The Comic Art of Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is a mystery. On the one hand, he is notorious for his wacky public behaviour and for his zany films. On the other, some of his public pronouncements show him to be a very serious fellow. While his audiences clutch their sides in helpless laughter, Madman Mel warns us that serious things are going on amid those wild goings-on.

This book is a new, updated edition of Maurice Yacowar's classic book on Brooks, first published in 1981.

There is a section on Mel Brooks' background and origins, including his work on television, his early works, audio recordings, and how Brooks uses comedy. Each film directed by Brooks is analysed, with a brief plot summary to refresh the memory, a close reading of the films' major themes and strategies, and a scattering of background information about the movies.

For Mel Brooks, comedy can serve a serious purpose. 'I maintain there is nothing you cannot deal with in comic terms and make a point. I proved that by spoofing Hitler in The Producers.' Brooks adds: 'I'll never do a serious picture just to make a profound statement. I can make those statements comically. You don't have to stop laughing.' With his art of energy, openness and exuberance, Brooks values freedom more than discipline, outburst more than restraint, and emotion more than abstemious craft. Energy and present outweigh control and the future. Wild, even vulgar, valour is the better part of discretion.

Mel Brooks's art is a varied body of comedy with distinctive emotional power, formal energy, and moral purpose. Whether the result of extended calculation (his films), or the flash of his improvisational genius (his quips and interviews), his comedy draws deeper than laughter. It invites us to face and to warm our essential nature. It challenges the myths and restrictions with which we have been afflicted and subdued. Most importantly, it bares a lively heart and soul - that of the wacko but wise Melvin Kaminsky. Ages have fed into his formation. Ages more may well be moved and nourished by his wild, warm wit.

Includes a detailed filmography and a bibliography.

Fully illustrated, with stills from all of Mel Brooks' movies.

ISBN 9781861715210. 320 pages. www.crmoon.com