The sound of what could have been one back slapping is stifled with a cartload of kudos for a kaleidoscope[e of collaborators in Mel Brooks’ conversational autobiography, ALL ABOUT ME!
Brooks is not above blowing his own trumpet but he is quick to honour the plenty of performers who have had a hand in orchestrating his remarkable life in show business.
Brooks has been knocking around for ninety-five years and the book begins on his birth date, June 28, 1926, the last child born to Kate Kaminsky, maiden name, Brookman.
He describes a happy, loving childhood despite losing his father at a very early age, elder brothers entering the breach to be positive male models and a strong and determined mother at the helm.
His war service is chronicled, his comedy apprenticeship in the Catskills, and his adventures as a writer on the Sid Caesar show.
There’s a chapter devoted to Get Smart, the television show he created with Buck Henry that got his name in front of an international audience, and again he is quick to lavish praise on the performers, specifically Don Adams to whom he attributes a lot of the comedy business, “the jet energy behind Get Smart.”
Mel’s recollections of making The Producers is fascinating and revelatory. Ironically, it was conceived as a Broadway show and he did schlep it around a number of theatre producers, one of whom, Kermit Bloomgarden, told him “this is a great idea but you have too many characters in too many scenes… It is not a play. What it is, is a movie. Write it as a screenplay and you’ve got a chance for success.”
Mel took his advice and the rest is history – a hit movie, an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and a future life as a Broadway musical! But there is more history than most people know, especially about casting and the influence of Anne Bancroft and Mr. Brooks is happy to spill the beans.
Speaking of beans, the chapter on Blazing Saddles is a campfire story that fans will relish, again with casting choices and chances, and the development of his anarchic style, the beginning of his complete disregard for reality.
Mel Brooks says he is proud to have made people laugh for a living. “Comedy is a weird but very beautiful thing. Even though it seems foolish and silly and crazy, comedy has the most to say about the human condition. Because if you can laugh, you can get by. You can survive when things are bad if you have a sense of humour.”
For a happy holiday read, ALL ABOUT ME! Is all about a long and laugh filled life that shows no sign of abating. He is already planning The History of Mel Brooks Part II.
ALL ABOUT ME by Mel Brooks is published by Century
Richard Cotter