Nailing It

Product Information

These are stories about the crux of the comedy moment - in both my professional and personal life - where I had to nail it. Screwball turn-of-events, wayward characters, unplanned disasters, and something-wonderful-right-away moments that made my life funny by happenstance. They're not all triumphs, but if someone propped me up at the end of the comedy bar and put a quarter in me, these are the tunes I would spin. Through a series of anecdotes and episodes from his life, Rich Hall builds a vivid picture of his life and career. We find out how he met his wife, Karen, how he first got into comedy, the girl who got away, and meeting the man who replaced him.

The account of the Frenchman is telling: Rich is as funny and honest about country music as about anything else, but the message is the same- ‘A valuable culture and tradition has been sold out by others.’ Nailing It is a book of many ideas. It is not a straightforward autobiography of the acclaimed comedian Rich Hall. It is not a guide to comedy, or even to life as a comedian. It is not a tome of name-dropping grand-standing. It is not a travelogue, but it talks of travel. It is not a rags-to-riches story, although there are rags and a few riches along the way. It's rare for comedians to be as funny on paper as they are on stage, but Rich Hall nails it ' - CARL HIAASEN My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hachette Book Group for an advanced copy of this memoir and recollections of a life spent being funny. Nailing It is described ‘a collection of funny and often absurd epiphanies... hilariously self-deprecating, deliciously acerbic and often utterly surreal’.

Summary

The first half is grampa throwing slippers at the TV. Angry American-British-centric rants. It’s an attempt to explain to Brits that they don’t really have any problems compared with what’s going on in America. This is pantomime. America is on the edge of the apocalypse. Britain is this ongoing shuffling of weird ghoulish political figures who are around for a while and then … next! They move on and somebody else comes out on stage. The second half of the show is very improvisational and very musical. It’s my favourite part and it’s way more interactive with the audience. Hall doesn't always come out of them all covered in glory - far from it - but if someone propped him up at the end of the comedy bar and put a 50p coin in him, these are the tunes he would spin. And you'd be laughing all night. Hall's genius, on the spot lyrical rhyming is raucously entertaining and very clever' (Spears magazine)

It's rare for comedians to be as funny on paper as they are on stage, but Rich Hall nails it. He is clearly a writer at heart, and his true tales about life on the stand-up comedy circuit are hilarious, touching, and bravely personal. I selfishly wish he had his own TV show here in the States, but this book will fill the void nicely until he does * Carl Hiaasen *Meryl bookclub 2024 maybe ✅ …. American comedian Rich Hall recalls moments in his comedy career when he nailed it, gleefully hamming up his moments of triumph, hilariously accompanied by humiliation, unexpected failure and many, many teachable moments. Well written, funny and occasionally quite somber (that last chapter hits hard man) I’m going to pour myself a bundy and coke and continue marvelling at the gorgeous cover drawn by the supernaturally talented Andrew Smith I loved this book. Absolutely adored it. I devoured it and savoured every word. A wild and wonderful love letter to comedy * Adam Hills * All-in-all, I enjoyed this collection of anecdotes from the perspective of a somewhat more working-man celebrity... And not just because: Yes! There is a chapter featuring Otis Lee Crenshaw (a surreal moment of real life/performance art colliding at a funeral service in Scotland). It's more witty fun than roll on the floor hilarious but I found NAILING IT! by Rich Hall to be an entertaining read. Hall doesn’t always come out of them all covered in glory – far from it – but if someone propped him up at the end of the comedy bar and put a 50p coin in him, these are the tunes he would spin. And you’d be laughing all night.

It's rare for comedians to be as funny on paper as they are on stage, but Rich Hall nails it' - CARL HIAASEN Why do so many comedians want to be honoured as musicians? There is only a handful of entertainers who have ever been seen to combine and deploy both talents successfully: Les Dennis, victor Borge, Tom Lehrer … Nailing It is a collection of true stories from both Hall's professional and personal life where he really had to nail it. They're not about glitz, or fame, or how he met his seventh wife at the rehab clinic and found spiritual direction. None of that happened to him.

Rich Hall

This isn't really a traditional memoir, it's more a collection of anecdotal essays ostensibly concerning the hit-and-miss nature of life lessons. Because Mr. Hall is a long established comedian, who apparently has developed a large following in the UK, there is more substance (not to mention cultural variety) to the stories shared here than your average celebrity of the moment tell-all. It's basically the tale of someone who found what he loves to do and somehow stumbled into a career doing it. Hall says: ‘There are only two kinds of good comedy: smart stupid and stupid smart. With Nailing It, I strived for the latter, but I can live with the former.’ Last year there were rumours of a UK version of Saturday Night Live in the works. You were an SNL cast member for the 1984-85 season. Do you think the format would work with a British audience? It wasn’t exactly a triumph, and he didn’t get the girl, but he had found his true calling. Nailing It is a collection of true stories from both Hall’s professional and personal life where he really had to nail it. They’re not about glitz, or fame, or how he met his seventh wife at the rehab clinic and found spiritual direction.