I think Robert Klein is one of the ten-or-so most brilliant stand-up comedians of all time. I enjoyed his new book, The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue, but I think I'm going to enjoy his next book more.
When I read biographies (or especially, autobiographies) of folks whose careers interest me, I usually skim or even skip the parts that detail their lives before the career got going. I'll go back and read that material later but, first time through, I cut to the chase and I'll bet I'm not the only one. Most autobiographies written in the seventies and eighties seemed to start with some pivotal moment in the author's career — getting their breakthrough job, getting an award, some life-changing moment — and then Chapter Two would flash back to their birth, parents, childhood, etc. Clearly, someone had figured out that readers have less interest in that stuff, and when they're browsing through a book at the store, it makes them not want to buy.
Mr. Klein's new book is mostly pre-career stuff. It's only in the last few chapters, as he gets seriously into acting and performing, that it starts being about the Robert Klein we know and love. In fact, it ends just before he makes his television debut. The last anecdote is about how he was hired to do this on The Dean Martin Show but the day before taping, the producers made him do his act for them in an office without an audience. This is every comedian's nightmare because, as happened with Klein, it never seems funny in there. In this case, it seemed so unfunny that they cancelled his appearance…and you have to wonder what they thought, just a year or two later, when he became a pretty big star.
Before we get to those last few chapters about bit parts on Broadway, working at Second City and being mentored in stand-up by Rodney Dangerfield, we get a lot of stories about being a busboy, toiling in rotten jobs, growing up and so on. Particular emphasis is placed on itemizing every woman he ever slept with, and I got to wondering why some of the names and certain details had to be included. Even with that reservation, the stories are fun and colorful, but…I dunno. It's kind of like buying a book about the life of Willie Mays and it ends just before he gets called up to play for the Giants.
Still, like I said, I enjoyed it and if you'd like to order it from Amazon, this link can make that happen. I hope lots of folks buy it, the better to hurry along Mr. Klein's next book, the one that will presumably start with him making his TV debut and blossoming into one of the best comics of his day. That book, I think I'm really going to like.
And if you'd like to hear why he was so good on stage, let me run down his three albums for you. All three came out on CD in 1992 but only the first seems to have been kept in print since then…
- Child of the 50's is very good, especially the bits about being a kid during various nuclear scares. You can pick up a CD of it for less than ten bucks on Amazon.
- Mind Over Matter is his best one. The routines about appearing on Celebrity Jeopardy! and long before that, on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour, are priceless. This one is difficult to find and those who have it want thirty smackers and up for it. I have no info on any new repressing but I find it hard to believe there won't be one soon, since it's really one of the finest comedy albums ever made. In the meantime, there are some online audio clips over at Amazon, as well as a chance to pay top dollar to get the CD now.
- Lastly, New Teeth is the weakest of the three. There's still a lot of good stuff but it pales by comparison to what came before. Laugh.com has the CD for fifteen bucks and it can turn up for slightly less if one shops around.
Even better than all these is the news that his many HBO specials will soon be available on DVD. The minute anyone hears that can be ordered, let me know.