“All the guys I grew up with were funny, as were, probably, the people you grew up with. The only difference between them and me is that I typed out the funny comments I thought of.”
-Jon Macks (from Monologue)
In the early to mid 1980’s there were few options for TV after the 11 o’clock news. We had Carson, Letterman, and eventually Bob Costas; but they were all on the same channel. We also had Nightline, which we watched mainly when a big story broke that day (CNN had not yet come of age…really, who wants to watch news 24 hours a day!?!). Everywhere else late night programming would offer up old movies or re-runs, which evolved into infomercials. Slowly others were added to the mix; Thicke and Aresnio and Sajak came and went, and were mostly forgotten (with good reason). Now the market is way more competitive. Every network and many cable options have more talk shows than available guests. And the one thing they all have in common: An opening monologue that recaps the day’s events. How they are put together and why they work is the subject of Monologue: What Makes America Laugh Before Bed by multiple Emmy nominee and veteran writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Jon Macks.
In Monologue Macks recaps his 22 year tenure at The Tonight Show and shares his experiences and knowledge of the business and art of comedy writing. He recaps (briefly) the past, present, and future of late night TV, and in the process recounts some anecdotes and gives his opinions. (Macks’ background, unlike most comedy writers, was not as a stand-up, but rather a law school graduate who worked behind the scenes in multiple political campaigns and fell into show biz almost by accident.)
Monologue contains not only a Forward, Prologue and an Introduction, but a Postscript and Final Thoughts to boot, all written by the author (first time I have ever seen that in a book this length). What is in between is a glorified pamphlet with few interesting yarns and his advice, while astute, is terse and lacks any real meat; most of his insights are obvious, and his observations lack any substantial originality.
Macks spends way too much ink droning on about how Jay Leno should be nominated for sainthood and how talented, intelligent and hard-working he was during his time at The Tonight Show. Now I don’t disagree with that. How can I? Leno won the ratings war consistently; he was funny and charming, and there’s no denying his work ethic or generosity to his staff. He certainly deserves credit for that. Obviously there was something there. But his show was bland and inoffensive; something anyone can get, and he will never be as loved or fondly remembered as Johnny, and perhaps Macks realizes that and is trying to prop up his former boss’ legacy. (Although I must admit I have my prejudices as well; I have have always been a Letterman man.)
Monologue barely touches on the Leno/O’Brien controversy, and that also brings me to another of my complaints: The book is so thin and is at best mildly amusing. Someone with nearly a quarter century career in TV comedy and firsthand involvement in the trenches of the late night talk show wars should produce a much larger volume with tons more juicy insider stories. Anyone expecting that will be let down; Monologue has all the depth of a wading pool.
Macks’ recurring, unamusing “google it” jokes (running gags only work if they are funny to begin with), zingers that mostly fall with a thud, and many redundancies make, for me at least, an unenjoyable and disappointing experience.
Someone who can successfully make a career of writing comedy for others does not always have what it takes to create an interesting effort. Now maybe if Jay Leno read it to me…
Twitter: @Akessaris
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