Saturday, February 20, 2010

Jeff Garlin

Taking a break from packing for my Vegas trip ... I am reading Jeff Garlin's book "My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World," and I haven't yet made it through the whole thing to give it a full review, but I can say this: It does what any good comedy book should, and that's giving the reader the feel of the performer's voice -- meaning one can imagine while reading it that the prose was being spoken by the author.

So far, up to page 88, there have been a lot of laughs as Garlin carries out his premise -- that he will take on both dieting and being green at the same time to reduce his carbon footprint. He alights upon the kinds of things that could easily come out of his character's mouth on Curb Your Enthusiasm -- like Ed Begley Jr.'s saintliness for making driving a Prius hybrid car his fifth transportation choice, after walking, biking, public transit and a fully electric car. Or having to hire a coach to play sports with his son because he's too out of shape to do it himself.

If those two examples make you laugh, getting the whole book is a good bet. And its author is all over New York this coming week, with appearances at Barnes & Noble, 97 Warren St., on Feb. 23; Brooklyn's Bookcourt on Feb. 24; Caroline's comedy club Feb. 25-27; and the 92nd St. Y on Feb. 28.