Lewis Black Pens Excellent Memoir

By Ian Rice
Arts and Lifestyle Editor


Lewis Black is one of the greatest comedic minds of the last thirty years. On par with such tremendous names as George Carlin, Bill Hicks and Lenny Bruce, Black has become America's (and, more recently, the world's) premiere voice in political observation and topical humor. Whether its on one many yearly stand-up appearances, on one of his four critically acclaimed albums, his slue of cable television specials or his weekly spot on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Black is always on top of his game and never fails to deliver.


The prolific comedian has extended that winning streak to the medium of print with the release of his first book, "Nothing's Sacred," a brilliant mix of anecdotal recaps of his past and the best of his stand-up fodder. From cover to cover, Black lets his readers into the innermost reaches of his psyche, for better or for worse, and shows them just where his brilliant thoughts and unique style are derived. From his experiences growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. through his surreal experience of auditioning to play himself in a network television pilot, Black reveals all the essential ingredients needed to concoct a man teetering on the edge of sanity...and laughing about it.


Many of the experiences recapped in "Nothing's Sacred" have been touched upon in varying degrees in Black's various stand-up routines over the last decade. But unlike in books like Jerry Seinfeld's "Seinlanguage" or Drew Carey's "Dirty Jokes and Beer," they are not just verbatim transcriptions of solid comedic material. Instead, Black opts to incorporate them into the tales of his life, often breathing new life into them with more detail and a wider context. Even the most devout fan of Black's act will find the repeated material fresh and just as funny as when they first came across it.


"Nothing's Sacred," if nothing else, provides a new template for the writing of an autobiographical text. Rather than dwelling on incessantly dull and unnecessary details for the sake of self-indulgence (refer to Bill Clinton's droning "My Life" for an example of such), Black makes sure to limit his narrative to the things that are worth adding to the clutter of information in the average mind. On occasion, Black fails to elaborate on some rather interesting points (for example, a full chapter could undoubtedly be devoted to his arrest over a bizarre publicity stunt for the New York-based FM talk program, The Opie and Anthony Show), but for the most part he knows just what to elucidate on without losing the interest of the reader.


Despite being up against some very stiff recent competition (Al Franken's "Lies...and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?"), Black has managed to pen the ultimate humor book: honest without being intrusive, revealing without being pompous and funny without being apologetic. One can only hope that "Nothing's Sacred" is the first in a long line of memoirs from Lewis Black.




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More Information on Lewis Black:
Lewis Black's Official Site