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Mike Sacks

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Mike Sacks
BornVirginia, US
Alma materTulane University
GenreHumor
Notable worksAnd Here's The Kicker,
Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason
Website
mikesacks.com

Mike Sacks is an American author, humor writer and magazine editor based in New York City. Sacks is currently an editor at Vanity Fair and formerly worked for The Washington Post.[1] [2] He contributes to the New Yorker, McSweeney's, Esquire, Salon, Vanity Fair, GQ, Believer, Vice, the New York Times and the Washington Post.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] As of 2022, Sacks has published a total of ten books, six of which have been under his own imprint.[12]

Sacks' collection of humorous photos of television shows has been featured on NPR and Gawker.[13][14] He has also been featured in The New York Post, Vanity Fair and LA Weekly, and has appeared on BBC, CNN and NPR's Weekend Edition.[15][16][17][18][19]

In 2017, Sacks created a vanity press imprint dubbed "Sunshine Beam Publishing" which he created "primarily to publish stuff no one else would publish."[12][20]

Episodes of the podcast, Doin' It with Mike Sacks... and Rob!, have been produced since January 2016.[citation needed]

Early life

Sacks was born in Virginia and raised in Maryland. He attended Winston Churchill High School before attending Tulane University in New Orleans.[21][22]

Books

And Here's the Kicker

Sacks's first book of interviews with comedy writers, And Here's the Kicker, was published in 2009 from Writers Digest Books and re-released in 2024 from Open Road Media. The book contains interviews with Stephen Merchant, Harold Ramis, Dan Mazer, Paul Feig, Bob Odenkirk, Todd Hanson, Mitch Hurwitz, David Sedaris, Al Jaffee, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Dave Barry, Larry Wilmore, Jack Handey, Larry Gelbart, Buck Henry, Merrill Markoe, Irving Brecher, Marshall Brickman, George Meyer and Dick Cavett.

The book received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, saying "Sack[s] has compiled a lively compendium sure to captivate anyone who loves a good comedy."[23]

The A.V. Club wrote that these comedy writers are "lucky to have a gifted chronicler like Sacks documenting their curious ways and odd customs for posterity."[24]

Time Magazine wrote that "comedy writers tend to be depressed, brilliant, erratic and sometimes even funny. Mike Sacks' collection of remarkably frank interviews with 21 of them reads like a secret history of popular culture."[25] The book was a Top 10 seller for Amazon's "Comedy Television," "Biographies of Comedians," and "Comedy."

Poking a Dead Frog

Poking a Dead Frog was published in June 2014 from Viking/Penguin. It's Sacks's second collection of interviews with comedy writers. Those interviewed for the book include James Downey, Terry Jones, Mike Schur, Todd Levin, Andres du Bouchet, Henry Beard, James L. Brooks, Megan Amram, Peg Lynch, Peter Mehlman, Paul F Tompkins, Adam McKay, Bill Hader, Scott Jacobson, Bruce Jay Friedman, Bruce Vilanch, Kay Cannon, Will Tracy, Gabe Delahaye, Glen Charles, Joel Begleiter, Marc Maron, George Saunders, Dave Hill, Tom Scharpling, Bob Elliott of Bob and Ray, Amy Poehler, Roz Chast, Henry Alford, Patton Oswalt, Daniel Clowes, Daniel Handler, Anthony Jeselnik, Adam Resnick, Paul Feig, Dan Guterman, Alan Spencer, Mike Dicenzo and Mel Brooks.

The book was a NY Times Bestseller and Best of the Year from NPR.[26] Vulture wrote: "a greater look into the craft and business of comedy writing than you can find anywhere else….A comedy nerd bible."[27] RogerEbert.com wrote: "Analysis of why something is funny can be deadly, but to your credit, the interviews are fascinating inside looks at the process of creating comedy, which is much more illuminating."[28]

The book received a grade of an A from the Onion AV Club, which described it as "a series of rich, intimate conversations about the ins and outs of turning funny ideas into real-world art".[29] Flavorwire called the book "a fascinating look into the ways stand-up comedians, directors, and even short stories authors write funny... An absolute must."[30]

Publishers Weekly wrote: "[An] excellent book...[Sacks] once again displays his ability to get fascinating and honest interviews from comic luminaries."[31]

The book received a positive review in the Wall Street Journal: "[Mike Sacks'] conversations with humorists poke at some fundamental concepts of comedy without chloroforming any frogs. More revealingly, the book examines what kind of person comes to make a living putting funny words on paper."[32]

Other books

  • Sacks, Mike; Thyre, Sarah (August 24, 2010). Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0307592163.
  • Sacks, Mike (March 1, 2011). Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason. Tin House Books. ISBN 978-1935639022.
  • The Believer (March 6, 2012). Care To Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars?: A Believer Book of Advice. Vintage. ISBN 978-0307743718.
  • James Johnston (October 2, 2017). Stinker Lets Loose!. Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0692832080.
  • Randy Dandy (September 11, 2018). Randy: The Full and Complete Unedited Biography and Memoir of the Amazing Life and Times of Randy S.!. Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0692135563.
  • E.L. Lessert (July 1, 2020). Passable in Pink: A Prom Com. Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0578706290.
  • Sacks, Mike (December 8, 2020). Slouchers: The Novelization. Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0578792057.
  • Skippy "Batty" Battison (February 22, 2022). Passing On The Right: My Ups, My Downs, My Lefts, My Rights, My Wrongs ... and My Career (So Far) in this Bizarro World of Comedy. Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0578329499.
  • Sacks, Mike (March 17, 2022). I Am Super Pumped! Let's Do This Shit!!!!!!!!!!!: The Marketing of "Passing on the Right". Sunshine Beam Publishing. ISBN 978-0578394985.
  • Sacks, Mike; Roeder, Jason (April 26, 2022). Welcome to Woodmont College. McSweeney's Publishing. ISBN 978-1952119439.

Other work

Some of Sacks' works were originally, or have been adapted into, audiobooks.[12] The audiobook version of Stinker Lets Loose featured Jon Hamm, Andy Richter and Phillip Baker Hall.[12] Passable in Pink was an audiobook satire of John Hughes' filmography, and featured Gillian Jacobs, Adam Scott and Bobby Moynihan.[33]

At The New Yorker in 2021, Sacks interviewed Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. This was Swartzwelder's first major interview.[34]

Critical reception

Sacks is popular with some comedians, including David Sedaris[35] and Andy Richter.[36] Critics tend to appreciate his work, while the general public can be left confused.

This is evident in the reception of Sacks' two interview anthologies, Poking a Dead Frog and Here's the Kicker. While some critics saw and appreciated the interviews as a reflection on working in the industry, many readers expected a manual on how to make it as a comedian.[37][38][39][40][41]Dead Frog was also criticized for a lack of diversity: 7 of 44 interviews were with women.[38]

His early work[42] and works published under his own imprint have received both praise[43] and critique.[44]

References

  1. ^ "Mike Sacks Archive at Vanity Fair". Vanity Fair.
  2. ^ Kuntzman, Gersh (7 March 2011). "Checkin' in with… Comedy Writer Mike Sacks". New York Post.
  3. ^ Sacks, Mike; Powers, Bob (9 August 2012). "Just A Friendly Robocall". The New Yorker.
  4. ^ Sacks, Mike; Teddy, Wayne. "Condo President-For-Life". McSweeney's.
  5. ^ Sacks, Mike. "Ikea Instructions". Esquire.
  6. ^ Mike Sacks; Scott Rothman (26 February 2011). "Dear Thomas Pynchon, can you blurb my book?". Salon.
  7. ^ Sacks, Mike (8 February 2013). "The Founding Farter". Vanity Fair.
  8. ^ Sacks, Mike; Travelstead, Ted (30 January 2014). "Timeline: Justin Bieber's Life for the Next 35 Years". GQ.
  9. ^ Sacks, Mike. "102 Self-Help Books You Can Do Without". radar.
  10. ^ Sacks, Mike. "Interview with Tim and Eric". Believer.
  11. ^ Sacks, Mike (2 December 2008). "Two Stories". Vice.
  12. ^ a b c d Dan, Bova (February 14, 2018). "How This Writer Embraced the F--- It Mentality and Turned a Crazy Idea Into a Project Starring Jon Hamm". Entrepreneur.
  13. ^ Chillag, Ian (4 January 2010). "'Photos of TV':It's Photos of TV". NPR.
  14. ^ Douglas, Nick. "Photos of TV". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22.
  15. ^ Estes, Lenora Jane (March 1, 2011). "Mike Sack Reads From Your Wildest Dreams, With Reason". Vanity Fair.
  16. ^ Molyneaux, Libby (April 28, 2011). "Make Us Laugh, Funny Boy:Mike Sacks". LA Weekly.
  17. ^ "The Comedy Cafe". BBC.
  18. ^ "Comics Confess Their Nightmares". CNN. October 21, 2009.
  19. ^ Simon, Scott (August 1, 2009). "Comedy Writing:How To Be Funny". NPR Weekend Edition.
  20. ^ Alex, Norcia (September 13, 2018). "The Year's Best Memoir Is About a Man Who Shot a Porno in a Baskin-Robbins". Vice.
  21. ^ Belford, Susan (July 24, 2014). "Dissecting Comedy". Potomac Almanac.
  22. ^ Stout, Andrew. "An Interview with Mike Sacks". Bookslut.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
  23. ^ "And Here's the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft by Mike Sacks". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  24. ^ "Mike Sacks' And Here's The Kicker". The A.V. Club. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  25. ^ "The Short List of Things to Do - TIME". Time. 2009-01-23. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  26. ^ Cohen, Nicole; Eads, David; Friedman, Rose; Lettenberger, Becky; Mayer, Petra; Novey, Beth; Rees, Christina (3 December 2014). "NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide To 2014's Great Reads". NPR Books. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  27. ^ Evans, Bradford (2013-03-27). "Preview: Mike Sacks's Sequel to 'And Here's the Kicker'". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  28. ^ Liebenson, Donald. "Mike Sacks, Author of "Poking a Dead Frog," Explores the Comedic Process". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  29. ^ "Our favorite books of the year". The A.V. Club. 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  30. ^ Diamond, Jason (2014-06-02). "10 Must-Read Books for June". Flavorwire. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  31. ^ "Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers by Mike Sacks". publishersweekly.com. June 30, 2014. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  32. ^ Steinberg, Don (June 12, 2014). "When is a Joke Funny?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  33. ^ "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: The Star-Studded Passable in Pink". Vulture. 14 Nov 2019. Retrieved 15 Nov 2022.
  34. ^ Blistein, Jon (2021-05-03). "Reclusive, Revered 'Simpsons' Writer John Swartzwelder Gives First-Ever Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  35. ^ Goldstein, Ian (2016-06-21). "Mike Sacks Is Doin' It". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  36. ^ Nelson, Rebecca (22 Oct 2018). "A writer mined his '80s adolescence in the D.C. suburbs. Then came the Kavanaugh hearings". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 Nov 2022.
  37. ^ "Mike Sacks' 'Poking a Dead Frog' cracks the comedy code". Los Angeles Times. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  38. ^ a b Chen, Adrian (2014-07-09). "Who Gets a Place in the Writers' Rooms of TV Comedy?". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  39. ^ "Poking a Dead Frog by Mike Sacks Review". pastemagazine.com. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  40. ^ "Poking a Dead Frog: Mike Sacks on Advice, Writing and TV Comedy's New DIY Attitude". Observer. 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  41. ^ Keepnews, Peter (2014-05-30). "Humor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  42. ^ Oregonian, Special to The (2011-05-21). "'Your Wildest Dreams' review: Mike Sacks has an inconsistent wit". oregonlive. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  43. ^ Boone, Brian (2022-11-01). "The Best Comedy Books of 2022 (So Far)". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  44. ^ Kutner, Rob (2018-10-17). "Lives Of Loud Desperation". Book and Film Globe. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
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