Funny for Money: The Making of a Comedy Writer

Ever wonder how someone becomes a writer on shows like Saturday Night Live, Night Court, Fridays, Boy Meets World, A Different World, and other TV hits? In this funny and endearing memoir, Kevin Kelton tells of his unusual journey from a timid kid growing up as the youngest of four boys to becoming a writer and producer of some of the best-known television shows of the 1980s and '90s.From the beginning, Kelton's household was a makeshift stage for improvisations and quirky characters that his brothers and he ad-libbed to keep themselves amused. They had no ambitions to go into the entertainment field, yet the comedic "games" they improvised in their living room and basement prepared two of them for the limelight of Hollywood, one as a stand-up comedian who appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson twenty-one times, and one (Kevin) as his little brother who absorbed the comedy talent that flowed through the New York stand-up comedy clubs of that era.Kelton talks about his start in college radio, which made him infamous on campus, and his days hanging out with big brother Bobby and his best friends (including Larry David), who would hit the major New York clubs every night and then sit in a city diner till dawn bouncing around comedy lines and bits.While Bobby was destined for the spotlight as a stand-up, Kevin chose to make his way behind the scenes, writing for a game show before graduating to sketch comedy series like Fridays and SNL, and then graduated to sitcoms, where he wrote and produced some of the most beloved series of his generation.Along the way, Kelton shares anecdotes about the stars and writing staffs he worked with, infusing his stories with humor and more than a hint of juicy gossip.This book won't turn you into a successful comedy writer, but it will give you a feel of what it's like to be there and how the ins and outs of the business conspired to turn a college kid's whims into a fabulous career. Read more