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Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926, is one of the great comic voices of the twentieth century. Having won almost every entertainment award there is, Brooks has straddled the line between outsider and insider, obedient and rebellious, throughout his career, making out-of-bounds comedy the American mainstream.
Jeremy Dauber argues that throughout Brooks's extensive body of work—from Your Show of Shows to Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to Spaceballs—the comedian has seen the most success when he found a balance between his unflagging, subversive, manic energy and the constraints imposed by comedic partners, the Hollywood system, and American cultural mores. Dauber also explores how Brooks's American Jewish humor went from being solely for niche audiences to an essential part of the American mainstream, paving the way for generations of Jewish (and other) comedians to come.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
March 7, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798765090978
- File size: 154755 KB
- Duration: 05:22:24
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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This brief but incisive audiobook is about the comedian, writer, director, and sometimes musician Mel Brooks. Author Jeremy Dauber narrates in a conversational tone and a New York accent. There's also a fair presence of mouth noise throughout. Nonetheless, it's all here for fans and detractors alike--Brook's humble beginnings, his long-term marriage to actor Anne Bancroft, the vulgarity and creativity of his movie BLAZING SADDLES, along with a raft of other successful and not-so-successful works. Dauber's writing and narration may be at their best when he delves more deeply into the early television era. Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" ruled the airwaves, and Brooks received a weekly $50 in cash from Caesar's personal funds as payment for "helping out." W.A.G. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
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