Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever

A well written (although it leans into sensationalism) account of the careers of Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Eddie Murphy. Not at all sure that all of their glory days are entirely behind them. And I wonder whyRobin Williams and Billy Crystal were only mentioned a couple of times. But all in all, an entertaining and fun read.

If you saw ANY of the films of John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Dan Ayckroyd, Eddie or Steve Martin in the 80's, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Fascinating from page one to the end, it tells you what happened behind the scenes on these classic comedies with ego, drugs, sex and parties, not to mention the tugging back and forth with execs to get these films made. My reading habits are terrible and for me to plow though a book in just a few days after I received it is a miracle. This book is such a book. I found myself picking it up at every chance to read a chapter or a few pages only to find myself digging back into it. You will love this book!!!

4.5 starsI can't remember the last time I read a nonfiction book all in one day. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised I practically devoured this one as I love behind the scenes pop culture stuff like this and anything 1980s related automatically peaks my interest. I couldn't believe how many things I learned from the book considering how much of my head is already full with random celebrity/tv-film industry tidbits. (I'm the person you want on your trivia team because I always bring my A game for the entertainment portions.) So basically this is a good read for those who have a casual interest in the topic and also the die-hard pop culture fans.The book follows the careers of Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Steve Martin with much of the focus taking place during the 1980s which was when most of the careers were at their highest point. There's a ton of good behind the scenes info of the movies and tv shows they were a part of as well as projects that each person was close to working on but in the end a deal wasn't made. It was particularly interesting to see just how many films originally had John Belushi as the first choice but because of his death ended up going to another actor. And while much has been written about classic films such as Animal House and Caddyshack, this book manages to provide details not just about hits but also the pretty crappy ones most of us haven't thought about in ages like Neighbors and Nothing but Trouble. The author also manages to provide a good look into the personalities of each person featured as well as what others have to say about what it was like working with them.I really can't say enough good things about this book as it was a terrific read. If the subject matter interests you, for sure pick this one up!Thank you to First to Read for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy! I was under no obligation to post a review and all views expressed are my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even for the die-hard fans of SNL and SCTV there are plenty of tidbits about the lives of these famous comedians that you probably didn't already know. It was a bit disconcerting to have it spelled out just how hooked on drugs most (but not all) of these guys were. I guess that goes with the territory. I understand that the book was strictly about the guys but I wish there could have been some stories about their interactions with Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin. Overall a very enjoyable read that was hard to put down.

When Saturday Night LIve became must-see TV in the 70s, I was a faithful viewer. The behind the scenes drama that the author describes didn't translate into their performances. As I told a friend, the book starts out with a fistfight between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray adn it just keeps going.Bill Murray, in particular, has always been a favorite of mine. On pages 31-32 of the hardbound copy that I read, Bill describes the effect of fame. "When you get famous, something weird happens to you. It' just a mechanical thing. When everyone starts kissing your butt, you just walk bent over." This observation may have wider application than just the entertainment business.The author examines the movie careers of Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy and Rick Moranis. Rick Moranis didn't get his picture on the cover of the book, but he did some very funny work and he's described as a very decent human being (I can't remember anyone else in the book being so described).Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Blues Brothers, and the various Vacation movies starring Chevy Chase all get fair treatment. The one that surprised me the most was Groundhog Day, which apparently had a lot of behind the scenes drama that, to my mind, didn't affect what to me was a great movie.There's plenty of background on Hollywood movie making with budgets, "suits", writers and sometimes the lack of writers, and the vision of movies. If these topics interest you, I think you'll find the book rewarding.If I have a criticism and I didn't deduct for this, it's that the book doesn't say much about Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman. Gilda unfortunately passed too soon and I'm not sure that the others had significant movie careers. I still think of Gilda and her tag line "--never mind."I thoroughly enjoyed the book. If you're a fan of the early days of SNL or Hollywood movie making in general, I highly recommend the book.

I wanted to love this book, but it was frustrating to read. There was a fair amount of skipping around and some repetitive narrative that got in the way. If you didn't know these stars already, you might have assumed they were all drug-addled losers who were impossible to work with (with few exceptions). In addition, the writing was sometimes spotty and hard to follow. That said, the subject matter is fascinating. This is a good, if not great, read and would make a fine poolside read. It's just far from "one of the best books of the year."

A well written and composed collection of anecdotes. This is not a collective bio story of some of the 80’s most enduring comic, screen legends, it is a love letter to our favourite films and characters of the 80’s and how they came into being. I went through it in a matter of evenings, lapping up every page but I couldn’t help feel it wouldn’t have been out of place as a serialised special in Nicks’ day job as film journo extraordinaire in the worlds best movie mag, Empire. Clearly Nick is adept at research and film journalism and this isn’t the problem with the book. It’s a book that literally is outta time and relevant really to a subset of us that grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. Perhaps I’m wrong. I found the various stories of Chevy, Dan, Bill, Eddie etc riveting but nothing a good old google night probably wouldn’t have unearthed. As they would say on the fantastic empire podcast. 3 stars. Which is a recommendation.I hope Nicks’ next book is one of fiction because he has a talent for crafting detail into the shortest of sentences that richly dress the set he frames in your mind.

Running from the 70s through to the early 90s, this follows the “larger than life story” of a group of comedians (all men) who came out of the TV comedy shows and ruled Hollywood through the 80s. Taking in the likes of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and John Candy, among many others, it chronicles the events off-screen that led to the often genius work on screen.As a huge fan of this cinema period (I grew up on most of these comedies and they became my touchstones), I found this to be a great read. Taking a warts and all approach (though most still come across as likeable people), this explores the friendships and fueds, the arrogance and the drug taking and the incredible self belief that kept them going. My one gripe is how much ground is covered - de Semlyen deals with the behind the scenes of most films in the question but doesn’t go into enough depth for me, though if he’d tried the “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” approach (the book is compared to it in the blurb), it would have meant a volume two or three times thicker. That issue aside, if you loved the time period, the films or the comedians in question, I’d say this was an essential read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Just finished Nick De Semlyen’s superb book Wild And Crazy Guys which is an incredibly well written & fascinating peek behind the curtain of incredible highs and crushing lows in the filmographies of the 80s comedy geniuses. He weaves a terrific narrative through the years introducing actors and movies that interconnect the talent including Ghostbusters and Caddyshack. Can’t wait to see what period of film history he covers next because Nick is a talented writer who knows how to tell a story. So he’s got that going for him... which is nice!

If you grew up in the 80s then you could escape the actors that are discussed in this book. They were game changers and this book insightfully shows how they each went about it in very different ways. There are anecdotes aplenty and seriously in-depth stories about the making of some of the films discussed. A breezy piece of work that will have you wanting to re-watch most of the films discussed.

This should be on the shelf next door to Easy Riders, Raging Bulls for quality of research. Its authentic look at small period of time in Hollywood, when 80’s comedians, and their antics, played large on the big screen, is incredibly entertaining and informative.