Joan Rivers, comedy legend, has died at age 81. Three stories from the Longreads Archive: The Fresh Air Interview: Joan Rivers (Terry Gross, NPR) GROSS: So, like, that’s kind of a paradox to me that you live to be on stage and at the same time, there’s this dread of being on stage. Ms. RIVERS: […]
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How ‘George Washington Slept Here’ Became a Real Estate Cliché
There are no shortage of places where the nation’s first president “slept.” According to popular real estate site Zillow, of all the homes and real estate listings that boast celebrity provenance, Washington holds the record for most mentions. Flickr has an entire photo pool entitled “George Washington Slept Here,” devoted to pictures of properties and historic sites […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Comedy and the Single Girl
An excerpt from Armstrong’s book Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, on how Treva Silverman helped create TV’s most memorable characters: One night in 1964, Silverman was playing at a piano bar in Manhattan’s theater district—it was another one of those dark, smoky places, but this one had a well-tuned baby grand. She took […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Interview: Simon Rich on Guilt, Humor Writing, and Being the Worst Person Ever
An interview with humorist Simon Rich on comedy, writing stories for the New Yorker vs. writing sketches for SNL, and his new book Spoiled Brats.
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
‘The Good Is Elusive and Transitory in This World’
Artist and illustrator Maira Kalman on mistakes, optimism, and how art (and dogs) warm the soul.
Posted inEditor's Pick
This Psychologist Helps Keep Comedians Laughing
An interesting look into the work of Ildiko Tabori, who serves as the in-house psychologist at a Los Angeles comedy club. The club’s owner hired her after he became alarmed by the number of premature deaths in the comic world.
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
Interview: Simon Rich on Guilt, Humor Writing, and Being the Worst Person Ever
“I’m certainly as revolting and privileged and narcissistic as any of the hipsters described in my book, if not more so. I mean, there’s nobody worse than me.”
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
Interview: Simon Rich on Guilt, Humor Writing, and Being the Worst Person Ever
“I’m certainly as revolting and privileged and narcissistic as any of the hipsters described in my book, if not more so. I mean, there’s nobody worse than me.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Looking For Tom Lehrer, Comedy’s Mysterious Genius
On Tom Lehrer, one of the most influential people in comedy who abruptly stepped away from the spotlight: He began performing internationally in 1959, when the Palace Theatre in London asked him to perform the first two Sundays in May. “In England in 1959, you couldn’t put on a play, [on Sunday] so the theaters […]
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
The Man Who Became Big Bird
An interview with Caroll Spinney, who, at 81, has worked at “Sesame Street” as the puppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for 45 years.
