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Posts tagged as alan zweibel

SNL

Saturday Night's Children: Alan Zweibel (1979-1980)

by | August 26th, 2014

Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 38 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member every other week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.

There are many paths to getting hired on Saturday Night Live, but Alan Zweibel — who served as an original writer in 1975 and spent a portion of the fifth season credited as a featured player — had one all his own. Zweibel struggled as a young joke-seller before finding the perfect comedy collaborators on SNL, giving way to some of the most [...]

Books

Alan Zweibel and Dave Barry's Long-Distance Writing Relationship

by | January 5th, 2012

Did you know that Lunatics, the book that an upcoming Steve Carell movie is based on, was co-written by original SNL writer Alan Zweibel and columnist Dave Barry while living many states apart from each other? This interview with Zweibel describes the writing process as a very slow, very long improv scene which is only now concluding with the book's release on Jan. 10.

Since we started writing this we have seen each other twice. Once was when Dave was up here promoting something and we had dinner. We went to dinner with the thought of ‘OK, maybe we would plot out the next hundred pages.’ That [...]

From the Archives

When Jon Lovitz Performed an Original Play on Live TV

by | August 1st, 2014

The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 150,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)

When introducing Jon Lovitz for one of his many appearances on Late Night, Conan O'Brien summed the man up perfectly when he described [...]

Recap

Curb Your Enthusiasm Recap: "The Bi-Sexual"

by | August 22nd, 2011

This season, Larry David seems to be partially filling the Cheryl void by bringing in big name celebrities to base his episodes around. David disciple Ricky Gervais gave a funny performance last week, Michael J. Fox is booked for the season finale, and this latest episode was Rosie O’Donnell-centric. O’Donnell is a real-life pal of Larry David’s from their days in the New York City stand-up scene in the late 70’s/early 80’s, and she was even considered for the role of Elaine during Seinfeld's casting process. She makes her third Curb appearance here, bringing her A-game to the show as she usually does. Larry David and Rosie O’Donnell have [...]

Books n Stuff

2013 Thurber Prize Finalists Announced

by | August 20th, 2013

Named after humorist James Thurber (pictured), the Thurber Prize for American Humor is the highest honor awarded for print humor writing, and the 2013 finalists were just announced. The 2013 finalists are Shalom Auslander for his novel Hope: A Tragedy, Dan Nevin for his memoir Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad, and Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel for their novel Lunatics. This year's judges are Lisa Birnbach, Laurie Notaro, and Nate DiMeo. The prize will be given out on September 30th at Carolines on Broadway in NYC.

Check out a full list of past Thurber Prize winners below: