NICE TRY

A genial memoir by an Emmy- and Peabody-winning comedian and writer.

Working against the adage that “nice guys finish last,” Gondelman has done well for himself. Happily married, he has sustained a career onstage, on TV, and in print after spending his earliest days following college teaching preschool. Though comedy is often considered a cutthroat arena, a survival-of-the-fittest challenge where the comedian must either kill or die, the author seems to suggest that there are other paths to perseverance. Early on, he confesses, “for a comedian, ‘nice’ can be shorthand for someone’s work being bland. And on a personal level, ‘nice’ is about as meaningful as saying someone ‘has decent breath’ or ‘is usually punctual.’ ” Throughout the book, the writing risks blandness, as Gondelman rarely aims for comedic punch, settling for gentle taps. In many ways, he brings to mind Bob Newhart of Tom Papa, a gentle man with a wry sense of humor who makes himself the butt of most of his jokes. Gondelman remembers that well into his 20s, he was considered not merely nice but “ ‘too nice,’ which is a very sweet euphemism meaning ‘simply not a person I am interested in having sex with in the foreseeable future.’ ” When he did meet a woman who was interested in him, it was through exchanges on Twitter, where he also received a career boost by collaborating on an account titled Modern Seinfeld, offering pitches for the series that had ceased to exist, and somehow attracted 800,000 followers. He also gained some traction on social media with his “Twitter Pep Talks,” offering personalized encouragement to strangers in need. Somewhere between grade school and marriage, an expanse that he covers in detail, he began performing stand-up and eventually found great success writing for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Desus & Mero, and other programs.

Gondelman describes performing as an opening act for more famous comedians, and this book could easily be read as a warm-up for a much funnier one to come.