oral history – The Comedy Bureau

“Super Serious” Offers an Oral History of LA Indie Stand-Up Scene in a Gorgeous Coffee Table Book

It’s unclear as to exactly what was going on in 2010 in LA comedy, but it was the starting point of almost everything that makes it special now (well, right before COVID-19 struck anyway). The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail started around then, WTF with Marc Maron was picking up steam and kickstarted LA’s comedy podcast explosion, and even we had our humble beginnings around then. Also, so many indie comedy shows popped in and around LA giving the LA comedy scene the sort of connective tissue that it was missing years prior.

One such show is The Super Serious Show and, as they’ve kept their high flying variety show going for a decade between a handful of unique, wondrous venues around LA, they’ve seen the ebbs and flows, the new, the old, the highs, the shifts, the rumblings, the lows, and everything in between that has been going in the venerable indie LA comedy scene, especially when it comes to stand-up. Thus, Super Serious Show co-creator and portrait photographer Mandee Johnson assembled a lovely and exhaustive oral history of the comedy scene here in LA, accented by her signature polaroid portraiture of the hundreds and hundreds of performers that have stepped on The Super Serious Show stage. Contributors to this special oral history entitled Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy include Hasan Minhaj, Rory Scovel, Anthony Jeselnik, Karen Kilgariff, Baron Vaughn, Dave Anthony, Andy Kindler, Natalie Palamides, Kristen Schaal, Ron Funches, Reggie Watts, Rachel Bloom, Dana Gould, Eddie Pepitone, Cameron Esposito and dozens more.

If you’re as obsessive about comedy as we are, it’s definitely a must have for your coffee table (or whatever table you have). Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy is available for pre-order now and will be released on Aug. 18th from Andrews McMeel Publishing. Given how there are plenty of shipping delays for non-essential items these days in the U.S., best to put your order in now. Get more details and get your copy here.

Fun news alert: We have a BOOK!

Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy is available for pre-sale NOW!

Learn more: https://t.co/XRUUsXZ7Xq @mandeephoto @AndrewsMcMeel @_triangle_house #SuperSeriousShow #SuperSeriousBOOK pic.twitter.com/F9GZunTsYZ

— Super Serious Show (@seriousshow) July 14, 2020

“The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff, and Guests” Out Now

November 23, 2016

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book, chris smith, daily show, jon stewart, oral history

Without too much time passing since Jon Stewart left his post as host of The Daily Show, you can see that his influence on comedy, television, political discourse, satire, and the media as a whole is undeniable.

The oral history captured in The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, The Correspondents, Staff, and Guests should give you an unprecedented look as to how that happened.

Vulture points out some big takeaways from the book in case you’re not already intrigued from Kilborn’s absence in the book to details on Stewart’s take down of Jim Cramer.

Read an excerpt here.

Get it from Amazon here.

“Big Trouble in Little China” Gets an Oral History Compiled by Uproxx

July 9, 2016

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big trouble in little china, john carpenter, kurt russell, oral history, uproxx

For how beloved the cult martial arts action comedy is these days, it’d be odd for it have anything less than a stellar opening weekend, right?

Actually, Big Trouble in Little China earned its high status amongst cult movies for good reason. It was believed, in the early stages of production that it’d be a big franchise tentpole, but big rewrites, limited ad budget, poor initial reviews, legal battles, etc. made this 80s gem fall short of those lofty expectations.

Uproxx put together a solid oral history of how all of that happened including the filmmakers’ perspective of the film’s rise from the ashes, providing Kurt Russell with one of his more iconic roles that he has ever played.

“The Union of The State”, An Oral History of the Famed Sketch Group Coming Out in May

January 14, 2016

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oral history, the state, union of the state

(via Moontower Comedy)

This’ll be a must read for comedy fans/lovers/aficionados/nerds/etc.

The seminal sketch group that featured Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Robert Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, and David Wain are giving us an in-depth oral history by way of author Corey Stulce.

Folks like Keegan-Michael Key, Paul Rudd, A.D. Miles, and Rob Corddry are also featured.

It’s called The Union of The State and it’s set for release on May 3rd. The release coincides with the group’s reunion after 25 years since their inception.

Vanity Fair Collects An Oral History of the Groundlings for 40 Year Anniversary

June 6, 2014

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groundlings, oral history, vanity fair

Vanity Fair Collects An Oral History of the Groundlings for 40 Year Anniversary

Many of you very well know the alumni of Groundlings. From Laraine Newman to Kristen Wiig to Paul Reubens to Lisa Kudrow to Will Forte to Jim Rash to so many more. Vanity Fair’s curated a nice collection of their stories from their time there spanning a good deal of The Groundlings history.

Tom Ruprecht Writes Fake Oral History of J.D. Salinger

September 25, 2013

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jd salinger, oral history, tom ruprecht

Author Tom Ruprecht has taken advantage that literary icon J.D. Salinger has hid himself in a cabin in the woods and kept as quiet as he possibly can and wrote a funny, though completely fictional, oral history of what Salinger has been up to. Ruprecht has done the same for George W. Bush and it’s a good bit of fun even just based on the blurb he got from Letterman to promote the book.

You can get This Would Drive Him Crazy: A Phony Oral History of J.D. Salinger now, which will probably make the recently released Salinger documentary infinitely more fun to watch.