My 3 Favorite Comedy Books of 2025
December 17, 2025
by
Jimmy Carrane
I love learning about comedians -- their successes and their struggles. Last week, I shared my three favorite documentaries about comedians that I watched in 2025. And this week, I wanted to share my three favorite books about comedians that I read this year.
If you don't get these books from Santa, you must find another way to get yourself a copy. Because not only were these three books enjoyable, but they were also very informative.
- Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
by Susan Morrison
For any fan of SNL or sketch comedy, Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live this is a must-read. Susan Morrison does an incredible job taking us behind the curtain of SNL and revealing the man behind the show: Lorne Michaels, who created and produced the show for the last 50 years. Her book includes hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and past stars, such as Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, and Chris Rock, to name a few. It's such a thoroughly enjoyable read, that even though it’s more than 600 pages long, I did not want it to end.
What I liked:
Lorne Michaels has always been a mystery to me, and Morrison, with her excellent reporting and revealing interviews, shows us what Lorne Michaels is really like to work for. He is powerful and influential, but also complicated, like you’d expect any brilliant creator to be. - Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter
by Larry Charles
Larry Charles is a writer and director who has been on the cutting edge for comedy for the last four decades. He has worked on some of the most iconic shows, including Seinfeld, Mad About You, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He even directed the movie Borat for God's sake. In his book, he shares the ups and downs of his career and provides some great anecdotes along the way about Jerry Seinfeld, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mel Brooks, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Larry David.
What I liked:
The brutally honest. It gives the reader an insider’s look at what it’s like to work on some of the most popular TV sitcoms of all time. Charles shares his gratitude for the opportunities he’s been given, but he also shares his disappointments in a self- reflective way. If you want to write for TV, you must get yourself a copy.
- John Candy: A Life in Comedy
by Paul Myers
Paul Myers does a great job telling the full story of the beloved comedic actor John Candy. Myers details all of the key aspects of Candy’s life and career — from the loss of his father at a young age, to his start at Second City, to starring on SCTV and becoming a Bonafide movie star with such classics as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Stripes, and Uncle Buck.
Supported through research and wonderfully candid interviews with people such as Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and many more, John Candy: A Life in Comedy gives a complete picture of the man who made us laugh so hard on screen.
What I liked:
Myers’ easy-to-read style of writing makes this book impossible to put down. Though Candy was known for his self-effacing humor and emotional warmth on screen, in life, he struggled with anxiety, people pleasing, his weight and even his fame. Myers does an excellent job of balancing those darker aspects of Candy’s life with Candy’s brilliant film and TV career. Plus, I cannot think of a better person to write this book. Myers is from Canada and is the older brother of actors Mike Myers’, so he understands Candy’s importance both to comedy and to Canada.