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| Purchased: Amazon | Chapters |
Pages: 266
ISBN: 9780307461186
Genre: Memoir, Humour
Start Date: Jan. 4, 2011
Finished Date: Jan. 6, 2011 (3 days)
Where Found: Xmas 2010 gift from my dad (on my wish list)
Why Read: I was not yet born when the Carol Burnett Show ran but have rediscovered the magic of her show via YouTube, and have become a fan.
Read for: What's in a Name 4 Challenge (1/6)
Summary: Iconic TV commedienne Carol Burnett recounts her initial foray in show business, TV gigs, costars, guests, family, friends & fans in lovingly written & hilarious anecdotes.
Review:
A sweet, wonderful read with a variety of both touching & hilarious stories from one of the funniest TV performers ever. Each story is only a page or two long, and they come one after the other in semi-chronological order, but no matter. Every story has a reason for being told--it traces
Without giving away too much of the magic that she brings to the stories (highlight the bracketed portions for the answers), let's just say that Carol Burnett teaches us how to get away with wearing pants at Rumplemayer's (pretend you have a wooden leg), how to send a mugger running (sing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" at the top of your lungs), and how the game show Password went from a live show to a taped one (a contestant misreads the clue as a dirty word). Stories of Tim's license as the Invisible Man, escaping a date by jumping out of the moving car, a backfiring prank & elevator surprise with Julie Andrews, and apologizing on an airplane for her performance in The Front Page had me laughing, and if you're a big fan or (like me) a new one, you will get a kick of this book.
The book references these famed sketches on The Carol Burnett Show, found on YouTube:
James Stewart's surprise appearance on the final episode of The Carol Burnett Show (up to 3:35)
Tim Conway & Harvey Korman's "dentist" sketch:
I also love Tim Conway's ad-libbed elephant story that had Carol, Vicki Lawrence & Dick Van Dyke in stitches. The sketch was an outtake never aired on the show due to "Mama"'s brilliant one-liner at the end. Here is the video so you can see for yourself ;)
Rank: (B)- Very Good, Recommend
I am a HUGE Carol Burnett fan! we used to watch her show every week when I was a kid, and my mom and I still quote lines form it all the time. Tim Conway was hilarious!! Actually, all the cast members were funny, and, together, they were wonderful! I didn't realize old clips were available on Youtube - I'll have to share those with my mom. Have you seen their version of Gone with the Wind?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book! Going to look at the clips now...
Sue
I enjoyed the funny comments about Carol's relationship with other performers, but I would have liked more detail. The chapters are in most cases too short, however, if you do not have a lot of time to just sit and read the book, you can put it down and pick it up later without missing the whole story.
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