Road Comic: Hearbreak, Triumph, and Obsession on the Comedy Circuit

I looked forward to an at best rollicking depiction of road-comic (as opposed to TV comic/famous comic) life. The book is a fresh, unaffected amusing and often heartbreaking meditation on love, on desire, on loss, on choices we make and on the choices made for us. As my mother used to say. "Who knew?" The book is full of wonderfully written moments and very alive characters. Of course there are many comic moments but it is Friedman's gentleness and intimacy one remembers - in his obvious need to write truthfully and well he misses almost every opportunity to 'sell himself' as a comic! That in itself is miraculous! I enjoyed this far more than many of the 'important' autobiographies I have read about supposedly more 'important' lives.

We watch them on TV and at clubs but who are these men and women who make us laugh? Barry tells us all, and then some. The good and the awful, the funny and the sad. In the most honest and bittersweet words Barry lets us live his life on the road and we meet all the strange, wonderful, and not so wonderful people he worked with,loved and lost. Know the person behind the jokes, the puns and the punch lines. It's not all laughs, you know.

An around the world and around the clock account of a comics decisions in life that cost him marriage, love, fame, and family. A frontrow seat of a sometimes up, sometimes down and out, life on the comedy circuit. Not afraid to jab at religion and the lives of those around him, allows his humor to be timeless. An unselfish revealing look at a sometimes deviant behavior in the bedroom, and some personal inner feelings that his career choice had with his children and family. A great book from beginning to end. Highly recommended. A "must own."

Barry Friedman has written an compelling look at life in the "Triple-A" of the professional comedy circuit. He is one of hundreds of professional comedians, just one shot away from national fame and fortune. It is interesting to read about how his quasi-celebrity status leads him to adventures on the road. His sensitivity shines through compelling takes on the death of his mother and the girl who got away. It's a good read for anyone who has ever spent a cover charge to watch some guy stand in front of a brick wall spill his guts...