Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and Lost My Sense of Humor

Discover the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central in what New York Times bestselling author, Dan Lyons, calls the “funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense.”When a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell first pitched his idea for a 24-hour all comedy cable channel to an HBO programming executive he was told it was a terrible idea. But Art didn’t give up. His idea found its way to the chairman of HBO who gave it the green light. A short time later HBO launched the channel that would become Comedy Central. Constant Comedy takes readers behind the scenes into the comedy startup on its way to becoming one of the most successful and creative purveyors of popular culture in the United States. From disastrous pitch meetings with comedians to the discovery of talents like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, this intimate biography peers behind the curtain and reveals what it’s really like to work, struggle, and ultimately succeed at the cutting edge of show business. “Bell’s book mixes humor, yes, with nostalgia and the sort of insider view that make show biz memoirs so fun. Through the ups and downs of the experience, including an unceremonious firing at the end of his Comedy Central tenure, Bell offers detailed accounts of conversations while also adding observations gained from two decades of perspective.” Forbes, Sept 14, 2020