Alan Zweibel

Dave Barry

An uproarious tale told in alternating voices and co-written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and an Emmy Award-winning original Saturday Night Live writer follows the stories of a pet shop owner and a curmudgeon who find themselves on the run from police, terrorists and a pizza chain mascot.

Lunatics

(Applause Books). In a series of funny, tender, and touching dialogues, former Saturday Night Live writer Zweibel recalls his buddy-and-almost-lover friendship with SNL actress Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer. Zweibel claims he "merely scribbled the dialogues playing in my head," and, indeed, these recreated conversations have a neurotic, sarcastic, and vulnerable air of aunthenticity. The actress and writer become fast friends on the SNL set and segue into personal revelation.

Gilda Radner - A Sort of Love Story

Bunny Bunny

Adam Mansbach

The last book on Judaism you will ever have to buy, this hilarious tome from three comedy legends contains the sweetness of an apricot rugelach and all the wisdom of a matzoh ball. Why do random Jewish holidays keep springing up unexpectedly? Why are yarmulkes round? Who was the first Jewish comedian? These baffling questions and many more are answered by the comedic powerhouse trio of Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach, and Alan Zweibel. In A Field Guide to the Jewish People the authors dissect every holiday, rite of passage, and tradition, unravel a long and complicated history, and tackle the tough questions that have been plaguing the long-suffering Jewish people everywhere for centuries. So gather round your chosen ones, pop open a bottle of Manischewitz, and get ready to laugh as you finally begin to understand the inner-workings of Judaism.

A Field Guide to the Jewish People

"With this ... parody Haggadah from the comedic minds of Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach, good Jews everywhere will no longer have to sit (and sleep) through a lengthy and boring Seder. In [the book], the authors will take you through every step of the Seder, from getting rid of all the chametz in your home by setting it on fire with a kosher blowtorch to a retelling of the Passover story starring Pharaoh Schmuck and a burning bush that sounds kind of like Morgan Freeman, set against the backdrop of the Promised Land"--Amazon.com.

A Passover Haggadah for Jews and Those Who Love Them

For This We Left Egypt?

From three award-winning and bestselling humor writers comes a hilarious guide to everything you need to know about Jewish history, holidays, and traditions. Why do random Jewish holidays keep springing up unexpectedly? Why are yarmulkes round? Who was the first Jewish comedian? What's "Christian humor" and have you ever even heard of that phrase? Who is "the Golem" and whom do you want it to beat up? These baffling questions and many more are answered by comedy legends Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach, and Alan Zweibel, two-thirds of whom are Jewish. In A Field Guide to the Jewish People the authors dissect every holiday, rite of passage, and tradition, unravel a long and complicated history, and tackle the tough questions that have plagued Jews and non-Jews alike for centuries. Combining the sweetness of an apricot rugelach with the wisdom of a matzoh ball, this is the last book on Judaism that you will ever need. So gather up your chosen ones, open a bottle of Manischewitz, and get ready to laugh as you finally begin to understand the inner-workings of Judaism.

Who They Are, Where They Come From, What to Feed Them...and Much More. Maybe Too Much More

Christopher Durang

Neil LaBute

David Ives

David Auburn

David Lindsay-Abaire

Robert Lewis Vaughan

Amy Fox

Cassandra Medley

THE STORIES: AMATEURS by David Auburn. Politics and ethics collide when a young woman confronts an older politico about an attack ad he ran against her father years earlier that destroyed the father's career. (1 man, 1 woman.) BOLERO by David Ives. A woman's world threatens to come apart in the middle of the night, when she and her husband hear strange sounds and voices coming through their bedroom wall. (1 man, 1 woman.) BREAKFAST AND BED by Amy Fox. Lex wakes up hungover on the couch in her lover's apartment and wonders where Chris has gone. Chris' roommate, Eloise, is chatty and offers coffee but also asks a lot of probing questions. Is Eloise jealous? Protective? Or is there something else going on? (2 women.) CELL by Cassandra Medley. The only jobs left in Flint, Michigan are at a detention center for illegal immigrants waiting to be deported. Rene has taken in her sister Cerise and niece Gwen, who were homeless, and gotten them jobs with her at the facility. But Gwen's soft heart puts her at odds with the detention center's rules against fraternization, and Rene will not let Gwen threaten her job. (3 women.) DIVERSIONS by Christopher Durang. A man is about to jump off a building when a nun tries to stop him. Aloysius thinks the nun is trying to push the man off and tries to stop the nun. A policeman tries to stop all of them, but he falls off the roof. The whole thing winds up in court, where a game of bridge breaks out and more bodies start to pile up. (7 men, 3 women.) THE GREEN HILL by David Ives. Jake has a vision of a lovely green hill, where he feels free and at peace. He knows the hill is real, and he has to go there. He sees a poster of the hill in a travel agent's window, but the hill's real location proves to be elusive. But Jake is relentless in his search. (1 man, 1 woman, extras.) HAPPY by Alan Zweibel. Donald travels to Boca Raton to find "Happy" Haliday, a favorite baseball player from his youth, and to get his signature on a baseball. The ball has been signed by every member of the 1962 Mets except for Happy, whose career was cut short. But when Happy learns the ball will be worth $28,000 after he signs, and that it's already been sold, will he still sign? (2 men.) A SECOND OF PLEASURE by Neil LaBute. Kurt and Jess are waiting to board a train at Grand Central, when Jess says she doesn't really want to go away for the weekend. Kurt is annoyed. Jess agreed to the trip weeks ago. Why did she wait until now to say something? Finally, Jess admits that it has something to do with her husband. (1 man, 1 woman.) AN UPSET by David Auburn. Two pro tennis players, a younger, polite Romanian on his way up and an older, argumentative American on his way out, are pitted against each other, on and off the court. But they may be more alike than they know, and, like a tennis match, the balance of power keeps shifting. (2 men.) WEIRD WATER by Robert Lewis Vaughan. Sinking further into depression after the death of his son Tommy in Iraq, Hal resists his wife Libby's attempts to help him heal. When Tommy's lifelong best friend Jeff pays a surprise visit he brings a sense of hope with him, and the family finds a way to move forward.

Outstanding Short Plays

Dear Kids, A long time ago, when you were little, Mom and I took you to where we wanted to build a house. . . . I remember there was one tree, however, that the three of you couldn’t stop staring at. . . . After the family spares him from the builders, Steve the tree quickly works his way into their lives. He holds their underwear when the dryer breaks down, he’s there when Adam and Lindsay get their first crushes, and he’s the centerpiece at their outdoor family parties. With a surprising lack of anthropomorphizing, this is a uniquely poignant celebration of fatherhood, families, love, and change.

Our Tree Named Steve

If the Future has any remedy for this situation, do not hesitate to provide it. That is to say, Ike and Claire Wanzandae, HELP! HELP HELP HELP. I am (perhaps not for long), Benjamin Franklin Ike Saturday has seen better days. For one thing, his pen pal, Benjamin Franklin (yes, that Benjamin Franklin), is the target of an angry mob after Ike's plan to help the Founding Fathers with some intel from the future seriously backfired. For another, he's decided to mail himself back in time with the help of his girlfriend, Claire Wanzandae, and it's not a particularly comfortable way to travel. Once Ike tracks B-Freezy down in 1776, it becomes clear that his pal is less than impressed with the irritating, modern-day rescuer, partially because Ike has a habit of making things worse for Ben, and partially because Ben is incredibly cranky when not in the presence of numerous meat pies. Which speaks to another issue for the pair: they have no money, no food, and basically no plan for saving the country. But Claire won't be able to cover for Ike back home in the future forever, and the British are looking pretty impatient, so Ike and B-Freezy will have to come up with something quickly if they want to avoid an epic, history-destroying disaster. In this hilarious sequel to Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My . . . , Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel take Ike and B-Freezy's antics to the next level as this ill-paired (and sometimes actually ill) duo hold the future of the world in their not-so-capable hands.

Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail

Dear Mr. Franklin, First of all, let me just say that this Assignment is Stupid. You are Dead. Why am I writing a letter to Some dead guy I've never even met? This is the start to a most unlikely pen pal relationship between thirteen-year-old Franklin Isaac Saturday (Ike) and Benjamin Franklin. Before the fateful extra credit assignment that started it all, Ike's life was pretty normal. He was avoiding the popularity contests of middle school, crushing hard on Clare Wanzandae and trying not roll his eyes at his stepfather, Dirk-the-Jerk's lame jokes. But all that changes when, in a successful effort to make Claire Wanzandae laugh, Ike mails his homework assignment to Ben Franklin???and he writes back. Soon, things go awry. After Ike has an embarrassing moment of epic proportions in front of Claire involving a playground, non-alcoholic beer, and a lot of kettle corn, Ike decides he needs to find a way to win Claire back. With some help from his new friend, B-Fizzle, can Ike get the girl and make his mark in history?

Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my...

Shulman, a chubby, middle-aged stationery-store owner from New Jersey, has always claimed that he’s been gaining and losing the same thirty-five pounds since junior high–and that if you added all of that discarded weight together, he had lost an entire person. Another Shulman. A Shulman he never really cared for. A Shulman he’d always tried to lose by dieting and exercising. A Shulman he’d cover by wearing extra-large shirts in an attempt to hide his existence. This has been just a joke until, at a crossroads marked by overwhelming marital and business stress, he actually encounters this Other Shulman–an incredibly successful man who’s made life and career choices that Shulman has spurned. At first, the Other Shulman is but a mere nuisance, a source of frustration brought about by mistaken identity. But as time goes by, his actions become increasingly destructive and threaten to sabotage all aspects of Shulman’s existence. The struggle between the two Shulmans comes to a head while Shulman is running in the New York City Marathon. And it is during the course of this race, as he runs through the old neighborhoods where his life took shape, that this ordinarily passive family man examines all the choices he’s made and realizes that in order for him to get his life back on track he must confront and overcome his haunting demons as presented in the form of this angry doppelgänger, this Other Shulman. In 26.2 chapters, one for each mile of the marathon, The Other Shulman is a hilarious and affecting tale of identity and aspiration from one of America’s best-known comic writers.

A Novel

The Other Shulman

“Garry, it’s Alan. Look, I’m calling because I just felt the need to tell someone that I’m forty-four years old, and about an hour ago, for the first time in my life, I put suntan lotion on my ass. I’ll explain later. Bye.” In Clothing Optional, Alan Zweibel offers a collection of laugh-out-loud personal narratives, essays, short fiction, dialogues, and even a few whimsical drawings. Zweibel first made a name for himself as one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, but his career’s humble beginnings included creating one-liners for Catskill comedians at seven dollars a pop. That experience is only one of the hysterically inspired anecdotes (“Comic Dialogue”) in this quirky compilation. Zweibel confesses his first love, as a young Hebrew school student, for Abraham’s wife, Sarah (“At this point, Sarah’s husband had been dead for more than three thousand years–so, really, who would I be hurting?”); recounts the time he was sent to a nudist resort to write an article (“The fact that I brought luggage is, in itself, worthy of some discussion”); offers a touching tribute to Saturday Night Live writer and mentor Herb Sargent (“Herb was New York. But an older, more romantic New York that took place in black and white like the kind of TV I grew up on and wanted to be a part of someday”); and imagines a scenario in which Sergeant Joe Friday, the stiff, monotoned character from Dragnet, is inexplicably partnered with Snoop Dogg (“Damn, Friday. You gotta learn to chill. Take some free time and kick it with your boys”) Every piece is punctuated with the same wit and insight that have come to define Zweibel’s humor. Unhinged and hilarious, Clothing Optional is an unguided tour through the uniquely peculiar life and mind of a man who The New York Times said “has earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture.”

And Other Ways to Read These Stories

Clothing Optional

Alan Zweibel dusts off some hilarious material written years ago that stand the test of time. An original Saturday Night Live writer, award winning author and playwright, Zweibel releases three never before published short stories: The Prize, The Ride Home, and Sexting with Alan Dershowitz pulled from Alan 's Bottom Drawer delivered directly to your eReader. You ll be laughing within seconds...Okay, minutes...Okay, the next day. But that's still good, right? " One of the best comedy writers around, Alan Zweibel is my bounce guy. We ve been friends for so long we have our own comedic shorthand. We totally get each other 's sense of humor. " Larry David " He 's wonderfully funny and very smart and he 's a big guy, but very sensitive. " Billy Crystal " Alan Zweibel is the funniest writer in the world. " Dave Barry " Read Alan Zweibel and you ll be reminded of the likes of Robert Benchley and S.J. Perelman. You can t help but be moved by his warmth and insight even as you laugh your ass off. " David Steinberg About the Author An original Saturday Night Live writer who the New York Times said has earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture, Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild, and TV Critics awards for his work in television which also includes "It 's Garry Shandling 's Show," "Monk," PBS 's "Great Performances," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." A frequent guest on talk shows such as "The Late Show with David Letterman," Alan 's many theatrical contributions include the Tony Award winning play "700 Sundays" which he collaborated on with Billy Crystal, Martin Short 's Broadway hit "Fame Becomes Me," and the off-Broadway play "Bunny Bunny Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy" which he adapted from his best-selling book. Alan has written the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel "The Other Shulman," the popular children 's book "Our Tree Named Steve," and a collection of short stories and essays titled "Clothing Optional." His humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as "Esquire," "The Atlantic Monthly," "The New York Times" Op-Ed page, "The Huffington Post," and "MAD Magazine." The co-writer of the screenplays for the films "Dragnet," "North," and "The Story of Us," Alan recently received an honorary PhD. from the State University of New York and in 2010 the Writers Guild, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Alan is currently working with Billy Crystal on the feature film version of "700 Sundays" to be directed by Barry Levinson, executive producing a documentary mini-series for Showtime with Steve Carell and David Steinberg and writing a novel titled "Lunatics" with Dave Barry which Putnam is publishing in January. And on the TV screen he will be appearing as a new character in the upcoming season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and in a short film for "Funny or Die." But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he 's co-produced with his wife Robin, their children Lindsay, Sari, and Adam, Adam 's wife Cori, and grandchildren Zachary and Alexis.

The Prize, the Ride Home, Sexting with Alan Dershowitz

From the Bottom Drawer of Alan Zweibel

The script to the touching and funny play by Alan Zweibel about his relationship with famed comiedienne Gilda Radner.

Gilda Radner, a Sort of Romantic Comedy

Bunny, Bunny

In a series of funny tender and touching dialogues former ÊSaturday Night LiveÊ writer Zweibel recalls his buddy-and-almost-lover friendship with ÊSNLÊ actress Gilda Radner who died of ovarian cancer. Zweibel claims he merely scribbled the dialogues playing in my head and indeed these recreated conversations have a neurotic sarcastic and vulnerable air of aunthenticity. The actress and writer become fast friends on the ÊSNLÊ set and segue into personal revelation.

Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story

A collection of short pieces that explore such themes as life, nudity, death, the Bible, parenthood, the New York Marathon, and the author's early days as a writer.

Joking that he has been gaining and losing the same thirty-five pounds since junior high, Shulman, a chubby, middle-aged stationary store owner from New Jersey, is stunned when he actually meets this doppelganger Shulman, a successful man who made all the choices that the original Shulman had spurned.

With his tender, funny memoir of four decades in the business, Alan Zweibel traces the history of American comedy Alan Zweibel started his comedy career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt standups. Then one night, despite bombing on stage, he caught the attention of Lorne Michaels and became one of the first writers at Saturday Night Live, where he penned classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all of the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players. From SNL, he went on to have a hand in a series of landmark shows—from It’s Garry Shandling’s Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm. Throughout the pages of Laugh Lines Zweibel weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and contemporaries, including Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Saget, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, and more. The book also features a charming foreword from his friend of forty-five years Billy Crystal, with whom he co-wrote and co-produced the upcoming film Here Today that stars Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy.

My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier

Laugh Lines

When the builders arrive on the land, a family works together to save their tree from being removed while sharing tales of how important the tree has been to all of them throughout the many years together. Reprint.

Alan Zweibel

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