The Importance of Sketch Comedy- Bob Odenkirk's Memoir

 Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama 

by Bob Odenkirk

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama book cover

Bob Odenkirk by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0  via Wikimedia Commons

Mr. Show

“Do something hard, something that you will probably fail at, something that tests you and excites you and take syou places you didn’t know you would ever go to. But the little brown bottle with the label worn off and swallow (metaphorically speaking).”—Bob Odenkirk’s interpretation of advice from Del Close.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for making the Bob Odenkirk book Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama available to preview. I am a huge Bob Odenkirk fan, going back to his standup days and his time on the Ben Stiller Show in the early 90s. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was not only funny in Odenkirk’s absurdist style, but also made me realize how similar tastes in humor are to Odenkirk’s. I was a little surprised to see that this book wasn’t as highly rated, but I suspect that readers were more familiar with his work on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, or more of the dramatic parts of the book. Reading about the comedy was fun for me because I love the kind of absurdist and surreal humor he learned from Monty Python. I suppose that more readers are probably fans of Benny Hill and Hee Haw, but to each their own.

Odenkirk takes readers through his early influences, providing a brief overview of his childhood. I found his description of his father both bittersweet and funny—it was kind of sad that it sounded like his dad was not the best father, but it also seems like a lot of great comics, Odenkirk was able to use his family experiences as a source of humor and material for some of his other characters, especially the more manic and angry men from his sketch work in Mr. Show. I also really liked learning about his experiences in college and developing his writing and love for sketch comedy with a radio show. I remember making comedy tapes and audio sketches with friends in high school, so this was like a relevant, rite of passage for me. Some of the best sections were about the improv classes he took with Del Close, someone who I wasn’t familiar with, but apparently was really influential on the initial cast of SNL. I loved the lesson Odenkirk took from Close, who, according to Odenkirk, would buy old bottles of prescription medication and try them, unsure of what they were.

It was also really amazing to learn about Odenkirk’s experience on different sketch comedy shows—which, in my opinion, is always the best kind of comedy. I didn’t know too much about his time on SNL, but I realized that this was about the time I was in middle school and high school, when SNL was like a can’t miss show. I also didn’t know that he was responsible for one of my favorite characters, Matt Foley, Chris Farley’s motivational, scared straight speaker. I also didn’t know that Odenkirk was a writer for Get a Life, one of my all-time favorite Fox shows. In fact, reading this book made me remember how funny Fox used to be—with so many great, cutting edge shows like Get a Life and The Ben Stiller Show, as well as another ground breaking comedy show—In Living Color. In any event, it was exciting to learn that Odenkirk was a part of so many shows that I really enjoyed and made me laugh so much in adolescence.

However, I have to say that I really got to know Odenkirk from his work with David Cross on Mr. Show. I remember having video copies of the show since it was on HBO and I didn’t have cable at the time; we would have viewing parties with the same episodes—like the Mountain Man Olympics and New San Francisco. These were probably my favorite chapters to read in the book since Odenkirk takes readers into the creative process, as well as exploring how the show came about and how other actors on the show became involved. I also loved reading about how he got involved with directing and producing, showing how he took Del Close’s advice on taking risks and not being afraid to fail. One of the other sections I really liked was learning about his involvement with Tim and Eric, another sketch comedy duo who share the kind of absurdity and strange dad humor that Odenkirk has. I remember hearing Cinco ads for the first time and thinking the voice sounded familiar.

The later chapters on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are also really enlightening. It was interesting to learn about how Odenkirk became involved in the show, and how popular Jimmy/Saul became. Again, I think it shows that Odenkirk is really a creative artist who is unafraid of risks and trying things that are different. It is kind of surprising that this is what he is known for now. However, I still love his comedy work, going back to the “Lincoln, Lincoln” routine. This was a really fun book, and I loved that he included the asides to readers and the kind of anger directed to his haters throughout the book. The alternate titles at the end are also hilarious. This was such a great, fun read. Can’t wait to read more and see more from a true comic genius.

 PS - For the past 12 years, around the time that Saul Goodman appeared on Breaking Bad, I have been stopped by random people who ask me if I am Bob Odenkirk. It's become something kind of humorous between me and my wife. When someone says-- "Has anyone ever told you..." I'm able to predict what they will say. In fact, on a recent trip to Hawaii, a tour guide said "You look familiar"-- so I said-- "People always say I look like Bob Odenkirk-- Saul Goodman" and he was like "Yeah! That's it..." It ended up that the tour guide was from the same state and general area that we were from Really weird. But like 4 people asked me about Bob Odenkirk on the trip, so I was also excited to read this book since I share a resemblance to him. What do you think? 

Me in Chicago, home of Bob Odenkirk