Lewis Black "Nothing's Sacred"
by Paul Autry
Have you heard Lewis Black's latest release, "The Carnegie Hall Performance?" If not, I suggest you pick up that album and give it a listen before you sit down by the fire to read his latest book, "Nothing's Sacred." I say that because, for the most part, the book is the same as his stand up performance and, if you're looking for a laugh, it's better to hear the album before you read the book. If you read the book first, the album won't come off as funny because you'll already know what to expect and when he drives the point home with the punch line, you'll already know the joke before it comes out of his mouth. Luckily, that's how I experienced this double dose of Lewis Black for the first time. Now, sure, some of you might say, well, if you listen to the album first, the book won't be as funny. I might be quick to agree with you. But, it's just not true. If it was anyone else, it might be. But, in this case, it's not. You see, the book, at least in my opinion, is a longer joke. Some of the stuff I heard on the disc seemed to be a little longer in the book. Plus, there's a few chapters where he talks about stuff that he doesn't talk about on the disc. So, you are getting a little more with the book.
I found the book to be an interesting read because I plan on giving the whole stand up comedy thing a shot in the near future and Lewis Black has been a huge influence on what I wanna do and how I wanna do it. The book gave me the opportunity to study his thought process and, what was interesting about that is, as you read "Nothing's Sacred," the words seem to jump out at you. Now, I've read a few other books by other stand up comics and, while I won't mention which ones, I will say this...the entertainers as I knew them and the books that were written by them, they were two different things. How they were on stage didn't seem to come across that well on paper. Maybe those people weren't trying to write a "stand up" book so to speak...and maybe that's just a lame excuse to hide the fact that what they couldn't accomplish, Lewis Black did. I mean, really, a deaf person could read this book and they could get the same impression as a person who can hear does when they listen to one of his live performances. Did that paint a picture for you?
I'd have to go through the book again in order to tell you what's written here that isn't mentioned on "The Carnegie Hall Performance." I will go through this book again, one page at a time. But, I'm still not gonna tell you what you're missing because, if you heard the album, why should I spoil the extra stuff that's in the book. Besides, I couldn't do it without explaining what he's talking about and, if I did that, you wouldn't have any reason to read the book now, would you? If you're not gonna read the book, that means you're probably not gonna buy it and, if you don't buy it, well, that's money that Lewis Black isn't gonna get...and I know better to mess with someone else's money, especially if that someone is Lewis Black. I wouldn't want him showing up at my front door asking for a check. Well, I wouldn't mind him showing up at my front door...as long as he wanted to talk about the weather or something. So, go buy the book and, while you're out, be sure to pick up a copy of "The Carnegie Hall Performance" because you can never have enough Lewis Black.
