A Hundred Years, a Million Laughs: A Centennial Celebration of the Friars Club

In midtown Manhattan, there can be found the headquarters of a secret organization with a very colorful history with worldwide recognition. If you are thinking of Skull and Bones, or buried religious artifacts you are wrong. The Friars Club is a legendary organization whose members are the top names in American show business. A Hundred Years, A Million Laughs: A Centennial Celebration Of The Friars Club by Barry Dougherty is a magnificent introduction to those icons, perhaps unknown by those born after Baby Boomers, who idolized these tremendous talents. It's an amazing, entertaining and informative read, made that much better with about 200 photos. It also includes caricatures drawn by the legendary Al Herschfeld. This book is a tremendous resource of popular culture information. Highly recommended.

The world-famous Friars Club thrives as one of the most beloved and exclusive entertainment organizations in the world. In celebration of the Friars Club's centennial anniversary, A HUNDRED YEARS, A MILLION LAUGHS (Emmis Books, $30.00, June 2004) flings open the doors to the famously secretive organization's "monastery" in midtown Manhattan and offers a front-row seat at legendary Friars Club Roasts, testimonials, Frolics, and other history-making antics. This hardcover coffee-table book by official Friars Club author Barry Dougherty tells the story of the organization through interviews, timeless Al Hirschfeld caricatures, and nearly 200 photos, many released to the public for the first time in this book. The wry, self-deprecating foreword by Richard Lewis sets the tone. Starting with the club's humble beginnings in 1904, Dougherty reveals the group's ups and downs through the '30s and '40s, its golden age in the '50s and '60s, and its importance today to a new generation of comics and entertainers. A roll call of Friars Club membership reads like a who's who of American entertainment in the twentieth century: George M. Cohan, Enrico Caruso, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Robin Williams, Barbara Walters, Billy Crystal, Drew Carey, Joy Behar. A HUNDRED YEARS, A MILLION LAUGHS captures many of the world's favorite comedians in rare form as they perform for their peers. From ribald comedy to musical merrymaking, show biz giants come clean with behind-the-scenes tales of what happens behind closed doors. A HUNDRED YEARS, A MILLION LAUGHS is a must-have for fans of twentieth century American humor, show biz, and pop culture history, and a perfect father's day gift, sure to bring back fond memories of favorite entertainers. Barry Dougherty is the editor of the Friars Club magazine, The Epistle. He has written and edited a number of books including How to Do It Standing Up and The Friars Club Book of Roasts and has written articles that have appeared in the New York Times and Newsday. He lives in New York City. Barry Dougherty is the author of How To Do It Standing Up, The Friars Club's Guide To Being A Comic, A Cut-Up, A Card, Or A Clown (Black Dog & Leventhal, October 2002) which explains how to be a stand-up comic with insight from comedians themselves. Culled from his interviews with thirty five comedians and comedy club owners/managers such as Lily Tomlin, Howie Mandel, David Brenner, Phyllis Diller, Joy Behar, and Shecky Greene, Barry allows them to tell their owns tales--their first time, their worst time, how they put their acts together and, best of all, tips for the up-and-comer. He is also the author of New York Friars Club Book of Roasts: The Wittiest, Most Hilarious, and Most Unprintable Moments From The Friars Club (M. Evans, October 2000). The book is a hysterical composite of the famous Friars Club's devilish Dinners and ribald Roasts. Sifting through the Club's private archives; along with h

The Friars Club is a showbusiness icon and a legendary entertainment organization principally known for its Friars Club Roasts, Friars Club Testimonials, and Friars Club Frolics where the best names of 20th Century American entertainment regularly engaged in ribald comedy and musical merry-making. A Hundred Years, A Million Laughs : A Centennial Celebration Of The Friars Club by Barry Dougherty will serve to introduce a whole new generation of readers to this famously secretive organizations's "monastery" located in midtown Manhattan, as it reveals the group's colorful history from its humble beginnings in 1904 down to its present day worldwide popularity. Enhanced with almost 200 photographs and timeless Al Hirschfeld caricatures, A Hundred years, A Millions Laughs is a unique masterpiece of American humor, show biz, and pop culture history that would embellish any personal, academic, or community library collection.