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Description
Discover the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central in what New York Times bestselling author, Dan Lyons, calls the “funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense.”
Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest
In 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept—a television channel focused 100% on just one thing: comedy—to the chairman of HBO. The station that would soon become Comedy Central, with celebrated programs like South Park, Chapelle’s Show, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, was born.
Constant Comedy takes readers behind the scenes into the comedy startup on its way to becoming one of the most successful and creative purveyors of popular culture in the United States. From disastrous pitch meetings with comedians to the discovery of talents like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, this intimate biography peers behind the curtain and reveals what it’s really like to work, struggle, and ultimately succeed at the cutting edge of show business.
Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest
In 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept—a television channel focused 100% on just one thing: comedy—to the chairman of HBO. The station that would soon become Comedy Central, with celebrated programs like South Park, Chapelle’s Show, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, was born.
Constant Comedy takes readers behind the scenes into the comedy startup on its way to becoming one of the most successful and creative purveyors of popular culture in the United States. From disastrous pitch meetings with comedians to the discovery of talents like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, this intimate biography peers behind the curtain and reveals what it’s really like to work, struggle, and ultimately succeed at the cutting edge of show business.
Product Details
| Publisher | Ulysses Press |
| Publish Date | September 15, 2020 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781646040896 |
| Dimensions | 228.6 X 152.4 X 25.4 mm | 605.5 g |
About the Author
Art Bell is a writer and former television executive known for developing and launching the Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central) while at HBO; and, as president of Court TV, overseeing daily live courtroom coverage and the production of hundreds of hours of original true-crime television series, documentaries, and movies. His memoir Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and Lost My Sense of Humor, was a finalist in the 2020 Best Book Awards in both the memoir and business categories. Bell has had short stories, nonfiction, and satire published in several journals, including Lowestoft Chronicle, Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature, The Ocotillo Review, Fiction Southeast, Castabout Arts and Literature, High Shelf Press, and Writers Read. What She’s Hiding is his first novel. Bell lives with his wife, Carrie, in Park City, Utah.
Reviews
“As comedy writers know, the rarest of all creatures is the comedy exec who's actually funny. Art Bell is funny as hell, he understands comedy, and that’s why Comedy Central was born and why it thrived. Constant Comedy is a great, fun read.”
"Buy this book. Right now. Don't even finish reading this blurb. Just walk to the counter and buy the book. Constant Comedy is the funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense. It's the story of how Art Bell built Comedy Central into one of cable TV's most successful channels, which meant dealing with insane comedians and even more insane TV executives in a rough-and-tumble workplace. Somehow he made it all work. Did I mention that this book is funny?"
"Constant Comedy is an incredibly fun read about the art of silliness struggling to survive in the corporate world; or is it about a corporation struggling to survive in a world of silliness? Either way, it’s a very, very funny book about an amazing piece of comedy history. Now stop reading the blurbs and buy the book! “
"Bell’s book mixes humor, yes, with nostalgia and the sort of insider view that make show biz memoirs so fun."
"Buy this book. Right now. Don't even finish reading this blurb. Just walk to the counter and buy the book. Constant Comedy is the funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense. It's the story of how Art Bell built Comedy Central into one of cable TV's most successful channels, which meant dealing with insane comedians and even more insane TV executives in a rough-and-tumble workplace. Somehow he made it all work. Did I mention that this book is funny?"
"Constant Comedy is an incredibly fun read about the art of silliness struggling to survive in the corporate world; or is it about a corporation struggling to survive in a world of silliness? Either way, it’s a very, very funny book about an amazing piece of comedy history. Now stop reading the blurbs and buy the book! “
"Bell’s book mixes humor, yes, with nostalgia and the sort of insider view that make show biz memoirs so fun."
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