Customer Reviews

The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and Tv's Golden Age

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Jordan Young's interviews with some of Hollywood's top radio comedy writers in the thirties, forties and fifties gives the reader interested in show business nostalgia so much more than could be reasonably expected. While I was reading the book, I felt that I went back in time and I throughly enjoyed every hour.

We don't read transcripts of old radio shows--instead, we get a front row seat on Sunset and Vine in Hollywood and find out--through the writers--all that went on before the show went on the air and how the whole frenzied process began again immediately after the show went off the air.

I always wondered how these old radio shows were put together. What we learn is that each comedy star had his own system. While Eddie Cantor may have employed a hundred writers in a chaotic fashion over his long radio career with only modest results, Jack Benny had a long-time stable of six or seven writers and by consensus, had established, along with Fred Allen, the "gold standard" in radio comedy.

I loved this book!

I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Gerald Nachman's "Raised on Radio." I liked the format: each chapter was laid out by writer's name, his recollections and thoughts on the shows he worked on, and his credits by medium; (radio, TV, Movies, etc). You really got a feel for who was a major talent vs. who was lucky in show business. The writers really didn't get their due from the public, now here's your chance to find out who was responsible for "making" certain stars legends!

What a delightful book! Full of insights into the process of writing comedy and how "lively" live radio and TV could be. Paints a clear and not always pretty picture of some of the funniest folk in comedy, including Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Fred Allen. The format lets the writers express themselves, and it's not always good memories they're sharing. A must for any fan of old-time radio, comedy, writing, and television. The stories are not always sweet and nostalgic, but accurate and, above-all, honest. I loved this book!

The interview subjects in this book really get down to the nuts and bolts of writing comedy for radio. Excellent material, well organized and presented. There's a lot to learn here.

Anyone with an interest in classic comedy writing will find this book to be an absolute treasure trove. It is a fascinating and comprehensive work consisting of interviews with the men (almost exclusively, men) who created the industry of modern comedy writing and, thus, the television industry as we all know it. I enjoyed every page!