Out on the Edge: America's Rebel Comedians [Paperback]

I have been a comedy aficionado for many years. I have read bios and auto-bios of all the greats - Chaplin, the Marx bros, Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, Carlin, Robin Williams, and on and on it goes...so... I was looking for a new book on comedians I was not familiar with. A friend mentioned this one and the title intrigued me. The book turned out to be quite unique in its approach and content. Each chapter is self contained so that one can skip around to names they may be familiar with first, then to others they are without losing the continuity of the central theme of the book and that is - there is indeed a culture of "rebel comics" who have overcome obstacles and challenges in a very challenging industry to make a living at it at a minimum and at a maximum to become famous as a result of it. To be honest I did not know many of the comedians - I do now (I have been googling names and finding youtube clips of performances that are hilarious). There is one chapter that is written by 3 comics of a comedy trio that I could swear was fed lines by Neil Simon because it is literally laugh out loud funny. I wish I could go back in time and attend one of their performances (They are no longer together). That chapter was worth the reasonable price of the book alone. The author contributes a poignant story of his upbringing and his challenges of "the business". There is an ironic twist to his story...regarding his name (No spoiler here either). It is almost as if it was predetermined by some force that he would suffer through the trials and tribulations of his youth so that he could someday write this book, which is exactly what he did in triumphant fashion. In another favorite chapter there is an interview with an actor from "The Office" TV series (again, no spoilers sorry!). The chapter gives a behind the scenes view of the show along with the challenges of being typecast in the industry (Okay a slight give away there!). In summary, one story after another portrays the thoughts, dreams and pitfalls of being a comic "out on the edge". Kudos to all of them and to the author for accomplishing what they have accomplished. Who are the comics? You will need to go out on the edge to find out!