humor

The perils of the new job. How do you get to your office if the front desk security guy doesn't recognize you? Whose jokes do you laugh at? Is there hidden meaning behind desk placement, dressing room size? What exactly do they want from me,anyway? Jay Mohr was a writer/performer on SNL from 1993 to 1995. The disorganization that produced so much brilliant comedy also reduced the comic into a panicked, self doubting mess....much like many people with their first "real" job. The difference is most jobs aren't potential broadcast material on a weekly
basis. Gasping For Airtime is not a "tell all" about the behind the scenes SNL. The stories of infighting, horrible guest hosts, and pranks are in there, wildly funny times on and off air with Chris Farley and others. It is more the story of someone trying to fit into a place where they desperstely want to belong, and never quite feelong as if they have accomplished
that goal. Mohr has a dry ,selp deprecating way about him, writing more like a fan of the show and the guest musicians, then a castmember....oh, excuse me, bit player.

I bought this book because SNL intrigues me. I read the book Live from New York and was highly entertained. I don't know much about Jay Mohr, but I have seen him in some movies and recently on Last Comic Standing. I have watched SNL since I can remember, and unfortunately, I think Mr. Mohr was on the show at one of its really low points. He should be grateful that he has a career at all, since the time was was on SNL is forgettable.

His book varies between self involved whining and mildly entertaining tidbits about the show. I think the complaining far outweighs the tidbits. It is obvious that he is not over the pain of the show and the fact that his skits were seldomly selected to air. I really could have done without his insistance on remembering those skits word for word and telling me all about it. They didn't get on air for a reason, and writing them in a book (without the visuals), was annoying.

It did take guts to admit to stealing someone else's work, but even that left me a bit cold. The man he stole from was known in New York... why didn't any of the other castmembers, producers, writers, etc., recognize what he did before it went as far as it did? That seemed somewhat odd to me.

The book was definitely interesting, even if I did have some problems with it. I just can't seem to decide if Jay Mohr is a cry baby, or a man with talent desperate to make people laugh.

With elements of "Dry" (Augusten Burroughs) and "My Fractured Life" (Rikki Travolta), "Gasping for Airtime" is a quirky disection of a small fraction of the lesser known years of a now known entertainer. If you like this nitch type writing, it's a good one.