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Read the review of Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America on DVD

A companion piece to the 2009 PBS documentary of the same name, the nearly 400-page Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America features many of the same strengths as the series that inspired it. Though not exactly a comprehensive study, it does provide an excellent overview of American comedy from the birth of silent films up through the 2000s.


Here's how the book breaks down:

• Chapter 1: "Slip on a Banana Peel: The Knockabouts" - Covers slapstick comedy, including Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Jim Carrey and more
• Chapter 2: "Sock it To Me: Satire and Parody" - Covers Will Rogers, Johnny Carson, Laugh-In, Mel Brooks, Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show and more
• "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: Smart Alecks and Wiseguys" - Covers W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Larry David and more
• "Would Ya Hit a Guy With Glasses?: Nerds, Jerks, Oddballs and Slackers" - Includes Harold Lloyd, Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Cheech & Chong, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman and more
• "Honey, I'm Home!: Breadwinners and Homemakers" - Covers sitcoms, including The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, All in the Family, Seinfeld and more
• "When I'm Bad, I'm Better: The Groundbreakers" - Includes Mae West, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, The Smothers Brothers, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Maher and more

Because of the format (book vs. TV special or DVD), the book version of Make 'Em Laugh is able to delve a little deeper into each comedian and movement; there's as much focus on history as there is on biography. Where space is taken up on the TV special by comments and memories from other comics, Maslon and Kantor are able to spend more time discussing each comedian in better detail. Consequently, a reader is likely to actually learn more by reading Making 'Em Laugh than by watching the special.

On the flipside, the TV special had the advantage of including real footage of each comedian; rather than just reading about them, we were able to witness what made them great firsthand. Yes, the book does try to compensate for this fact by including a great number of cool photographs (and there are a lot of excellent pictures; the book works just as well as a coffee table book to flip through as it does a historical text), but there's no real trade off for being able to see those classic clips.

All of this means that the book and the DVD versions of Make 'Em Laugh are companion pieces in the truest, best sense. Each offers its own, unique rewards and knowledge of one only enhances the experience of the other. If you're a real comedy junkie or are looking to learn more about American comedy, you're best bet is to invest in both the book and the DVD special. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's worth it.

• Release Date: December 2, 2008
• Publisher: Twelve Publishing
• 383 pages