Official Review: STANDUP GUYS: A Generation of Laughs

[L_Therese]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "STANDUP GUYS: A Generation of Laughs" by John DeBellis.]

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I love laughing. From Calvin & Hobbes to Dilbert, the Smothers Brothers to Tom Lehrer, Whose Line Is It Anyway? to The Daily Show, and Jean Shepard to Saturday Night Live, there is very little I like better than to laugh. That said, I’m not very good at making jokes, and this only increases my respect for those who can. In this book, I got the distinct privilege of not only getting to know one of those eminent persons who can actually create jokes, but also laughing while he recounted his experiences.

In The Standup Guys, John DeBellis recounts his life as a comic. Normally, I’d use the word “career”, but he makes it very clear that being a comedian was a lifestyle. He brings the reader on a tour through his childhood, pointing out the experiences and persons that made him being to dream of stand-up comedy. As the book goes on, he spotlights his early career as he established himself on the stage and then later as a writer as well. Throughout the book, we meet his friends and mentors and learn what kinds of challenges a rising stand-up comedian faced in the 1970s.

What is most remarkable about this book is the author’s voice. There is no doubt that it is written by someone who is genuinely funny. Jokes and tongue-in-cheek remarks pepper every page, but in such a way that their irreverence highlights the gravity of the content. As Mr. DeBellis rips on his comic buddies, the reader knows without a shadow of doubt that he cares deeply for them and treasures their friendship. Mr. DeBellis habitually utilizes in his writing what he reveals to the reader as his adopted trademark of self-deprecation, which adds a surprising sincerity to the memoir. The humor that permeates the book is not “put on”, so to speak, but natural, as if he were talking to his audience instead of writing.

Despite how funny it is, this book isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It becomes starkly evident that a comedian of Mr. Debellis’ era usually had a long uphill struggle to get to the top (or anywhere close). The author discusses how neuroses and ADD seem to affect the majority of the comics of his acquaintance, how a poor self-image was so common it seems like a necessary qualification, how he and most of his peers struggled for enough money to survive, and how fear and nervousness sometimes became seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Equally, though, Mr. DeBellis talks about how these challenges forged stronger bonds between him and his fellows, how these challenges made him better at his art, and how they engendered greater respect for his idols and mentors. And he does it all with humility and a sharp wit.

I am very pleased to rate this book four out of four stars, and would gladly recommend it to anyone. Whether a person is into stand-up comedy or not, and regardless of whether that person has ever heard of John DeBellis, this is a book about chasing dreams and clambering over the impediments that would stop a less determined person. It is about finding friendships and valuing the hardest time in one’s life as the most rewarding. Thank you, sir. I loved it.

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[lastjack]

I just want to thank you for that terrific review, but more importantly you really "got it" and understood what I wanted to do and the reason for writing it.

John

[L_Therese]

I just want to thank you for that terrific review, but more importantly you really "got it" and understood what I wanted to do and the reason for writing it.

John

Thanks. That means a lot to me.