Customer Reviews

Satiristas: Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs & Vulgarians

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Ok. I confess. I am a comedian aficionado. I love comedy. I could eat it!
When I heard that Paul Provenza, comedy genius extraordinare, had released a book called iSatiristas!, it was a moral imperative for me to obtain it and read it asap! Paul is a comic's comic. His playfulness is delightful and contagious. But make no mistake, because behind his sincere charm lies one of the most erudite, hilarious, quickest wits in town!

Since Paul IS a comedian, there is a mutual respect and trust between all involved. Therefore, allowing the questions to be more intimate, in-your-face, honest, hilarious and intelligent. This is not your mainstream, pre-packaged Q&A book. It has heart, depth, dirty words!, insightful and smart answers. It's diversive. iSatiristas! interviews legends such as George Carlin (in apparently his last interview). The comic talent runs the gamut from the classic (Smothers Brothers, Cheech & Chong, Lily Tomlin, Robert Klein, Terry Jones of Monty Python) to house-hold names (Robin Williams, Roseanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard, Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson, Bill Maher) and contemporary artists of today (Stephen Colbert, Penn Jillette, Dana Gould, Patton Oswald, Conan O'Brien, Doug Stanhope, Greg Proops...) And these 2 "younger" & oh, so talented, heavy hitters Lee Camp & Jamie Kilstein.

If you love and appreciate comedy as an art form, hell, if you just love comedy, then this book is for you.
"Misfit's Rights."

P.S. The photographs, which were taken by Dan Dion, really captures the comedians' essence!

Art is an amazing gift given to some for the enjoyment of many. And while most art is accessible, you can teach someone how to paint, draw, sculpt, dance, write, etc., comedy is an art form all its own. No one can teach you how to be funny. You're either funny or you're not.

Being a comic is the most innate, inexplicable art. It is a gift embodied within stoic individuals who seemingly (sometimes barely) survive from life's unrelenting drama and turn that pain, that anger, that rage into art. Comics are the artistic Rumpelstiltskins that spin yarns into gold and SATIRISTAS!, a new book out by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion, is fast becoming the comic`s bible and an outsider`s look into a world barely acknowledged by mainstream media.

This book is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for sissies. It's an authentic dissection of craft and experience by seasoned professionals that have seen, done and heard it all.

Provenza is a comic god to me. His love of craft, his respect for fellow comics draws interviews better than Barbara Walters and without making his subjects cry. His down to earth personality and `take no prisoners' attitude are qualities I long for in my fellow humans and usually only find it in my fellow comics.

Dan Dion's eye enables him to capture each subject with as much intimacy as the accompanying interviews and help turn this book into a textbook no comic or writer should be without. This is an amazing read, you won't be able to put it down, nor should you. The subjects run the gauntlet of talent and experience, everyone has something powerful to say ... this book is going to shake up the mainstream and bring comedy back to the respectable art form it is.

Length:: 2:49 Mins

Great trailer that has actual clips from the book's interviews including George Carlin.

Now I know what I'm getting everyone for Chrismakwanzakah.

What a beautiful, smart, thought-provoking sleeper of a book. And for a fan of comedy, it is a golden ticket that couldn't be more enticing were it wrapped around a Wonka Bar. Provenza lets you into the engine rooms of the smartest minds in satire, where in an age of marketing murk and wholesale insincerity, honesty is still the price of admission. If the Truth is dying a slow death in America, it is only still breathing because a few artists remain unwilling to give up the mic.

There's no posturing here, no junket-ready platitudes or skin-deep anecdotes. You can always tell a real "artist," because they shy away from that word. They're made uncomfortable by the inference. Getting a real artist to drop the "Oh, I just do what feels right" defensive mask is like asking a glacier to hang a u-turn.

And that is Provenza's gift.

His insider's positioning and analytical mind make him the ideal gatekeeper to this world. He knows what to ask, and has an unrivaled ability to get the most guarded personalities of his profession to take off their armor. The result is an absolute education for anyone who cares about comedy, rhetoric, performance, or the craft of truthtelling.

When Rome burned, some people stood idle and watched. Others looked to profit from the inferno. And some stood in front of a faux brick wall and had the courage to tell jokes about the flames.

They deserve such a book.

Fast and accurate service. My book arrived long before expected and it was exactly as advertised. Thank you for excellent customer service!

It couldn't get any better than this - a Q & A book with some of comedy's big players including Carlin, Lewis Black, Greg Giraldo, Matt Stone / Trey Parker and more. It's more than just stand-up, it's downright anyone who's made an impression on the way we laugh. GREAT book for any comedy lover, highly recommended.

The overwhelming strength of Paul Provenza's Satiristas is the respectful editing of the interviews. It seems that Provenza's goal here was to portray each comedian as he or she wanted to be portrayed. Jay Leno wanted to come off as a businessman, and he does so. Doug Stanhope wanted to come off as one who tries hard not to analyze comedy too often, and that thread pervades his interview.

However, the reader doesn't get to know more than one or two aspects of each person. In a five or six-page interview, there's not a lot of time. I would have preferred longer interviews; the book would likely have to be released in volumes, but I think one would get more of a sense of where these great comedians came from, where they are, and where they are going in their art.

For the most part, the photographs are excellent. The photographer, Dan Dion, writes a little blurb at the being of the book. He claims that he captures the essence of his subjects instead of staging or blocking a goofy pose. I found this to be true most of the time, but there are a lot of goofy photos in this book. I didn't mind them so much, but there were a lot more than I was expecting.

I recommend this book for comedy connoisseurs. I enjoyed reading interviews with comedians I admire and I was pleasantly introduced to others I don't know yet.

There are three reasons that when it comes time to give a gift to someone who loves good comedy, I get them this book.
One, It's gritty, real, fully uncensored, and features the best comics of our time. Two, the portraits in the book capture the essence of the comics, without being headshot-y or pretentious. They are as real as the interviews. Three, there are comics who you might not know, but you'll realize you want to know. Great book. Really great book.

Satiristas is a must-own for lovers of comedy. From the sharp mind of Paul Provenza and the sharp eye of Dan Dion we are gifted this landmark comedy undertaking.

Paul does quite a job interviewing a wide range of entertainers while Dan showcases his ability to capture these entertainers in a single moment that says so much about who they are.

Your loins will quiver with anticipation the moment you dive into this impressive read.

Satiristas is a combination of great humor, fabulous photos, and the personal touch of interviews. Thanks for honoring the many greats who bring laughter and thought provoking consciousness to millions of people like me.