I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era

I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era
William Knoedelseder (Author)
(38)

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History & Criticism

In the mid-1970s, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Andy Kaufman, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Elayne Boosler, Tom Dreesen, and several hundred other shameless showoffs and incorrigible cutups from all across the country migrated en masse to Los Angeles, the new home of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. There, in a late-night world of sex, drugs, dreams and laughter, they created an artistic community unlike any before or since. It was Comedy CamelotAbut it couldn’t last.

William Knoedelseder, then a cub reporter covering the scene for the Los Angeles Times, was there when the comediansAwho were not paid for performingAtried to change the system and incidentally tore apart their own close-knit community. In I’m Dying Up Here he tells the whole story of that golden age, of the strike that ended it, and of how those days still resonate in the lives of those who were there.

• Rank: #142395 in Books
• Published on: 2010-07-27
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Description #1 by Alibris:

Description #2 by eBay:

author william knoedelseder format paperback language english publication year 09 09 2010 subject the arts subject 2 other performing arts title im dying up here heartbreak and high times in stand up comedy s golden era author knoedelseder william publisher public affairs publication date jul 27 2010 pages 280 binding paperback edition reprint dimensions 6 00 wx 9 25 hx 1 00 d isbn 1586488961 subject performing arts comedy description a reporter for the los angeles times relives the mid 1970

Description #3 by Barnes & Noble - GIANTBOOKSALE:

Categories: Comedians->United States->Biography. Contributors: William Knoedelseder - Author. Format: Paperback