Monologue: What Makes America Laugh Before Bed

by Jon Macks

Overview

"Jon Macks is one of the greatest comedy writers of all time."—Chris Rock

A hilarious, revealing look behind the history and culture of American late-night TV, by a longtime comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Ever since Johnny Carson first popularized the late-night talk show in 1962 with The Tonight Show, the eleven p.m. to two a.m. comedy time slot on network television has remained an indelible part of our national culture. More than six popular late-night shows air every night of the week, and with recent major shake-ups in the industry, late-night television has never been more relevant to our public consciousness than it is today. Jon Macks, a veteran writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, takes us behind the scenes of this world for an in-depth, colorful look at what really makes these hosts the arbiters of public opinion.

From the opening monologue—what’s funny, what’s dangerous, what’s untouchable—to the best vs. worst guests, Macks covers the landscape of late-night comedy and punctuates the narrative with hysterical personal anecdotes, shining the spotlight on some of the very best late night jokes, and drawing from more than half a million of his own jokes written over the span of twenty years. With an insider’s expertise and a laugh-out-loud voice, Macks explains how late-night TV redefines the news and events of any given day, reshapes public opinion, and even creates our national zeitgeist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399183409
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

JON MACKS is the author of four previous books and was a top writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for all twenty-two years Leno was on the air. He has also written for eighteen Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Tony Awards, and for some of the nation’s top comedians, politicians, corporate leaders, and sports commentators. Among the personalities Macks writes for are Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Hugh Jackman, Terry Bradshaw, and Chris Rock. He lives in Los Angeles.

Read an Excerpt

King Johnny and the Princes
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Monologue"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Jon Macks.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Macks, a longtime writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno…examines not only what makes something funny, but also how a joke can help shape public opinion and public behavior and what constitutes inappropriate material…readers looking for some behind-the-scenes intel on the big stars and the popular late-night shows won’t be disappointed….Without Jon Stewart on late night, fans may need something else to do: this book should help.”
— Booklist

"Jon Macks is one of the funniest and most prolific comedy writers I have worked with. Like a great pitcher, he has a dazzling arsenal of fastballs and curves. Whether it's politics or pop culture, he gets it instantly. And everything he says about me in Monologue is true."–Billy Crystal

"Jon Macks is brilliant craftsman who provides a spectacular insider's view of how the writers do the work and we clowns take the credit."–Martin Short

"After more than twenty years writing for "The Tonight Show," Jon Macks knows what makes a great host and a great guest, a good joke from a bad one, and how to keep the audience at home up past bedtime. In Monologue, he tells the stories-behind-the-stories and proves that late-night TV is still the place where public opinion is formed." –James Carville

"Jon Macks is one of the greatest comedy writers of all time. Just like Billy Preston worked behind the scenes with the Beatles and the Stones, Macks has been the man behind so many great comedians it's impossible to name them all. I'm proud to say there is no comedic situation I'll ever enter without him."–Chris Rock

"After writing 500,000 jokes for Jay Leno, Jon Macks has written a funny and fascinating book about late night TV. He is the Cal Ripken of comedy, turning in an all-star quality performance for two decades. Monologue tells you how he did it, and reminds us all of why we love to laugh in bed."–Paul Begala

"More than one A-list star has dubbed Jon Macks "The Joke Machine," a nickname that's well-earned. Chances are you already know some of his most memorable lines, because he's written them for everyone, from the Beltway to Hollywood and back. If you don't believe me, just read this book. If you do believe me, read it anyway. He owes me money."–Dave Boone

From the Publisher

Johnny Heller tells the story of the man who wrote the jokes that made the whole world laugh. Jon Macks wrote literally hundreds of thousands of jokes for Jay Leno in the decades he worked for him, and each joke has a story. Heller confidently tells the story of Macks and his life in the late-night bubble with the skill of a comedian. The jokes are funny enough, but Heller makes them sound even better. His behind-the-scenes accounts are priceless. Macks doesn’t talk exclusively about himself and Leno—he also compares and contrasts all the late-night impresarios from Steve Allen to Seth Meyers and has a ton of fascinating anecdotes. This is an audiobook you can't stop listening to. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

JULY 2015 - AudioFile

2015-02-14
The top writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno offers some reflection on late night's influence but mainly shares jokes and anecdotes.Macks (How to Be Funny, 2003), who has also written for most of the top awards shows and many of the leading politicians, is more ambitious in theme than execution. He promises a book about "the larger meaning of how late-night comedy monologues and sketches can influence and impact us," but he mostly discusses Leno and the experience of working for him. Leno, it seems, is a great guy who won the late-night ratings wars because he was the most talented and likable. Macks knows how tough it is to be funny night after night, and he has plenty of respect for anyone who does it. Throughout, he borrows jokes from all of them, along with reprinting Leno's first monologue post-9/11 in its entirety and chronicling the arc of Bill Clinton as a font of material. Readers get a sense of what it's like to have the job of "feeding the monster," writing 100 or so jokes per day for a comedian who will select 15 or 20 from among a thousand. Macks calls himself "Jonny the Joke Boy," and though he moved to comedy from running political campaigns for Democratic candidates, he and Leno never let political affiliation get in the way of a laugh: "When it comes to jokes, I'm a writer first, Democrat 615th." The author has little in the way of dirt to share, though his contempt for the presidential campaign of Al Gore is evident throughout (he's much more of a Clinton apologist), and he praises "Charlie Sheen, a great guy and a great guest." But mainly he shares jokes, his own and those of others. A book that seems to have been written because a writer has to do something after his regular gig of two decades disappears.

Kirkus Reviews