{"id":229,"date":"2024-02-21T19:08:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T19:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twprcommunications.com\/?page_id=229"},"modified":"2024-05-09T16:44:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T16:44:55","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/twprcommunications.com\/index.php\/books\/","title":{"rendered":"BOOKS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tripp\u2019s most recent project as an author is Norman Lear: His Life & Times<\/i>,<\/strong> the forthcoming and first-ever comprehensive biography of the legendary television producer and activist, to be published in the fall of 2024 by Applause Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. Tripp also teaches a course about Lear and the history of stand-up comedy, both of which he created, at his alma mater, Emerson College, in Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Whetsell’s last book, The Improv: An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up<\/i>, written in collaboration with founder Budd Friedman with a Foreword by Jay Leno, was published in 2017 by BenBella Books with a simultaneous audio release from Tantor Media. Named one of the best comedy books of 2017 by The New York Times<\/i>, ABC News and the New York Post,<\/i> The Improv<\/i> garnered significant additional media exposure. This included a day-of-release mention by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show and a full-length segment on CBS: This Morning<\/i>; stand-alone features, excerpts and reviews in The Hollywood Reporter<\/i>, Variety, the Associated Press, The New York<\/i> Times<\/i>, New York Post<\/i>, New York Daily News<\/i>, Closer Weekly<\/i>, Parade<\/i> and the final print edition of The Village Voice<\/i>; and personal appearances on Sirius XM, National Public Radio and most of the major podcasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Whetsell is also the author of Father Still Knows Best: The Wit and Wisdom of<\/i> America\u2019s Favorite TV Dad\u2019s<\/i> and a celebrity joke book, both published by Kensington-Citadel Press. <\/span><\/p>\n

Praise for The Improv<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

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\u201cThe Improv was a cauldron of talent. Whetsell writes about it wonderfully and with respect to for its importance to comedy.\u201d_
\n<\/span>— Robert Klein\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cThey used to say that if you made it in New York, you could make it anywhere. Maybe so, but if you didn\u2019t make it at the Improv, it was time to pack your bags and move to \u2018anywhere.\u2019\u201d
\n<\/span>— Richard Lewis\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis book is a great walk down memory lane for me. All hail the Improv and all the laughed-filled times and wonderful nights that happened in front of those brick walls.\u201d
\n<\/span>— Bill Maher\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Improv played a vital role in my early stand-up days as it did in the careers of the dazzling array of stars, eccentrics, and colorful characters whose stories adorn this bright and greatly entertaining book. Get at least<\/i> two copies, in case you lose one.\u201d
\n<\/span>— Dick Cavett\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cHere\u2019s a book I\u2019ll probably never finish, because for years to come I\u2019ll be picking it up again and again and rereading parts over and over, whenever I need perking up. It\u2019s the history of an art form, though that sounds way too stuffy, and of an institution\u2014the great American comedy club, especially the Improvs of New York and L.A.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tom Shales, Pulitzer Prize-winning former television critic of The Washington Post<\/i> and #1 bestselling author of Live from New York<\/i> and Those Guys Have All the Fun<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cAn entertaining ride through the glory years\u2014the people, the stories, the feuds, the laughs\u2014of the club that started the stand-up boom in America.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Richard Zoglin, former Time<\/i> magazine theater critic and author of Elvis in Vegas: How<\/i> the King Reinvented the Vegas Show<\/i>, Hope: Entertainer of the Century <\/i>and Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Godfather of the comedy club is finally called to testify \u2026 and he sings like a canary.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

William Knoedelseder, author of I\u2019m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High-Times in Stand-Up\u2019s Golden Era\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”408″ img_size=”large” style=”vc_box_border” qode_css_animation=””][vc_single_image image=”199″ img_size=”large” style=”vc_box_border” qode_css_animation=””][vc_single_image image=”375″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]From the microphone to the iconic brick wall, the Improv has been the launching pad for practically every major name in American comedy over the last five-plus decades. Now, in\u00a0The Improv<\/span>, Friedman, along with a Who’s Who of his most famous alumni\u2014including Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Larry David, Billy Crystal, Lily Tomlin, Judd Apatow, Al Franken, Paul Reiser, Howie Mandel, Bob Saget, Drew Carey, and many more\u2014tell it like it was in the first-ever oral history of how this game-changing comedy club came to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”374″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]From Ward Cleaver to Tony Soprano, Whetsell has compiled a warm, intelligent, and often hilarious treasury of paternal wisdom from more than a half-century of America’s most beloved TV fathers.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1710358517134{padding-top: 40px !important;padding-bottom: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1710358557308{padding-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Improv Publicity\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

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TV and Radio\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

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CBS This Morning, May 26, 2018:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/budd-friedman-improv-comedy-club-godfather-jay-leno\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gilbert Gottfried\u2019s Colossal Amazing Podcast, October 12, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/radiopublic.com\/gilbert-gottfrieds-amazing-coloss-WJpdxP\/s1!6698e<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greg Fitzsimmons Podcast, September 20, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/gregfitzsimmons.com\/podcast\/2017\/09\/20\/tripp-whetsellepisode-669<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Tonight Show<\/i> with Jimmy Fallon, September 17, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/the-tonight-show\/video\/jimmy-shouts-out-budd-friedman-for-giving-him-his-start-at-the-improv\/3589057<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

FOX Radio, September 6, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/radio.foxnews.com\/2017\/09\/06\/962017-third-hour\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Print\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

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The New York Post, December 23, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/12\/23\/the-most-thrilling-and-fascinating-books-of-2017\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Associated Press, December 2, 2027:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/general-news-small-business-celebrity-fcbfab555b594572b06dd995bb5868b9<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The New York Times, November 23, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/23\/nyregion\/a-holiday-gift-guide-for-hardcover-fans.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Variety, November 16, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/variety.com\/2017\/film\/awards\/budd-friedman-traces-standup-roots-in-new-book-1202616014\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter, October 4, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/general-news\/robin-williams-accused-stealing-jokes-comedy-tell-all-book-1045397\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Comic\u2019s Comic, October 4, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/thecomicscomic.com\/2017\/10\/04\/exclusive-book-excerpt-from-budd-friedmans-the-improv-an-oral-history-of-the-comedy-club-that-revolutionized-stand-up\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

San Francisco Book Review, October 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/sanfranciscobookreview.com\/product\/the-improv-an-oral-history-of-the-comedy-club-that-revolutionized-stand-up\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

L.A. Weekly, September 21, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.laweekly.com\/how-budd-friedman-founder-of-the-improv-basically-invented-the-modern-comedy-club\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

New York Post, September 16, 2017:<\/strong> https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/09\/16\/this-comedy-club-helped-rookie-comics-become-legends\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investor\u2019s Business Daily, September 15, 2017:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>https:\/\/www.investors.com\/news\/management\/leaders-and-success\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-improv-founder-budd-friedmans-way-to-broadway\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Daily Beast, September 2, 2018: <\/span><\/strong>https:\/\/www.thedail https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/12\/23\/the-most-thrilling-and-fascinating-books-of-2017\/ybeast.com\/when-a-young-jimmy-fallon-had-to-follow-jerry-seinfeld-onstage-at-the-improv<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

New York Daily News, August 6, 2017:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2017\/08\/06\/in-larry-davids-stand-up-days-few-predicted-success-for-the-combative-comic\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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