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Title details for All About Me! by Mel Brooks - Available

All About Me!

My Remarkable Life in Show Business

by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
“Laugh-out-loud hilarious and always fascinating, from the great Mel Brooks. What else do you expect from the man who knew Jesus and dated Joan of Arc?”—Billy Crystal
For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny.
All About Me! charts Mel Brooks’s meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers’ room in history, which included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. After co-creating both the mega-hit 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and the classic television series Get Smart, Brooks’s stellar film career took off. He would go on to write, direct, and star in The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs, as well as produce groundbreaking and eclectic films, including The Elephant Man, The Fly, and My Favorite Year. Brooks then went on to conquer Broadway with his record-breaking, Tony-winning musical, The Producers.
 
All About Me! offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for his outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and offers details about the many close friendships and collaborations Brooks had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Alfred Hitchcock, and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft.
 
Filled with tales of struggle, achievement, and camaraderie, listeners will gain a more personal and deeper understanding of the incredible body of work behind one of the most accomplished and beloved entertainers in history.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 30, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593290750
      • File size: 434906 KB
      • Duration: 15:06:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      One of Brooklyn's favorite sons, Melvin James Kaminsky, offers a very personal, singularly focused memoir. Of course, most of us now know him as Mel Brooks. If ever an audiobook was aptly titled this is it. Sadly, listeners will hear the vocal impact of Brooks's 95 years in its narration. Furthermore, Brooks is bombastic and beyond egotistical throughout this review of his life and career. Many behind-the-scenes moments are offered--but solely through the razor-sharp focus of the Brooks lens. All others are merely supporting players. Labored speech patterns throughout weaken the listening experience, as does his periodic trailing off at the ends of sentences and thoughts. Like his films, the humor is very specifically drawn and occasionally is not breakfast-table compatible. Still, many will enjoy this effort despite its drawbacks. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from May 1, 2022

      Brooks may be 95 years old, but his distinctive and familiar voice is still vigorous, ingratiating, and funny. He still lands a punchline with finesse. He should, since the stories he shares in this 15-hour unabridged audiobook of his memoir have been polished over decades of talk show appearances and TV specials. Brooks focuses on his professional life rather than his private life (although he begins with his Brooklyn childhood experiences and military life prior to writing for Sid Caesar, and tales from his 40-year marriage to Anne Bancroft occasionally pop up). Brooks offers behind-the-scenes tales of writing and filming such classic comedies as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs. He also reads a lot of hilarious material from his films, his "2,000-Year-Old Man" comedy albums with Carl Reiner and classic Your Show of Shows skits, proving great comedy stands the test of time. He also offers insightful anecdotes about turning The Producers into a Broadway musical and its bumpy road to success. VERDICT A comedy legend shares tales of making his classic movies, celebrity encounters, and some of his funniest material. This is a masterclass in comedy not to be missed.--Kevin Howell

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from October 11, 2021
      In this laugh-a-minute memoir, actor and producer Brooks (Young Frankenstein) looks back at his rise through Hollywood, gleefully doling out punch lines along the way. He begins with his childhood in Brooklyn, where he lived with his older brothers and mother (“my first comic foil, and enabler”) and at school slipped into comedy like a well-worn glove: “I ... allowed to hang around with the bigger kids because I made them laugh... you don’t hit the kid that makes you laugh.” Brooks recounts his early days as a writer on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows in the 1950s; appearing in 1962 on the very first Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he shared the stage with Groucho Marx, Joan Crawford, Rudy Vallee, and Tony Bennett; learning how to bend the truth, after he told producer Joe Levine that he cut a scene from the end of his Oscar-winning film The Producers (“On every movie... since then; I’ve often lied when the studio objected to something by saying, “It’s out!”); and taking a giant leap forward as a director by writing “the greatest farting scene in cinematic history,” in 1974’s Blazing Saddles. Studded with snickering asides and rapid-fire jokes, Brooks’s account of making it in show biz is just as sidesplitting as his movies.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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