Genre: Humor
Description:
“Laughs Last is a rumination
on family, legacy, talent, and the fluidity of time, a poignant dream of
adulthood coming in fits and starts to our protagonist Damon Blazer. With a
quick mind and an instinct to flee (preferably before getting punched, but not
before getting in a punchline), Blazer comes from a family whose laughs never
mean just one thing. He struggles to glean what lessons he can from his brutish
and detached brother, his grieving but understanding mother, and his aloof but
proud father, but it’s the inheritance of his grandfather’s lessons that truly
form the backbone of Blazer’s biography.”
Author:
Dylan Brody is a humorist who appears regularly on radio (including
XM/Sirius) and comedy clubs around the country. He has written plays, novels,
and jokes for other comedians as well as being a contributor to the Huffington Post.
For more, visit Brody’s website.
Appraisal:
Damon,
you have to decide, every time, whether you’re willing to face the consequences
when you tell a joke. Every time. A good joke, any good joke, it tells the
truth. They’re very powerful and they can hurt people and they can change the
world.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this quote encapsulates one
of the themes that runs throughout Laughs
Last. This was one of the lessons the protagonist, Damon Blazer, learned
from his grandfather, who was a comedian, too. His grandfather was also Damon’s
mentor and often the only member of his family who understood him.
The story jumps back and forth in time, which has the potential of
being confusing, but isn’t. The logic in this convoluted timeline is explained
by the narrator as a lesson Damon’s father had tried to teach him finally sinking
in, that “it is only possible to know the meaning of events after some time has
passed, when they can be looked back on in context.” The disjointed time line
arranges events in a way that helps them make sense.
As advertised, Laughs Last
is humorous. However, there is much more to the story than that, with plenty of
food for thought about family and taking the unconventional path in life. A
great read. If this story is any indication, that cliché about there being a
thin line between comedy and tragedy is right on the money.
FYI:
Some adult language.
Added for
Reprise Review: Laugh's
Last by Dylan Brody was a nominee in the Humor category for B&P 2014
Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran October 12, 2013.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 45-50,000 words
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