Veteran Comic Ritch Shydner Releases New Memoir

at
Share This Post

2016-kicking-final-fr-0821

Kinison, Hicks, Carlin, Seinfeld, Dangerfield, Barr, Martin, Shydner — Shydner?

You may not recognize the name, but he may have had as much of an impact on comedy in the 80’s as most names on that list.

Comedian Ritch Shydner published his memoir called Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life as a Stand-Up in the 1980’s Comedy Boom on Monday, October 24th. The book is a recounting of Shydner’s time in comedy, from his 1980’s performances alongside comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr and Tim Allen, to his co-starring role in the 2010 documentary I Am Comic. The book promises to be not just a memoir, but a how-to guide for young comics who are looking to enter the fray of the industry.

Shydner’s credits are numerous: He’s appeared various times on both The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show, under the tenures of both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, and filmed a half-hour special with HBO. He’s written for sitcoms like Roseanne, HBO’s Mind of the Married Man, and The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and for films like Beverly Hills Cop II and Steve Martin’s Roxanne. On top of all that, Shydner has written for comics such as Ron White, Jay Leno and Jeff Foxworthy; two of Foxworthy’s albums that Shydner contributed to, Big Fun and Totally Committed, went on to win Grammy awards.

Simply put, Shydner has paid his dues, and is now offering up 30+ years of sage advice and observation in this tell-all book. To see the impact that Shydner has had on comedy, one need only look at the comics who have endorsed his book. Chris Rock, Bill Burr, Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Jeff Foxworthy and Billy Gardell have all chimed in to show their support and admiration for Shydner. Bill Maher even wrote the book’s introduction!

This quote from Chris Rock says it all:

“Ritch Shydner is one of the best comedians I’ve ever seen. Ritch is Seinfeld good, Kinison good, Pryor good. Ok, maybe not Pryor good, but still an absolute killer. Every time I’ve seen Ritch on stage he always took the audience to a place where all the other comics in the room had no idea they could go. I’m sure this book is in a section of the bookstore with other books written by other famous comedians. Well, Ritch might not be the most famous, but he’s definitely one of the funniest.”

Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life as a Stand-Up in the 1980’s Comedy Boom dropped this past Monday, October 24th via Mr. Media Books. For more information, check out Shydner’s website.

 

Read more comedy news.

The following two tabs change content below.

Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.