{"id":4069,"date":"2011-04-20T18:50:10","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T02:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=4069"},"modified":"2011-04-20T18:50:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T02:50:10","slug":"tina-feys-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2011\/04\/20\/tina-feys-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Tina Fey’s Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I hate about America is marketers insist on overdoing it.\u00c2\u00a0 They all believe we live where there’s no cable TV, no magazines and no Internet and therefore they must plaster their product across all media just in case we go to the metropolis to get smokes or beer and stumble upon media accidentally and god forbid what is being featured is not their product.<\/p>\n

In other words, Tina Fey is EVERYWHERE!<\/p>\n

But I can’t hate her for it.<\/p>\n

Because I love and respect her.\u00c2\u00a0 Because she’s the anti-star.\u00c2\u00a0 The girl from down the street who was one of the boys that no one would date who proved to us that not only did we misunderstand and not appreciate her, she’s now much more fabulous than we are yet we still don’t hate her for it.<\/p>\n

It all began with one joke.\u00c2\u00a0 On SNL.\u00c2\u00a0 It involves Hugh Hefner and his harem and it’s so clever that you couldn’t help but adore the person who created and delivered it.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I’m sticking by my theory that the best music is made by those who write it and if you disagree start your own newsletter, I earned my audience, have you earned yours?<\/p>\n

For those scoring at home, wondering if my taste is adequate, you can read the joke here:<\/p>\n

\n
Hugh Hefner’s Harem<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’d point you to a YouTube clip, but NBC has scrubbed the service of all its intellectual property under the theory that if you don’t get paid it’s better to hide.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe it’s on Hulu or some NBC site but who bothers to search there?<\/p>\n

Anyway, you’ve got to love a celebrity who reveals she didn’t lose her virginity until she was twenty three, after she graduated from college.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re supposed to be experienced before puberty, when your record goes to number one after you’ve starred on that Disney sitcom.\u00c2\u00a0 We teach our youngsters it doesn’t pay to wait.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re a star on Atari, capitalize on that now!\u00c2\u00a0 For Xbox is coming and you’ll be passe.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like we live in a bizarre real-life "Logan’s Run".\u00c2\u00a0 You’d better complete your life before you’re thirty or…\u00c2\u00a0 Or…\u00c2\u00a0 Or..?<\/p>\n

And what I love about Tina’s delivery is there’s no arc.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind of like the Seinfeld construct that there was no learning, no hugging, no moral.<\/p>\n

My favorite part of the book is when Tina steps over a coworker to get a job upstairs at the YMCA.\u00c2\u00a0 Donna wants it, she’s a lifer with a husband surviving on a bad heart, whereas this is just a way station for Tina.\u00c2\u00a0 But Tina does not let the more deserving Donna get her due, she steals the job.\u00c2\u00a0 And says:<\/p>\n

\n
"That makes me sound like a jerk, I know.\u00c2\u00a0 But remember the beginning of the story where I was the underdog?\u00c2\u00a0 No?\u00c2\u00a0 Me neither."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whew!\u00c2\u00a0 That’s not the way these celeb tell-alls are supposed to go.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re supposed to be underprivileged, you’re supposed to battle the odds.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re supposed to become famous by accident, not because you wanted it, not because you would lie, cheat and steal and do anything to make it.<\/p>\n

Tina pockets guest fees at the YMCA so she can eat pizza.<\/p>\n

She goes out on the road with Second City and refuses to do the assigned sketches, she and her cohorts improvise and create their own, breaking the rules.<\/p>\n

That’s the key to all success.\u00c2\u00a0 Breaking the rules.<\/p>\n

After, of course, you know what the rules are.<\/p>\n

That’s what makes Tina Fey so appealing.\u00c2\u00a0 She comes from the same tribe.\u00c2\u00a0 She didn’t have parents who indentured her into showbiz slavery.\u00c2\u00a0 She went to college and dealt with rejection.\u00c2\u00a0 She graduated and couldn’t even get a job as a waitress.\u00c2\u00a0 This is so different from the star stories where everything seems to just fall into place, where the star gets lucky.<\/p>\n

And the real story is no one gets that lucky.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s almost impossible to make it.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to have an amalgam of ability and desire.<\/p>\n

Tina certainly had the desire.\u00c2\u00a0 And she was a drama geek in college and paid for improv classes thereafter.\u00c2\u00a0 Such a change from the kids who buy MacBooks, create a song in GarageBand and wonder why they’re not instantly famous.<\/p>\n

And yes, this is a star book, so there have to be some lessons.<\/p>\n

In this case, the best ones come from Tina’s mentor, Lorne Michaels.<\/p>\n

Always listen to those with experience.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got wisdom you don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 You can learn.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember asking Irving Azoff why the manager of that eighties band kept his act on the road every summer.\u00c2\u00a0 BECAUSE THE MANAGER NEEDS THE MONEY!\u00c2\u00a0 I never thought of that.\u00c2\u00a0 So, instead of thinking you know everything, open your ears to those who’ve been there and done that.\u00c2\u00a0 They may be pricks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know which way the wind blows.<\/p>\n

Lorne says <\/p>\n

\n
\n"The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, it goes on because its 11:30".<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whew!\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t that what’s wrong with today’s major label projects? They’re so busy being perfected that all the life is sapped out of them.\u00c2\u00a0 As Tina says "…perfect is overrated.\u00c2\u00a0 Perfect is boring on live TV."\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s boring on stage and on record and…<\/p>\n

And you can’t be afraid to fail…<\/p>\n

\n
\n"you can’t be too worried about your ‘permanent record.’\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, you’re going to write some sketches that you love and are proud of forever – your golden nuggets.\u00c2\u00a0 But you’re also going to write some shit nuggets.\u00c2\u00a0 And unfortunately, sometimes the shit nuggets make it onto the air.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t worry about it.\u00c2\u00a0 As long as you know the difference, you can go back to panning for gold on Monday."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And:<\/p>\n

\n
"Don’t hire anyone you wouldn’t want to run into in the hallway at three in the morning."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This Lorne Michaels lesson is a doozy.<\/p>\n

I’ll make this simple.\u00c2\u00a0 If you send me an e-mail that I’m an asshole what are the odds that I’m gonna want to be your friend? In other words, it’s not what you know so much as how you get along with people.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t care if you know every "Billboard" hit ever, if you’re a shithead, no label is going to hire you.<\/p>\n

And one more Lorneism:<\/p>\n

\n
"Lorne knows that the most exhausting people occasionally turn out the best stuff."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, record labels hate artists.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t want to spend way too much time listening to the insecurities and ideas of creators, become a banker.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s another thing wrong with today’s labels…they want the artists to be moldable employees.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s an oxymoron, those aren’t artists.<\/p>\n

And there’s a steady stream of sisterhood throughout the book.\u00c2\u00a0 No, it’s less about sticking together than fighting for the rights of women.\u00c2\u00a0 Men didn’t want a Kotex sketch because they didn’t know how Kotex worked.\u00c2\u00a0 As for women not being funny, doesn’t Tina Fey disprove the theory?<\/p>\n

And there’s a fascinating delineation of the improvisational process.\u00c2\u00a0 These lessons work in real life too.<\/p>\n

\n
"it’s your responsibility to contribute.\u00c2\u00a0 Always make sure you’re adding something to the discussion.\u00c2\u00a0 Your initiations are worthwhile."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Don’t be a fly on the wall.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t be afraid of being shot down.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t be intimidated.\u00c2\u00a0 Put yourself out there, a constant exchange of ideas clarifies the path, paves a road to the destination.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, if your company doesn’t listen to the peons, it’s on the road to extinction.\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, if you aren’t speaking up, you’re the problem.\u00c2\u00a0 If no one is listening, don’t complain, switch jobs.<\/p>\n

I won’t say "Bossypants<\/a>" is the best book ever written.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s haphazard and covers so many bases that it loses its focus.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s written by a real person who’s not afraid to show her rough edges.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s a chronicle of what it takes to make it.<\/p>\n

How do you make it?<\/p>\n

1. Realize you’re different.<\/p>\n

2. Embrace this difference.\u00c2\u00a0 A square peg does not fit in a round hole but is very attractive to those seeking entertainment.<\/p>\n

3. Go where the action is.\u00c2\u00a0 Improv is in Chicago, Tina Fey moved there.\u00c2\u00a0 You can make it in music if you’re from South Dakota or Alabama, but it’s gonna be a hell of a lot easier if you go to L.A. or New York because they’re magnets for all the wannabes, you’ll find a higher level of creator and you’ll learn from their experiences.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, greatness rarely emanates from a vacuum.<\/p>\n

4. And speaking of greatness…\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to pay your dues.\u00c2\u00a0 Not because the man wants to keep you down, but because it takes that long to get good.<\/p>\n

5. The more time you put into honing your skills, the longer your career will be.
To sum up, you must be different, but not unlikable.\u00c2\u00a0 You must be willing to work your way up the ladder while playing nice with others.<\/p>\n

And we are all drawn to honesty.<\/p>\n

That’s one of the reasons music has faltered.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s dishonest.\u00c2\u00a0 From the artists right down to the Ticketmaster fees.\u00c2\u00a0 The public knows it’s all smoke and mirrors and would rather play on Facebook.<\/p>\n

I recommend this book.<\/p>\n

\n
Bossypants<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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What I hate about America is marketers insist on overdoing it.\u00c2\u00a0 They all believe we live where there’s no cable TV, no magazines and no Internet and therefore they must plaster their product across all media just in case we go to the metropolis to get smokes or beer and stumble upon media accidentally and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-13D","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4070,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4069\/revisions\/4070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}