Bare-faced humor: review of Alan Zweibel’s non-fiction collection Clothing Optional
The Jerusalem Post, October 31, 2008
Clothing Optional and Other Ways to Read These Stories is the latest effort by award-winning comedy writer Alan Zweibel. This imaginative collection includes a wide range of forms – from a mock court deposition, to essays, to scripts, with an occasional pencil drawing thrown in for added humor.
The subject matter of the often irreverent pieces varies tremendously. Nothing is off limits for Zweibel and (reader, be warned) nothing is sacred. The opening act, “My First Love,” includes material that Zweibel refers to as “a heartwarming story titled ‘The Day I Got Caught Playing with Myself in Hebrew School… While Thinking About Abraham’s Wife, Sarah.'” Bouncing off of passages from Genesis, Zweibel takes us on a hilarious ride through the imagination of the 11-year-old “Avraham” Zweibel.
“Mendel,” delivered to the reader in the form of a script, also employs the Bible as the basis for comedy. As Joshua fights the Amorites, God must deal with Mendel the caterer, who worries that the spread he’s prepared for a bar mitzva celebration will spoil.
Not to misrepresent this collection as revolving around Judaism, not all of the pieces fall into that amorphous category of “Jewish comedy.” Zweibel also takes on the comedy business itself, baseball, the politics of Little League and his experience at a nudist retreat, among many other topics.
Although it’s a fun read throughout, some of the material in Clothing Optional is a little esoteric. For example, readers not involved in the comedy business – and that’s a majority of us – may find themselves restless during the long and, at times, not-so-comic “Comic Dialogue.”
Though the ending of the piece is brilliant and buildup is necessary, of course, it seems like the same effect could have been achieved without 20 pages of dialogue riddled with name after name after name of comedians. Though the names are part of the point, after a while the reader feels like they’ve been left out of some private joke. However, this is one of only a few missteps in a book that is, overall, an enjoyable performance.
Clothing Optional is more than a compilation of chuckle-inducing comedy writing. In a handful of pieces, Zweibel walks the difficult line of sentimentality. Never crossing over into the saccharine, these touching pieces are when the writing is at its best and most engaging. “The Big Forgery” is a tender remembrance of Zweibel’s grandfather, an immigrant from the Old World to the New, and the connection Zweibel continues to feel to him.
“Stationery Stores” serves as a nostalgic look at a disappearing side of America as well as Zweibel’s schooldays, highlighting a generational divide along the way. “My Daughter Lindsay” is an honest look at difficulties Zweibel has faced as a writer and, more importantly, his close relationship with his daughter, who offers him wisdom and a boost at a time he sorely needs it.
Whether Zweibel is recounting his experience of 9/11 or is taking us through a scene in which a husband accidentally glimpses his mother-in-law’s tattooed bottom, Clothing Optional and Other Ways to Read These Stories is a satisfying, and fast, trip through the mind of one of America’s great comedy writers.