a mediocre show -- that he now, I believe, is afraid to try anything new involving a mass audience.

Afraid because he knows that the success of "Seinfeld" is way out of proportion to not only the show's comedic value but also his limited talent. He's a damn good stand up comedian, but he's not in the league of "comedy greats," the title of this CD's series notwithstanding.