It Only Hurts When I Laugh [Hardcover]

Stan Freberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 1988

Traces the long and distinguished career of Stan Freberg, from his beginnings on radio doing animal impressions to his Clio award-winning advertising efforts that have turned Madison Avenue on its head.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Satirist Freberg looks back over his hyphenated show business career. The son of a Baptist minister, he grew up in Pasadena twisting radio dials: "A lot of my sense of humor was shaped not only by Fred Allen, but by Vic and Sade. " While writing and performing with TV's popular Time for Beany puppet show in 1950, he recorded the soap-opera parody "John and Marsha," the first of his hits. His 1953 Dragnet parody moved a million copies in three weeks to become the record industry's fastest-selling single. The Stan Freberg Show, however, was the sign-off for network radio comedy: "I was the last of the species: the snail-dart of network radio comedians." Then his award-winning radio/TV commercials turned the advertising world askew. Convincing buttoned-down ad executives to allow him to poke fun at products was no joke, as detailed here in hilarious anecdotes. Freberg's life is so chockful of nutty situations that he stops short at 1963"Think of it as having watched the first part of a two-part miniseries." What he provides here is not only fast and funny, but very much in the trenchant tradition of the autobiographical humor books by his childhood idol, Fred Allen. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Advertising Age.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Following a trend begun by David Ogilvy ( Confessions of an Advertising Man , Atheneum, 1980), veteran adman/humorist Freberg shares his secrets of success. Like many autobiographies, this one is a bit self-serving with more than its share of name dropping and self-justifications, but it has its moments--especially Freberg's childhood memories of his magician uncle and the chapter on "green Christmas"--a spoof on the commercialization of that holiday which seems as timely today as when Freberg satirized the situation in the 1950s. Those interested in advertising history will find some nuggets of wisdom here, but most of them are like the radio commercials that Freberg cut his teeth on--the fool's gold of a bygone era. Not recommended.
- Gene R. Laczniak, Coll. of Business, Marquette Univ., Milwaukee
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Times Books; 1st edition (November 28, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812912977
• ISBN-13: 978-0812912975
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Freberg writes Memoirs Volume 1 and leaves us hanging- again, May 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: It Only Hurts When I Laugh (Hardcover)

Stan Freberg's writing style in book form is just as engaging as his writing in audio/video form, and although it is an autobiography -- no new sketches here -- it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Clocking in a 273 pages (hardcover) and 22 chapters (plus 28 pages of B&W photos), "It Only Hurts" just brings us up to about 1963, with a very abrupt ending and a brief promise for another volume -- much like his hit album "The United States of America" ended. Of course, "Volume 2" of this series was only released recently (although it was written 25 year before) and, even though Freberg says it won't be the same here, Volume 2 has yet to see the light of day. However, overall, Freberg has a very mish-mash life and checking out this book is definitely worth your while. Freberg has done things many people don't know he did -- like star in most of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons with Mel Blanc. So check this book out. It may not be "An Introduction to Accounting," but, as Freberg says in his Introduction, don't reject this quite yet - you may enjoy it more.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A True Original, March 3, 2003

By 

Michael Meredith "e-Mike" (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Only Hurts When I Laugh (Hardcover)

At the beginning of this autobiography, Stan Freberg talks about the difficulty he has filling in the blank on application forms that asks for "occupation". He's been a comedian, cartoon voice artist, ad man, playwrite, satirist, writer and ethicist. He has created ad campaigns that lampooned the very industries they promoted. And he's stood up to the Darth Vader's of business, refusing to treat the consumer like an idiot.

The most refreshing aspect of this book is the fact that so much of his humor survives the test of time. One of the photos he uses is from a commercial for Chun King Chow Mein, where the voice-over proclaimed that "nine out of ten doctors recommend Chun King Chow Mein." I remember the ad, but I still found myself laughing out loud as I realized that the picture of ten men in medical garb was comprised of nine Asians and one Caucasian.

Unfortunately, there is the realization that anti-Frebergian forces still hold influence over our media, even after so many years of Stan leading the charge for truth and honesty. He doesn't need to make things up, the words of his antagonists are more absurd than any of his thousands of characters.

As other reviewers have noted, this volume ends in 1963, with much of his best work yet to come. Please Stan, please give us more!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stanley freberg, stanley freeeberg, January 23, 2010

By 

William Metcalfe "Snapperman" (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: It Only Hurts When I Laugh (Hardcover)

I am a long standing Freberg fan, going back to the mid-fifies when my brother used to buy his latest 78 release.
Mr Freberg's book does not disappoint, still plenty of laughs, I do wish there was more of it 'tho!