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Agate Publisher Doug Seibold, co-author Raymond Lambert and me on the day we turned in the manuscript.
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I'm excited to report that we just completed the editing process on the book I co-wrote with Raymond Lambert about his legendary Chicago comedy club, All Jokes Aside. The book, also titled "All Jokes Aside," is set to be released in early 2015 by Agate Bolden Books.
Collaborating on the book with Raymond has been a real adventure, since All Jokes Aside launched the careers of comedy superstars such as Steve Harvey, Mo'Nique, Bernie Mac, D.L. Hughley, Carlos Mencia and Cedric the Entertainer. Many of these Kings and Queens of Comedy were interviewed in the documentary "Phunny Business," which chronicled the rise and fall of All Jokes Aside and aired on Showtime in February 2012 (you can watch the trailer by clicking this link).
After the "Phunny Business" documentary aired, Raymond and I began working on the book in 2013 after signing with Agate. Since Raymond lives in Chicago and I live in Columbus, Ohio, we worked mostly by phone and email. The process of was a lot like those musical duets in which singers blend their voices in separate recording studios thousands of miles apart.
Working on the book entailed months and months of writing and rewriting and interviewing some of the key figures from Raymond's childhood and the years he and business partner James Alexander spent running the club in the go-go '90s.
We finished the manuscript and turned it in to Agate on March 22 of this year. I'll never forget that day, not only because it was a career milestone for me, but because I journeyed to Chicago for the occasion on what was the last big snowstorm of the season.
Agate Publisher Doug Seibold has been great to work with and, over the past couple of months, sent Raymond and I edited chapters for us to review and send back to him with any additional changes.
It's been interesting as a writer and filmmaker (I'm also putting the finishing touches on a documentary about women's wrestling) to see how this editing process unfolded - what remained in the finished product and what ended up on the cutting room floor.
For more information about the book and to preorder, visit our page at Amazon.com.
