Sick in the Head
Conversations About Life and Comedy
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Intimate, hilarious conversations with the biggest names in comedy – including Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Roseanne, Harold Ramis, Louis C.K., Chris Rock, and Lena Dunham.
Before becoming one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood, Judd Apatow was the original comedy nerd. He took a job washing dishes in a local comedy club so he could watch endless stand-up for free. He hosted a show for his local high school radio station on Long Island – a show that consisted of Q&As with his comedy heroes, from Garry Shandling to Jerry Seinfeld.
Thirty years later, Apatow is still that same comedy nerd – and he’s still interviewing funny people about why they do what they do.
Sick in the Head gathers Apatow’s most memorable and revealing conversations into one hilarious, wide-ranging, and incredibly candid collection that spans not only his career, but his entire adult life. The comedy legends who inspired and shaped him, from Mel Brooks to Steve Martin, the contemporaries he grew up with, from Spike Jonze to Sarah Silverman. And the brightest stars in comedy today, from Seth Rogen to Amy Schumer.
And along the way, something kind of magical happens: what started as a lifetime’s worth of conversations about comedy becomes something else entirely. It becomes an exploration of creativity, ambition, neediness, generosity, spirituality, and the joy that comes from making people laugh.
Loaded with the kind of back-of-the-club stories that comics tell one another when no one else is watching, this fascinating, personal, and borderline-obsessive book is Judd Apatow’s gift to comedy nerds everywhere.
Royalties will be donated by to 826LA, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in Los Angeles.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The man behind some of the most caustically funny movies and shows of our time (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Bridesmaids, Freaks and Geeks) is serious about comedy. Judd Apatow’s book is built upon a series of interviews he conducted with rising and established stars over a 30-year stretch. In those candid conversations, Apatow’s interview subjects discuss everything from their personal struggles to the history of stand-up: Amy Schumer reflects on being known for sex jokes, Jay Leno talks about bombing and Chris Rock worries about staying relevant. Anyone with an interest in comedy and the people who create it will find some fascinating insight.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this hilarious, insightful, and deeply personal look into what makes comedians tick, writer-director-producer Apatow (Freaks and Geeks, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, etc.) gives his fellow comedy nerds a generations-spanning backstage peek at some of America's greatest humorists. Apatow includes his interviews with a veritable Who's Who of the comedy world, from old-school stalwarts Mel Brooks and Steve Martin to Apatow's contemporaries, including Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Amy Schumer, and Lena Dunham. Each talk is quirky and personable in its own way; what makes them resonate even more is the fact that Apatow undertook several of them while still in high school and working for the student radio station, lugging a tape recorder around to interview comedians and asking them "How do you write a joke?" One of the best interviews, which he did in 1983 at age 15, is with Jerry Seinfeld, a scenario the two repeated in 2014. Apatow's undeniable respect for his comedy idol is clear, and so is Seinfeld's genuine interest in discussing his craft, even with a teenager. Apatow's breadth of experience is not nearly as impressive as the sheer pleasure he so obviously derives from talking about the craft he loves with people who love it too. This exploration of what it really means to be funny, day in and day out, is for the comedian in everyone.
