Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

I am a White Jewish Male that loves making f****ed up jokes and is addicted to all comedy, now it all makes sense to why I grew up on Judd's ingenious entertainment. I did not know who he was until I read this book that has brought me so much clarity to life and happiness. I remember while I was reading this book over this Winter Break I would snort and cry and even let silence muffle my head when the book would take a very personal turn and I loved all those feelings that took over. I love learning about people I don't know very well; however, this particular person, Judd Apatow, happen to be very immersed in my circle of life. Some of my favorite movies such as Funny People was written by Judd and I got to learn the movie was loosely based on his own experience! I went to Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" and there was only three or four episodes I did not watch, cause I didn't know the guest, and what do you know, I see an episode with Judd Apatow. I was so surprised so watch the way Judd spoke in the episode cause he does not act in any way I imagined. He is a little goofy and still very shy, but isn't afraid to show is personality. This surprised me cause I read him as this super confident person, however he still seemed like his 15-year-old kid talking to his hero. And I find this inspirational cause it shows all us other nerds of comedy that you don't need to be Brad Pitt to survive in Hollywood and there are more Michael Cera's out there ;)My favorite thing about the book was that I found more interest in the interviews about people I didn't know or even didn't particularly like. It gave Amy Schumer a chance to reboot her career, cause I too was deceived by the media, that she was this "gross comedian who only talked about her sex life" creating this stereotype amongst female comedians. It sucks cause I was probably only 13 or 14 at the time when I was given this false image of her when, in fact, she is hilarious and ingenious. I also got to learn about Michael Che who is so well spoken and funny! I see him all the time on SNl but I have never learned anything about him outside of his sketch "Update" and I am so glad that I did. Highly recommend reading this interview!

While I'm not the biggest fan of Judd Apatow's movies -- my style of humor is a bit more retro than his cutting-edge raunchy comedies -- I think we can all agree that this book is a must-read.In a surprisingly personal introduction, Apatow describes growing up on Long Island, in the New York City suburbs, as a small kid and somewhat of an outsider, who finds his place in the world as a student of comedy, and as a teenage radio host at his low-wattage high school radio station, whose signal, he tells us, barely reached the school parking lot. He embarks on a quest to interview his favorite comedians, both old and new, and thus was born his career as a comedy writer and A-list (or at least high B-list) movie director."Sick in the Head" is a self-described labor of love, the result of 30 years' worth of Apatow interviewing, or being interviewed alongside, the great comics from across all eras. He starts off with a transcript of his 1983 interview with a ridiculously young Jerry Seinfeld, who even back then is musing about what a transition from stand-up comedy to sitcom acting might do to his career. Seinfeld also describes routines of his own favorite comics of that generation, including Letterman and Leno in the infancy of their careers. Speaking to a 15-year-old nobody from a high school radio station, Seinfeld provides unusually long, candid, thoughtful -- and shockingly prescient -- answers.Which sets the tone for the rest of the book, a series of interview transcripts from the mid-1980's to the present day, seemingly arranged in alphabetical order only so that Apatow's old roommate, a guy named Adam Sandler, can serve as chapter 1. From Albert Brooks to Lena Dunham, from young Garry Shandling to old Garry Shandling, from Jon Stewart to Jimmy Fallon, from Mel Brooks to Sarah Silverman... and also Apatow's wife. this book is basically a who's who of the comedy world for the past two or three generations. Each interview is prefaced with an erudite but warm introduction explaining that particular comedian's place in Apatow's world, and how the interview came to be.Get the book, even if you're not Apatow's biggest fan yourself. This book is by no means a vanity project; it's a love letter to the world of comedy and will almost definitely serve as an important primary-source reference work in the years to come.

I struggled to know who some of the American comics are in the book but really enjoyed reading about what drove each person to go into comedy as a profession and how they hone their skills as a comic.

Good for reference. Liked it but found it quite repetitive in a lot of places. Not to my personal taste.

Great book, its both a book full of amazing conversatios but a kind of autobiography of Judd's career. Perfect for a comedy geek.

Great gift

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