Overview

This is a book about three things: 1. A room called the Comedy Cellar. 2. Who gets to speak in that room. 3. What they get to say. The Comedy Cellar is a tiny basement club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Run according to the principles of its owners, the Dworman family, it became a safe place for stand-ups to take risks and experiment. Superstar comedians such as Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, and Louis CK became regulars, celebrities started to hang out, the club hosted debates, and everyone was encouraged to argue at its back table. Then the Comedy Cellar ended up on the frontline of the global culture war. Andrew Hankinson speaks to the Cellar’s owner, comedians, and audience members, using interviews, emails, podcasts, letters, text messages, and previously private documents to create a conversation about who gets to speak and what they get to say, and why. Moving backwards in time from Louis CK’s downfall to when Manny Dworman used to host folk singers including Bob Dylan, this is about a comedy club, but it’s also about the widening cultural chasm.

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9781911617686

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Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect ... Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.' * The Saturday Paper * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood ... [Hankinson's] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society ... Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.' -- Gavin Knight * The Guardian * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'Immersing the reader in Moat's self-justifications, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is both an experiment in empathy and an exploration of the limits of empathy - holding the reader hostage in the echo chamber of an angry and confused man's head.' -- Louis Theroux

Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect ... Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.' * The Saturday Paper * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood ... [Hankinson's] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society ... Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.' -- Gavin Knight * The Guardian * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'Immersing the reader in Moat's self-justifications, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is both an experiment in empathy and an exploration of the limits of empathy - holding the reader hostage in the echo chamber of an angry and confused man's head.' -- Louis Theroux 'The smartest (and funniest) book yet on the culture/free speech wars. Andrew Hankinson does it again with another incredible work of nonfiction.' -- Will Storr, author of <i>Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed</i>

'This oral history is dominated by discussion of freedom of speech and what should be acceptable within the confines of a comedy club ... it captures the intensely combative, competitive, hierarchical and often petty atmosphere of an iconic comedy venue.' -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect ... Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.' * The Saturday Paper * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood ... [Hankinson's] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society ... Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.' -- Gavin Knight * The Guardian * Praise for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat]: 'Immersing the reader in Moat's self-justifications, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is both an experiment in empathy and an exploration of the limits of empathy - holding the reader hostage in the echo chamber of an angry and confused man's head.' -- Louis Theroux 'It is brilliant.' -- Padraig Reidy * Little Atoms * 'Deeply thoughtful and perceptive.' -- Jason Hazeley 'The smartest (and funniest) book yet on the culture/free speech wars. Andrew Hankinson does it again with another incredible work of nonfiction.' -- Will Storr, author of <i>Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed</i> 'Compelling ... the sacrifice of authorial vanity gives this book warmth, honesty, and a resistance to easy conclusions.' -- Sarah Ditum * UnHerd * 'A fascinating read.' -- Georgina Godwin * Monocle * 'Fascinating.' * The Telegraph * 'Credit to Hankinson for tackling these broad, important ideas - what speech is acceptable, what's forbidden - and trying to understand them through the prism of a specific environment.' -- NJ McGarrigle * The Irish Times * 'If you're interested in comedy or free speech or power you MUST read Andrew Hankinson's new book about the Comedy Cellar which is one of those great bits of writing that makes everyone's position feel interesting.' -- Sarah Ditum 'Fascinating.' -- Al Murray

Author Information

Andrew Hankinson is a journalist who was born, raised, and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, northern England. He started his career at Arena magazine and is now a freelance feature writer who has contributed to publications including GQ, The Observer, The Guardian, and Wired. His first book, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat], won the CWA Non-Fiction Prize in 2016.

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