NPR’s Weekend Edition
SCOTT SIMON, host: Analyzing why something is funny is a little bit like trying to fathom why people fall in love. You might be able to do it, but by the time you do, you feel just a little foolish about falling for that person, or that joke. There’s a new book, “And Here’s the […]
The Austin Chronicle
TOUGH CROWD The setup: 21 depressives, neurotics, and social misfits walk into a book. Meet comedy’s all-stars. BY KIMBERLEY JONES Mike Sacks spent two years interviewing comedy greats from past and present, including Buck Henry, Bob Odenkirk, and David Sedaris. The title of Mike Sacks’ new book on comedy, And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations With 21 […]
USA Today
Cool book alert: And Here’s the Kicker You’re invited to two parties: One is for glitzy, super-famous Hollywood types. Another is for humor writers. Which one do you attend? Answer: Go with the funny folks. Not only will the A-listers ignore you, they probably won’t make you laugh, either. In his new book, author Mike Sacks […]
National Post – Canada
And Here’s the Kicker Interview with comedy writing expert Mike Sacks. Mike Sacks is a New York-based journalist who’s written the bonafide comedy writer’s handbook called And Here’s the Kicker. A cross between a how-to manual, gag reel and 21 mini-biographies, the book features such writers as Buck Henry, Al Jaffee, Marshall Brickman, Harold Ramis and Dave […]
Time Out Chicago
In Mike Sacks’s new book, 21 scribes discuss the art of comedy writing. Elvis Costello once said that writing about music was like dancing about architecture. What then would writing about comedy writing be? Turns out, as evidenced by Mike Sacks’s new book, And Here’s the Kicker (Writer’s Digest Books, $17.99), it’s pretty funny. Sacks interviewed 21 […]
Vanity Fair Review
Laughter may be universal, but the world of comedy writing is shrouded in mystery. In AND HERE’S THE KICKER (Writer’s Digest Books), Mike Sacks, a humor writer and Vanity Fair staffer, helps lift the veil with in-depth interviews of 21 top comedy writers from various fields. How in-depth exactly? To give you an idea, 94-year-old […]
Time Magazine Review
Comedy writers—like George Meyer (The Simpsons) and Dan Mazer (Borat)—tend to be depressed, brilliant, erratic and sometimes even funny. Mike Sacks’ collection of remarkably frank interviews with 21 of them readers like a secret history of popular culture.
Mental Floss
I first discovered Mike Sacks on McSweeney’s. He’s a hilarious writer, who’s also penned pieces for mags like The New Yorker and Esquire. Today, Writer’s Digest Books is releasing a new book he’s put together: And Here’s the Kicker, 21 interviews with some of the funniest writers alive, like David Sedaris and Buck Henry. As usual, Mental Floss has scored a […]
New York Press Review
Mike Sacks has lived the dream of practically every comedy nerd. For his book And Here’s The Kicker—released today—Sacks had extensive conversations (between five and 15 hours) with 21 of America’s top humor writers. “This was really just an excuse to talk to these people,” jokes Sacks when asked about his motivation behind writing the book. […]
Publishers Weekly
(Starred Review) Veteran journalist Sacks conducted dozens of interviews with the top humor writers of the last century, and the result is a whiz-bang collection of Q&As that will school readers just as often as it provokes laughter. The assortment boasts elder statesmen including Dick Cavett, 93-year-old Irving Brecher (who wrote shtick for the Marx Brothers […]
