Laughs Last

This hilarious novel, told in a delightfully complex structure of nested flashbacks, tells the tense tale of Damon Blazer’s troubled relationships with everyone in his family… except his grandfather, a former vaudevillian who sees Damon’s talent and supports it joyfully.

Thanks to the ingenious device, the story of Damon’s relationship with Poppa — his grandfather — comes into focus over time even as we, the readers, anxiously await the resolution to the mystery of what happened at the old man’s funeral that so alienated Damon’s tight-assed, dim-witted brother.

As Damon moves forward through time, finding success as a comic, romance, a cat, and a life he can be proud of, he brings us with him through the corridors of memory that led to where he is, the first gigs, the workout rooms, the detailed instructions in the empty friars’ club about how to handle the microphone.

This book has been purchased in bulk and handed out by stand-up comedy instructors and facilitators in New York and New Orleans. It was not intended as an instructional manual.

“Not only is it a delightful book, it has a wonderful punchline!” Carl Reiner