Review by Samantha M. Chandler
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Quick Summary:
Tina Fey goes through various aspects of her childhood, youth, and adulthood by using her awesome humor. It is the inside story of where Tina comes from to where she goes on her epic journey as a comedian and how difficult it can be for a female comedian. It includes her story of working in local plays with her childhood friends, to SNL’s life as “Weekend Update” shenanigans and her role as Sarah Palin, to her producing 30 Rock, as well as being a mother.
The Review:
Short and sweet to the point review.
I loved the organized chaos of this book. As she tells the story of her life in order, she makes sure to insert random jokes, tidbits of information, or just a random thought that crosses her mind while she is writing. I would give this book a 4/5 only because I wanted more. I wanted more humor, more stories, more time with Tina Fey. I felt like it was well written and flowed well, I just wanted more information!
She writes in the order of her childhood to adulthood. I particularly enjoyed her time while starting her acting career at a youth theater program called Summer Showtime. The safe haven for gays as she claimed. I liked her quote “I guess I should state that Karen and Sharon never hit on me in the slightest… Gay people don’t actually try to convert people. That’s Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (pg 32). I thought that part was pretty funny. I mean Summer Showtime didn’t start out that way (a safe haven for gays) or intend to be that kind of place, but that’s home for her and many of her childhood friends. I love that she and her fellow friends learned “music, art, carpentry, discipline, friendship, and teamwork.” (pg 27). What a great thing to have in a community.
The next major point that I enjoyed reading about was her time in the Windy City with The Second City improv group. I think I liked this so much because when I went to Chicago a few years ago, my family went and saw a hilarious show there. And my future brother in law actually took classes there, so by association, I’m an improv expert (not really, but it’s still cool). It really bothered me that women were viewed as second class in the comedy world (and still are in some cases). Like they didn’t want too many females on stage because it might ruin the show or skit. It kind of frustrated me, but hopefully times are changing and have changed. (At The Second City there were numerous females on stage, so that was nice to know change has started).
I really enjoyed the chapter on “A Childhood Dream, Realized.” I think I really liked this chapter so much because it was kind of a behind the scenes deal of SNL. Getting into the head of Lorne Michaels as well as a writer’s perspective was interesting. I mean, I’ve wondered why and how they choose certain sketches over others. I’ve wondered how they hire writers, what the life of a writer is like (which is crazy busy, stressful, and requires staying awake until 3 in the morning).
I think my very favorite chapter is one of the longer ones. Why you may ask? Because it talks about SNL, 30 Rock, and one of my favorite skits of Tina Fey (Sarah Palin) on SNL with Amy Poehler (Hillary Clinton). She talks of her struggles of putting in contacts so she could read the cue cards on SNL and how it is one of the most disgusting things in the world. I find this hilarious as I also wear contacts once in a blue moon and do not seem to have this problem (but she tells it way better than I am). Oh and did I mention that Oprah was interested on being on the show 30 Rock? Yup. That was a thing. And the hell Tina and the crew had to go through to get her there would make all of my hair fall out. But it turns out all good. Alas, I still don’t want to ruin your fun reading! My ABSOLUTE favorite part about this book is she put in one of her best SNL sketches of her and Amy Poehler. Tina as Palin and Amy as Hillary. And even though I watch this sketch when I am down to help cheer me up, I still laugh as if it is the first time I have watched it. I even had their accents down. Favorite line: “And I can see Russia from my house.” It gets me every. damn. time.
Tina also shows growth during her motherhood. By making fun of her midget in the house as she lovingly calls her daughter. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Tina to help raise a little one with 30 Rock, SNL, and all the other glamorous things she was doing. Oh, ADHD, moment. She talks about how photoshoots really are in a chapter (I cannot remember the chapter), but it is truly hilarious and made me feel like I no longer have body issues. Sorry to any model that has had to ever go through that pain and torture and also the amazement of food and treatment as well. I laughed so hard at this part of the book because I didn’t realize people smaller than me had issues with clothing not fitting them correctly. I thought they were tailored to each person in the photo. Soooooo you learn something new everyday.
In conclusion: read the fracking book! It’s so good and so worth your time.
