"Overall, I've had more gains than losses," writes Bob Odenkirk (A Load of Hooey) toward the end of Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, but he has a funny way of showing it. In his entertaining memoir, heavy on the failure, the sketch comedy great turned quote, unquote, serious actor offers a good explanation for why he doesn't skimp on the lowlights: "I tried just as hard at the stuff that didn't work as I did at the stuff that worked."
Odenkirk, born in 1962, writes about his "deeply unspecial suburban upbringing" in Naperville, Ill., his lackluster attempts at stand-up in Chicago, and his unsatisfying stint writing for Saturday Night Live. After more than three seasons at SNL, he fled to Los Angeles to slake his hunger to perform and made a comedy love connection with fellow fringe dweller David Cross, with whom he created HBO's venerated sketch comedy Mr. Show. Then it was lather, rinse and repeat with failures and successes, which include Odenkirk's triumph as morally dishonorable Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and its spin-off, Better Call Saul.
Odenkirk--who has consistently worked with writing partners throughout his career but penned this memoir alone--writes with a sharp quill: he describes comedy legend Del Close as known for "spouting a run-on sentence that Jack Kerouac would struggle to follow." Discouraged creative types might find psychic uplift in Odenkirk's accounts of his career setbacks: "I've always believed good things might happen if I just hung in there and showed up with my best effort." Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is among Odenkirk's best efforts. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer