In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett

What a hoot! I remember watching Burnett's show and loving it. This book is a trip down memory lane. Her show ran for eleven wonderful seasons, 1967 to 1978.

Burnett reminds us what television was like back then. Everything was filmed in front of a live audience. None of this canned laughter back then. You had to be funny to get laughs! And funny they were. Burnett describes many of the sketches and they are as funny now as they were then. Because they were in front of a live audience, mistakes were made and they often had to ad lib to keep going.

We are privy to the people involved in the show as well as the guests. Burnett takes us behind the scenes and reveals many bloopers. For example, there was the time she was caught in a public restroom stall practicing one of her characters.

I was impressed with the fact that Burnett did all of her own stunts – and never broke a bone. She also let the writers write. She did not spend hours going over the sketches but let them do their job while she went home to her family. I was really surprised that she does not know how to read music and even more surprised that Bing Crosby didn't either.

I liked the book so much that when I found out Burnett narrated the audio edition I listened to it. I enjoyed both. The book has lots of pictures but the audio has some actual tape of interviews and I got to hear Burnett do her famous Tarzan yell.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to travel down memory lane and read about television in its hey day. I also recommend it to younger readers to gather some insight into what television was like for their parents or grandparents. If you've never seen Burnett, do a search for videos on line and treat yourself.

You can watch the book trailer here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Carol Burnett has been an actor on Broadway, on television, and in the movies. She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Crown, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.