Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close, then somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing-eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David. One of the greatest comedy minds and comedic actors of his generation . . . Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama offers rare insight into the mind of a next-level genius.” — Vulture I can’t think of another entertainer who has improbably morphed so many times and all through real genius and determination’ Conan O’Brien

When it comes to describing story types it can be tempting to say a drama is dramatic or a comedy is comedic and hope there’s enough inherent information there to not sound like you’re just stating the blooming obvious. But this is supposed to be an educational blog post, so let’s try to dig a little deeper. Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. [1] For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy ending. In the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings and a lighter tone. In this sense Dante used the term in the title of his poem, the Divine Comedy ( Italian: Divina Commedia). A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love. Odenkirk credits Janeane Garofalo with this comedy reinvention. He writes, "Off-the-cuff, real, impromptu, personal, disarming, sloppy, meandering, intimate....she did it first. She made it cool." Join Emmy-winning writer and Golden Globe-nominated actor, comedian, and director Bob Odenkirk as he recounts the twists and turns of his comedy career live on stage at Alexandra Palace, with Charlie Brooker.

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Bob Odenkirk is not only a brilliant comedy writer and performer, he is also a comedy fan. This book is a love letter to all his comedy heroes, full of warmth, heart and wit’Georgia Pritchett Bob Odenkirk's career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explain it here, because that is what memoirs are for. Charting a "Homeric" decades-long "Odyssey" from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago all the way to a dramatic career that is baffling to his friends, it's almost like there are two or three Bob Odenkirks...but there is just one and one is enough, frankly. In between seasons of SNL, Odenkirk worked at Chicago's 'Second City Theatre.' One fellow comic at Second City was Chris Farley, who was 'undeniably funny, undeniably likable, and undeniably mesmerizing.' When Bob was asked about the best time he ever had doing his job, he said it was "doing a scene with Chris Farley seven times a week at Second City."

In his introduction, Odenkirk writes, "I will attempt to identify the 'big breaks,' wormholes of opportunity that allowed me to move ahead five or ten spaces, or that simply sent me in the right direction." It wasn't all breaks though. Bob admits to numerous projects that didn't succeed: pilots, outlines, presentations, stumbles, misfires, dead ends, etc. Projects that failed, but taught Bob valuable lessons. In contrast, Plato taught that comedy is a destruction to the self. He believed it produces an emotion that overrides rational self-control and learning. In The Republic, Plato says that the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, "for ordinarily when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition provokes a violent reaction." Plato says comedy should be tightly controlled if one wants to achieve the ideal state. Rethinking the Dramedy: What Is It, Anyway?". Paste Magazine. July 1, 2021 . Retrieved April 11, 2022.Chris Farley must have been the best person ever because EVERYONE that wrote a book that worked at SNL during that period writes about him and how nice he I’ve known Bob Odenkirk for more than thirty years, and yet I had to read this book to believe his stunning career arc.”—Conan O’Brien Examples from Indonesian television in the month of Ramadan 2023 include: Para Pencari Tuhan Jilid 16. [9] See also [ edit ]

Commedia dell'arte, as practiced in the twentieth century by Dario Fo, Vsevolod Meyerhold and Jacques Copeau In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad-a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis-it’s fun!

Comedy Drama

Odenkirk describes many of the 'Mr. Show' sketches, such as 'Popemobile Chase' - a riff on the O.J. chase - where "the pope has clearly murdered some dude, leaving behind his papal staff, ring, and hat, and then instigated a police chase in the popemobile....and the subsequent trial is an exploration of TV trials and random jokes." I can’t think of another entertainer who has improbably morphed so many times, and all through real genius and determination.”—Conan O’Brien As a middle schooler Odenkirk was mesmerized by the comedy troupe Monty Python, which took 'a hilarious, undermining, smart-silly swipe at humanity, at false dignity, and rules.' To Bob, this and other offbeat funniness was the best kind of humor. Bob's interest in comedy eventually sparked a compulsion to make it a career, and after honing his skills at comedy clubs - and meeting umpteen talented young comics (a literal laundry list of now famous entertainers) - Odenkirk got hired at SNL. Bob observes, "Everything I would learn about sketch writing and how to do it, everything that would someday help me write and produce the best show I had in me - all of that I learned in my three-and-a-half seasons at SNL.

Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations - with a side trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him - it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. About the book:Bob Odenkirk's career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explain it here, because that is what memoirs are for. Charting a "Homeric" decades-long "Odyssey" from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago all the way to a dramatic career that is baffling to his friends, it's almost like there are two or three Bob Odenkirks...but there is just one and one is enough, frankly.Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City's legendary Del Close, which eventually led to a job as a writer at SNL. As he weathered the beast that is live comedy, he stashed away the secrets of sketch writing--employing them in the immortal "Motivational Speaker" sketch for his friend Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show With Bob and David, which inspired an entire generation of comedy writers and stars. Then his career met the hope-dashing machine that is Hollywood development. But when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, Bob was more astonished than anyone to find himself on Breaking Bad. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, until finally re-re-inventing himself as a bona-fide worldwide action star for reasons that even he does not fully grasp! Read this and do your own psychoanalysis--it's fun!Throughout Bob's travels, his memoir preserves the voice he cultivated from years of comedy writing. Featuring humorous tangents, joyful interludes, never-before-seen photos, wild characters from his winding career, and his trademark upbeat but unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale--and a moving story about what it's like to risk everything you think you know to make a change

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Hill, Michael (August 6, 1989). "Bochco gives dramedy another go with 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' ". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 15, 2018.