In-Person Event with Bob Odenkirk/Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama

Join Anderson’s bookshop for an in-person event with author, actor, and Naperville native Bob Odenkirk to celebrate the release of his new memoir, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama! All books will be pre-signed; the event will be a conversation between Bob and special guest, Kim "Howard" Johnson, and will not include any opportunity to meet him or take a photo together due to COVID safety protocols.

In this “essential” (Entertainment Weekly), “hilarious” (AV Club) memoir, the star of Mr. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul opens up about the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it’s like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at fifty.

This event will be held in at Yellow Box Auditorium, and pre-registration is required as space is limited.  Each ticket includes a pre-signed copy of the book.

Please read these COVID protection requirements carefully:

Masks are required of all customers, regardless of vaccination status, and must remain properly covering the face for the entirety of the event.

A ticket is required for all attendees, attendance will be capped at 900, and seating may also be restricted in order to allow for social distancing.

Anderson’s Bookshop, the author, and the publisher reserve the right to change the format of this event to a virtual one at any time if it becomes necessary.  A change in format will not entitle ticket holders to any refund.

Failure to follow these guidelines and to treat all participants with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event.

Please be advised that Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses.  We expect that for the protection of everyone, all applicable Covid related protocols will be followed.  

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

More about the book:

“I’ve known Bob Odenkirk for more than thirty years, and yet I had to read this book to believe his stunning career arc.”—Conan O’Brien

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Parade, The AV Club

Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations—with a side-trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him—it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty.

Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing—eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David.

In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad—a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis—it’s fun!

Featuring humorous tangents, never-before-seen photos, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale told by a determined idiot.

About the author:

Bob Odenkirk is an actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Odenkirk got his start in improv comedy in the motley Chicago comedy scene of the mid-eighties and went on to write for Saturday Night Live. He has starred in AMC’s Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and written and starred in the sketch comedy cult hit Mr. Show. He has written and produced a number of television shows and directed three films.

Kim “Howard” Johnson teaches thecomedylab.net methods taught to hundreds of students across Chicago and around the world, through his classes at The Annoyance, Second City, nearly a decade at the iO Chicago, London’s Nursery Theatre, along with classes at UCSB, and his studies with Del Close in the early 1980s. He has also worked closely with John Cleese over the years, and written a screenplay with Jonathan Winters. He is co-author of Truth in Comedy, The Funniest One in the Room: the Lives and Legends of Del Close, and numerous books on Monty Python. He is the only human being to perform on stage with The Committee, the Baron’s Barracudas, and Monty Python (not all at the same time). Learn more at www.thecomedylab.net