Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir

I was eager to read Bob Odenkirk’s book because I wanted to know how a hilarious sketch comedian turned into a dramatic actor. I’m thinking of his work as a Saturday Night Live writer and then as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Knowing that the man created my favorite comedic sketch, Chris Farley’s motivational speaker on Saturday Night Live, and being a devotee of BB and BCS, I was intrigued. This memoir answers this question and answers other questions, such as, what was his background? How did he get his first big breaks? How did he deal with inevitable career disappointments? The first few chapters detail his lifelong interest in comedy. After reading for a short time, I began to think I wouldn’t like Odenkirk if I were to meet him. When he described his first meeting with Lorne Michaels of SNL, he had me shaking my head in disbelief. According to his own description, he was cocky, cavalier, and rude. Probably Lorne Michaels felt the same way. I kept reading, and I’m glad I did. His rapid-fire writing style (you can hear him saying the words) and jokey manner aside, he lays out what the comedy world is really like and the lessons he learned. He transformed from a callow comedian early in his youth into a dramatic actor who now wants to give others a hand up in show business. He describes his partnerships and associations with David Cross, Ben Stiller, and Gary Shandling. He covers how he got involved in one of his first major successes, Mr. Show and how he navigated the disappointments, such as losing the leading role that went to Steve Carell in The Office. He shows determination, focus, and his trademark sense of humor along the way. He admits he was never a fame chaser per se but is always on the hunt to entertain himself. In his latest incarnation as a dramatic actor, he had the great good luck of being asked by Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan to portray Saul Goodman in BB. To his surprise, Gould and Gilligan wanted him for his own show about Saul Goodman after BB ended. His description about asking Bryan Cranston how he learned to act is priceless, as well as the story about how Gould and Gilligan could make Saul Goodman a likable character. This book is for anyone who wants to understand what it’s like to work in comedy. It’s a funny and entertaining book by a man who likes to entertain himself. I highly recommend it.

I’ve always liked Bob Odenkirk’s television characters and talk show appearances. Now I like Bob a whole lot more. He is as “real” as they come, and that shines through very brightly in his new 2022 memoir. There’s no way not to relish his wit and affable personality, and his nimble and straight-shooting writing style is certainly up to the task here. Organized more or less chronologically by titled chapters (“The Chicago Funny Company,” “L.A. Comedy, Year Zero,” “Breaking Bad,” etc.), Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama presents Odenkirk as a tremendously hardworking individual who has had just as many star-filled lucky breaks as horribly bad ones. As he admits in the introduction, “I tried just as hard at the stuff that didn’t work as I did at the stuff that worked.” As for the big breaks, getting hired as a writer at Saturday Night Live and his work on Mr. Show and then Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are certainly covered. Along the way, I caught myself enjoying and valuing many of Bob’s clever insights, including some tender ones on his friendship with Chris Farley during the SNL years. I also like that Odenkirk is honest enough to quickly point out that there were just as many laughable moments of floundering throughout his career. As he puts it, “I’d like to drive home the cold fact that breaks come in all sizes and often don’t look like breaks when they happen.” Indeed Bob! As correctly noted by another reviewer, there are moments when Odenkirk's book "sputters" just a little bit, but this has less to do with his writing skills than with the reader's familiarity (or lack thereof) with the topic at hand. Ironically, the less familiar I was with past projects Bob recounts and the more he floundered with these assignments, the more fascinating it was for me to see him reflect on what happened or what might have happened differently. The retelling of familiar triumphs often oddly ends up sounding more unremarkable as he, for example, name-drops Mr. Show episode titles in a rather perfunctory manner in chapter 6 (e.g., "The second season was really the start of the comic ass-kicking that Mr. Show would bring to American sketch and alternative comedy, with highlights like 'Rap! The Musical,' 'The New KKK,' and 'Mom and Pop Porn Shop,' exactly what you think it is, a doddering old couple running a porn shop with pride and folksy common wisdom: Don't blame the dildos!"). If you've seen these episodes, then you know exactly what Odenkirk is talking about; otherwise, you may be left scratching your head trying to imagine what he must mean. Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is mired in a conundrum though. After it was all written, edited, and off to the presses but before its publication date, Bob Odenkirk had a heart attack, nearly died (seriously), made an impressively rapid recovery, wrapped up work on the final season of Better Call Saul as a pandemic endured, and is now on the cusp of his next great adventure. Not to worry though ... he has nearly enough content already to get started on his next sure-to-be entertaining memoir.

I had never heard of Bob Odenkirk before Breaking Bad. I have never been much of a sketch comedy fan, except for SNL. But his performance on BB and Better Call Saul has been so incredibly funny, heartbreaking, enchanting, that I am a huge fan. I could almost hear him talking as Saul when I read his words. He is a beautiful writer (no surprise, he’s been doing it his entire life). I didn’t find this to be a quick read, because there are so many names, and so much philosophy about comedy and comedy writing, that I didn’t want to miss a word. I can appreciate sketch comedy so much more now, after reading about the process and how difficult it is.

Why a 3 star review? Because I LOVE Bob Odenkirk and been a fan of his for decades. DO NOT buy the audiobook. I’ve read he put on kind of a drunk, monotone “act” while reading and it’s painful. We were on a long drive and after a relatively short while, because I thought it was temporary (and it wasn’t) I turned it off and said to my husband “I can’t take it anymore. He said “Thank goodness! I thought it was me!” If this was redone and Bob was speaking like a normal person I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Now I have to buy it again in print. That’s why the neutral stars.

I like Bob Odenkirk's screenwork (and went to the same school -- SIUC!). Hence, my initial interest in this book. Everything I like about him came through in his candid telling of his professional journey. It was never boring! I learned a lot, too, about "the industry." THANKS, Bob, for sharing!

Pretty good

Great book

Definitely read if you’re a fan of Bob!

So much time spent on describing the mainly uninteresting people and experiences of before he was famous and so little time spent on the really interesting years of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Funny, charming, insightful - what else would you expect from Bob. If you are a fan, buy it, if not, dont

I like this actor 🇺🇸

Qualità prezzo eccellente