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The Material
A single momentous day transforms the lives of students and professors at a school for stand-up comedy in a novel that explores the humor and tragedy of everyday existence, from "an invaluable new voice" (George Saunders)
Can comedy be taught? Someone, at some point, seemed to think so. The Chicago Stand-Up program has enrolled young comedians for nearly a decade.
Its teachers and students all know how bits work—in theory, at least. They know that there's a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, that the worst is the best, the truth is the worst, and any moment of your life that isn’t a punchline will either get you to a punchline or force you to be one.
They’re all afraid to be one.
Artie may be too handsome for standup, Olivia too reluctant to examine her own life, and Phil too afraid to cause harm. Kruger may be too vanilla to command his students’ respect, Ashbee too detached. And then we have Dorothy—the only woman on the program’s faculty—who though preparing to launch a comeback tour can’t tell if she’s too abiding, too ambitious, or too ambivalent.
Whether a visiting professor—the high-profile, controversy-steeped comedian, Manny Reinhardt—will do more to help or harm their cause remains to be seen. But he’s on his way. He’ll be arriving sooner than anyone thinks.
Riffing keenly across a diverse array of precision-cut perspectives, The Material examines life through the eyes of a reluctantly assembled ensemble, a band of outsiders bound together by the need to laugh, and the longing to make others laugh even harder.
Can comedy be taught? Someone, at some point, seemed to think so. The Chicago Stand-Up program has enrolled young comedians for nearly a decade.
Its teachers and students all know how bits work—in theory, at least. They know that there's a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, that the worst is the best, the truth is the worst, and any moment of your life that isn’t a punchline will either get you to a punchline or force you to be one.
They’re all afraid to be one.
Artie may be too handsome for standup, Olivia too reluctant to examine her own life, and Phil too afraid to cause harm. Kruger may be too vanilla to command his students’ respect, Ashbee too detached. And then we have Dorothy—the only woman on the program’s faculty—who though preparing to launch a comeback tour can’t tell if she’s too abiding, too ambitious, or too ambivalent.
Whether a visiting professor—the high-profile, controversy-steeped comedian, Manny Reinhardt—will do more to help or harm their cause remains to be seen. But he’s on his way. He’ll be arriving sooner than anyone thinks.
Riffing keenly across a diverse array of precision-cut perspectives, The Material examines life through the eyes of a reluctantly assembled ensemble, a band of outsiders bound together by the need to laugh, and the longing to make others laugh even harder.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2024
About the author
Camille Bordas
9 books182 followersCamille Bordas est née à Lyon, en 1987. Elle a passé son enfance au Mexique et vit maintenant à Paris. Elle est étudiante en anthropologie.
En 2009, elle a été remarquée par la critique avec la parution de son premier roman, Les treize desserts, pour lequel elle a reçu la Bourse Thyde Monnier de la SGDL et le Prix du Livre du département du Rhône.
En 2009, elle a été remarquée par la critique avec la parution de son premier roman, Les treize desserts, pour lequel elle a reçu la Bourse Thyde Monnier de la SGDL et le Prix du Livre du département du Rhône.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
July 8, 2024
Secondary meanings of the title suggest the essential substance, the whole cloth from which the final product/performance takes form, the humanity that yields the humor. Third-person POV moving through a handful of teachers and students' lives, minds, and histories, way more interior and questioning than expected, scenes opened with amusing musings, observations (eg, how watching TV in English with English subtitles on sort of feels like watching with another person), and insightful conclusions. Set in Chicago but more so seems to exist in an idealized space for lecture and discussion, the pages like classroom and stage.
Also very much recommend the author's semi-recent story in The New Yorker, Colorin Colorado, which I've never read but have listened to twice.
Also very much recommend the author's semi-recent story in The New Yorker, Colorin Colorado, which I've never read but have listened to twice.
July 10, 2024
Truly more sad than funny, which is kind of the point I guess, but also— we kind of already know that comedians and famous people are probably the most joyless people in the world. I don’t think this book really pushes that around or plays with it beyond these irritating characters’ vain musings.
February 17, 2024
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ebook. A delightful novel that takes us inside a Chicago University that offers an MFA in stand up comedy. We spend a long day with both the faculty and students as they decide if a controversial comedian should join the staff, teach classes, go through an active shooter hoax, pick up an identical twin at the airport, worry about a missing brother with a drug history and end the night in a local bar battling it out on stage versus the improv group from Second City. A very fun and thoughtful novel.
Read
July 31, 2024DNF at 20%
This couldn't hold my interest; I kept finding myself completely zoning out, out of boredom. I'm (maybe unhealthily) obsessed w the comedy scene, and I think this may just be too far before the rise of the comedians I love.
This couldn't hold my interest; I kept finding myself completely zoning out, out of boredom. I'm (maybe unhealthily) obsessed w the comedy scene, and I think this may just be too far before the rise of the comedians I love.
June 11, 2024
thank you to random house for sending me an arc, and happy pub day to the material!
this was one of those books that i simply looked forward to picking up every time i had a chance to read. i feel like this is as close to a romp as i’ll get - even though it deals with some heavy topics, it does so with the right balance of humor and levity. everyone in the cast of characters is dealing with their own personal issues - fraught family relationships, depression, loneliness - gathering anecdotes to use as material for their routines in the stand-up comedy MFA. this book asks questions about how we deal with the things that happen to us, who has the right to turn certain stories into jokes, and is such a fun yet touching look into the way we connect with others who we’re in forced proximity with. i also thought that the use of images within the book was helpful for some of the niche references that bordas makes, and is something i wish more novels did.
while i loved getting insight into the entire cast of characters, there were a few that i wish we had gotten a bit more backstory about. i also wanted a bit (see what i did there) more resolution from the ending, but since the story takes place over the course of a single day, i can see why we didn’t get neat, tied-up ends.
great writing and storytelling + dark humor = a shining example of how to add comedic elements to literary fiction!
this was one of those books that i simply looked forward to picking up every time i had a chance to read. i feel like this is as close to a romp as i’ll get - even though it deals with some heavy topics, it does so with the right balance of humor and levity. everyone in the cast of characters is dealing with their own personal issues - fraught family relationships, depression, loneliness - gathering anecdotes to use as material for their routines in the stand-up comedy MFA. this book asks questions about how we deal with the things that happen to us, who has the right to turn certain stories into jokes, and is such a fun yet touching look into the way we connect with others who we’re in forced proximity with. i also thought that the use of images within the book was helpful for some of the niche references that bordas makes, and is something i wish more novels did.
while i loved getting insight into the entire cast of characters, there were a few that i wish we had gotten a bit more backstory about. i also wanted a bit (see what i did there) more resolution from the ending, but since the story takes place over the course of a single day, i can see why we didn’t get neat, tied-up ends.
great writing and storytelling + dark humor = a shining example of how to add comedic elements to literary fiction!
June 17, 2024
A smart novel but unfortunately felt like it was explaining a punch line the entire time. Not my jam.
Read
June 27, 2024a book for traumatized freaks & self-appointed court jesters
many many thanks to penguin random house for putting this on my radar with the arc and then sending me a finished copy as well!! <3
the material hits on a lot of points that i love in lit fic. we have a large, well-rounded cast of characters. we have a campus setting. we have really good pop culture references. and to my absolute delight, we have characters working through trauma in ways that are not productive or good for them!! LOL
the material follows a group of students and teachers in a comedy mfa program in chicago over the course of one day. each character is dealing with their own insecurities and anxieties while performing the version of themselves they want everyone else to see. finding humor in often dark and unexpected places, the material asks its characters (and the reader) how much they are willing to reveal of themselves to be liked, to be respected, and, most importantly, to be funny.
despite taking place only in one day, i grew so attached to these characters. bordas really manages to flesh out their backstories and make them feel like real people, not just vehicles for various bits. that being said, there were also so many funny moments here, and just as many heart-wrenching ones. bordas really asks the reader to lean in and laugh at the uncomfortable moments, which is right up my alley.
i've already called out the traumatized freaks and self-appointed court jesters (i can say that, this is a self-report lol), but this book is also for anyone who says "commit to the bit" and means it, people who watched the movie man on the moon as a child and have been dealing with the consequences ever since, and those who own the soundtrack to bo burnham's inside on vinyl. (literally all of these apply to me because i am the target demographic for this book lmao)
many many thanks to penguin random house for putting this on my radar with the arc and then sending me a finished copy as well!! <3
the material hits on a lot of points that i love in lit fic. we have a large, well-rounded cast of characters. we have a campus setting. we have really good pop culture references. and to my absolute delight, we have characters working through trauma in ways that are not productive or good for them!! LOL
the material follows a group of students and teachers in a comedy mfa program in chicago over the course of one day. each character is dealing with their own insecurities and anxieties while performing the version of themselves they want everyone else to see. finding humor in often dark and unexpected places, the material asks its characters (and the reader) how much they are willing to reveal of themselves to be liked, to be respected, and, most importantly, to be funny.
despite taking place only in one day, i grew so attached to these characters. bordas really manages to flesh out their backstories and make them feel like real people, not just vehicles for various bits. that being said, there were also so many funny moments here, and just as many heart-wrenching ones. bordas really asks the reader to lean in and laugh at the uncomfortable moments, which is right up my alley.
i've already called out the traumatized freaks and self-appointed court jesters (i can say that, this is a self-report lol), but this book is also for anyone who says "commit to the bit" and means it, people who watched the movie man on the moon as a child and have been dealing with the consequences ever since, and those who own the soundtrack to bo burnham's inside on vinyl. (literally all of these apply to me because i am the target demographic for this book lmao)
March 4, 2024
interesting premise, great variety of characters, riveting story and incredible visuals in the writing. I only wish it were at least double in length - the ending felt abrupt and out of the blue.
July 8, 2024
I've been watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld as he drives and has coffee and talks and laughs with various standup comics (highly recommended as a way to laugh at the end of the day). And in one episode the question of whether stand-up comedy can be taught came up and the answer from these comedians is NO, you can't teach it, and one of the comics, Steve Harvey, I think, had been asked to lecture to a stand-up class, and he told those students the fact that you're here means you won't make it. It turned out to be absolutely coincidental that my nightly watching of Seinfeld and others has dovetailed with reading The Material - a campus novel of sorts set in an unnamed university in Chicago, and focused on the students and professors in the MFA program in Stand-Up Comedy. It's a revolving cast of characters, six students, four professors, a controversial and famous comedian hired as a guest lecturer, and we're in all of their heads, moving in and out of their thoughts, as they mine themselves and their lives, their every thought and interaction and everything else for anything that might provide them with material, with bits that might eventually be written and honed and be funny. It takes place over 18 hours, beginning with a department meeting and ending with the annual battle between MFA student-comedians and an improve troupe of Second City. In between, there is so much - from Holocaust holograms of survivors, to crushes, to father-son and mother-son relationships, the sibling relationship between twins, sexual abuse, loneliness, divorce, a campus shooter, and more. At the core: the costs and failures, the consolations that are so rare, in trying to make this particular kind of art, but really any art. As Seinfeld and his cohorts often say during the series I've been watching - for comedians nothing is off the table, despite the always-changing boundaries of what is acceptable and not, and while that is mirrored here, to a degree, these students are also coming up against the limits, what is now considered politically correct, etc. It's a dense book in that we're moving among so many characters, and yet comes alive and I remained consistently interested to know how they would respond to whatever they might be facing.
July 13, 2024
When done well, I love being inside the head of a neurotic, overthinking narrator, and Camille Bordas has provided me with an embarrassment of riches in The Material. The story unfolds over the course of one day as students and teachers in the Chicago Stand-Up Comedy MFA program prepare for the annual end-of-year battle against the Second City improv troupe, which is taking place that evening.
We're in the characters' heads - the stream-of-consciousness POV seamlessly rotates within chapters from one character to another - as they go about their day, navigating awkward colleague relationships, rivalries, crushes, the impending arrival of a "cancelled" guest lecturer, and, all the while, mining everything for potential comedy. For a book about stand-up comedy, it's rarely laugh-out-loud funny - and there's a lot of sadness, trauma, and regret being examined here - but there's often a low-grade current of dark humor running through our protagonists' thoughts, which are sometimes cringe-y, but - at least for me - extremely relatable. The characters are self-absorbed, but mostly trying to do their best - often while acting on incomplete information. The rotating POV allows us to be with one character who's wondering if they just offended their classmate, and then immediately inside the head of said classmate, who actually hadn't been listening.
Bordas balances compassion, dark humor, and cynicism here in a way that really works for me. I liked this one a lot!
We're in the characters' heads - the stream-of-consciousness POV seamlessly rotates within chapters from one character to another - as they go about their day, navigating awkward colleague relationships, rivalries, crushes, the impending arrival of a "cancelled" guest lecturer, and, all the while, mining everything for potential comedy. For a book about stand-up comedy, it's rarely laugh-out-loud funny - and there's a lot of sadness, trauma, and regret being examined here - but there's often a low-grade current of dark humor running through our protagonists' thoughts, which are sometimes cringe-y, but - at least for me - extremely relatable. The characters are self-absorbed, but mostly trying to do their best - often while acting on incomplete information. The rotating POV allows us to be with one character who's wondering if they just offended their classmate, and then immediately inside the head of said classmate, who actually hadn't been listening.
Bordas balances compassion, dark humor, and cynicism here in a way that really works for me. I liked this one a lot!
July 4, 2024
3.5
the tortured poets department? no. the tortured stand-up comedians department. and goddamn are these people tortured
the tortured poets department? no. the tortured stand-up comedians department. and goddamn are these people tortured
July 21, 2024
This wasn't my cup of tea. I ended up skimming through the last half because I got tired of the characters and the "bits." On the one hand, the author did a good job of capturing (I imagine) what goes into being a stand-up - constantly looking for "material." One the other hand, it makes them look like loud people to spend time with.
June 21, 2024
A novel about aspiring stand-up comedians? I’m there! I adore Camille Bordas’ short fiction - the mix of irreverence and deep feeling, the surreal connections, the way she avoids traditional escalation and opts for something that is just as engrossing while giving you all the satisfaction of the form.
Her novel has a little of all those things. We follow in close third a few students and their teachers - who have different levels of success - on a comedy MFA in Chicago, building towards a big final show where they compete with Second City, the v famous Chicago improv troupe. Stuff happens before…i felt that over the long form, the connections are a little bit more subtle than in the short fiction, inevitably, and need a bit more time to bed in (there are guns, there is shooting, a ‘cancellation’) but Bordas keeps you going with her absolute effortless moving from one character to another, the thought progressions, they all just come *alive*.
I will confess and say that even as an obsessive reader, characters very rarely occupy my mind after I finish a book. Sentences do, but not the characters as such. But I would have been very happy to spend more time with them.
Her novel has a little of all those things. We follow in close third a few students and their teachers - who have different levels of success - on a comedy MFA in Chicago, building towards a big final show where they compete with Second City, the v famous Chicago improv troupe. Stuff happens before…i felt that over the long form, the connections are a little bit more subtle than in the short fiction, inevitably, and need a bit more time to bed in (there are guns, there is shooting, a ‘cancellation’) but Bordas keeps you going with her absolute effortless moving from one character to another, the thought progressions, they all just come *alive*.
I will confess and say that even as an obsessive reader, characters very rarely occupy my mind after I finish a book. Sentences do, but not the characters as such. But I would have been very happy to spend more time with them.
July 12, 2024
A fascinating character study of comedy students and teachers at a college in Chicago along with their families. This book takes place in just a day but what an eventful day it was. This book understands how horrifying it is to be a person but how we try anyway. The way that we learn so much about these characters and their lives and families makes it feel like the story is taking place throughout years but most of the things are memories, our lives are all made up of fragments of memories and sometimes we wish we had different ones. I really enjoyed this book and that it took place in Chicago and how I knew about the different places it had mentioned. Someone even said they’d wanted to go to Switzerland or Sweden for the cold and I’ve said the same thing to everyone I’ve met. There was also a funny line about how these characters were hiding from improv and I understand how they feel
This was such a fascinating read and the characters felt so real! I wish it didn’t have to end but the point of it is that it had to
This was such a fascinating read and the characters felt so real! I wish it didn’t have to end but the point of it is that it had to
July 21, 2024
I’ve been holding off putting my thoughts on this into words because they vary from day to day.
Some days this is a 5, others a 4
The sentences are sound and clear. These characters are more alive than most in modern literature, and I think the narration is to thank for that (by far my favorite part about the book). It hovers above each character’s head without bias or judgment in a really satisfying and funny way.
It’s not that this books doesn’t reach for some deeper understanding or movement (for one, the form itself is challenged with the photos), it’s that the deeper essence of The Material is found, I think, over time.
I’d’ve re-read it immediately if I could’ve. Funny and joyous and asking the reader to do something individual to themselves (does that makes sense?). I think I’ll discover my favorite parts of this book in the years to come.
Some days this is a 5, others a 4
The sentences are sound and clear. These characters are more alive than most in modern literature, and I think the narration is to thank for that (by far my favorite part about the book). It hovers above each character’s head without bias or judgment in a really satisfying and funny way.
It’s not that this books doesn’t reach for some deeper understanding or movement (for one, the form itself is challenged with the photos), it’s that the deeper essence of The Material is found, I think, over time.
I’d’ve re-read it immediately if I could’ve. Funny and joyous and asking the reader to do something individual to themselves (does that makes sense?). I think I’ll discover my favorite parts of this book in the years to come.
July 23, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Thank you #partners @randomhouse & @prhaudio for my #gifted copies. 💙
The Material
Camille Bordas
When Percival Everett blurbs "brilliance is on display here," you know I'm gonna read it! 🙌🏼
The Material takes place over the course of a single day at The Chicago Stand-up Program, a school designed to help aspiring comedians hone their comedic material. Told from multiple perspectives — both faculty and students — The Material is a biting 272 page exploration of the lives of comedians, and the ways they turn their varied experiences into "material." It's sharp, insightful, reluctantly humorous, and definitely worth the read!
🎧 The audiobook is really well done! Narrator Megan Tusing astutely captures the tone of the story and its many characters.
📌 Available now!
Thank you #partners @randomhouse & @prhaudio for my #gifted copies. 💙
The Material
Camille Bordas
When Percival Everett blurbs "brilliance is on display here," you know I'm gonna read it! 🙌🏼
The Material takes place over the course of a single day at The Chicago Stand-up Program, a school designed to help aspiring comedians hone their comedic material. Told from multiple perspectives — both faculty and students — The Material is a biting 272 page exploration of the lives of comedians, and the ways they turn their varied experiences into "material." It's sharp, insightful, reluctantly humorous, and definitely worth the read!
🎧 The audiobook is really well done! Narrator Megan Tusing astutely captures the tone of the story and its many characters.
📌 Available now!
June 25, 2024
3.4/ This had a really nice flow -- and I like the idea of the scope focusing on one day; but I think it ended up being a disservice to a couple of the well developed characters that inhabit this story. It kind of feels like everything is just getting started only to end. The writing is good but the work wasn't always engaging or reaching its potential; that said, in its finer moments the observations of character are superb. Definitely read if you're into stand up comedy and especially how one embarks on a comedy education, because those aspects and the world of the novel is impressively realized.
Read
July 21, 2024Normally I try to decide at 10% if I am going to keep reading a book. This one I continued to 25% before I abandoned it. It's fine - just not for me. I probably not very interested in comedians writing about comedy, and/or I already hear more than I want on comedy podcasts. And then the plot was going down a different path, and I realized I didn't want to spend more time with the characters. The nyt review made the book sound really interesting to me, but what my reading the book didn't reflect what I read in that review.
July 22, 2024
a mani basse il libro più bello che ho letto quest'anno
June 16, 2024
A whirlwind 24 hours in Chicago where we get to ride along the angsty minds of budding comics who have more serious stories than comedies to tell. Amazing story craft - the sadness behind comedy, the people we are versus the people we want to be.
May 29, 2024
Imagine a MFA in stand-up comedy. Who would be studied? Lenny Bruce? Rodney Dangerfield? Dane Cook? Mark Normand?
The Material is the story of a MFA program at Chicago University. It's one single day with the members and staff of the program, as they decide if a controversial comedian should join the staff. Classes, improv exercises and personal worries all make up the day, which ends with the students battling it out with the improv troupe from Second City.
Part of this was pretty 'inside baseball', so I don't know that a casual comedy fan would really enjoy this. I am a huge comedy fan and recognized many of the tropes going on with the staff and students.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The Material is the story of a MFA program at Chicago University. It's one single day with the members and staff of the program, as they decide if a controversial comedian should join the staff. Classes, improv exercises and personal worries all make up the day, which ends with the students battling it out with the improv troupe from Second City.
Part of this was pretty 'inside baseball', so I don't know that a casual comedy fan would really enjoy this. I am a huge comedy fan and recognized many of the tropes going on with the staff and students.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
May 5, 2024
Perfect book
June 24, 2024
First appeared at https://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.c...
The Material by Camille Bordas is a novel about a fictional MFA program in stand-up comedy. It's a very funny book, and like the best stand-up comedy, it's also astute and wise.
I think the funniest part of this book is the whole-book-long running joke that there could be an MFA program for stand-up comics. Can you imagine? LOL! As if the whole School of MFA vs School of Life argument among fiction writers isn't contentious enough, just think what that debate would be like among comedians? Imagining that is almost as funny as anything here on the page.
So the story is about a group of MFA candidates and their teachers and their adventures over the course of one difficult Chicago winter day. There are crushes and rivalries and a visiting professor who has just behaved badly and may be cancelled. But the school decides, despite some protests within the English Department (where else would an MFA program in stand-up comedy be housed?), to not rescind this famous comedian's invitation to come teach in the program.
But the real meat of this story is the idea of mining real-life for material. Where is the line between one's private life (if such a thing exists) and what can be used to get a laugh? A drug-addicted family member? An unrequited crush? Holocaust survivors? Molestation? A school shooting? A childhood illness? All of these are considered throughout the novel.
Furthermore, though, when is it okay to "borrow" from someone else's idea or from someone else's experience for a bit? The age-old question: Where is the line between taking-off-from or being-inspired-by and straight-up stealing?
A huge strength of this novel is how it treats these questions -- less a question of WHAT is offensive (i.e., should some topics be avoided all together?) and more a question of how should supposedly offensive topics be treated. This novel comes up with much more nuanced answers to these questions than some of the whiny comedians (cough, Jerry Seinfeld, cough cough) who have complained recently that comedians can't be funny anymore.
Comedians can indeed still be funny. Comedians can also still bomb. A huge part of the fun of this novel is watching these comedians develop bits, riff with each other, and dissect each other's comedy. Yes, a novel about comedians better be funny, and this sure is. The last scene of the novel, during which all the characters come together for a comedy battle against improv troupe Second City at the legendary Empty Bottle is just a beautiful mess of comedy and slapstick and cringe and just about anything else that'll make you laugh heartily.
The Material by Camille Bordas is a novel about a fictional MFA program in stand-up comedy. It's a very funny book, and like the best stand-up comedy, it's also astute and wise.
I think the funniest part of this book is the whole-book-long running joke that there could be an MFA program for stand-up comics. Can you imagine? LOL! As if the whole School of MFA vs School of Life argument among fiction writers isn't contentious enough, just think what that debate would be like among comedians? Imagining that is almost as funny as anything here on the page.
So the story is about a group of MFA candidates and their teachers and their adventures over the course of one difficult Chicago winter day. There are crushes and rivalries and a visiting professor who has just behaved badly and may be cancelled. But the school decides, despite some protests within the English Department (where else would an MFA program in stand-up comedy be housed?), to not rescind this famous comedian's invitation to come teach in the program.
But the real meat of this story is the idea of mining real-life for material. Where is the line between one's private life (if such a thing exists) and what can be used to get a laugh? A drug-addicted family member? An unrequited crush? Holocaust survivors? Molestation? A school shooting? A childhood illness? All of these are considered throughout the novel.
Furthermore, though, when is it okay to "borrow" from someone else's idea or from someone else's experience for a bit? The age-old question: Where is the line between taking-off-from or being-inspired-by and straight-up stealing?
A huge strength of this novel is how it treats these questions -- less a question of WHAT is offensive (i.e., should some topics be avoided all together?) and more a question of how should supposedly offensive topics be treated. This novel comes up with much more nuanced answers to these questions than some of the whiny comedians (cough, Jerry Seinfeld, cough cough) who have complained recently that comedians can't be funny anymore.
Comedians can indeed still be funny. Comedians can also still bomb. A huge part of the fun of this novel is watching these comedians develop bits, riff with each other, and dissect each other's comedy. Yes, a novel about comedians better be funny, and this sure is. The last scene of the novel, during which all the characters come together for a comedy battle against improv troupe Second City at the legendary Empty Bottle is just a beautiful mess of comedy and slapstick and cringe and just about anything else that'll make you laugh heartily.
June 8, 2024
3 1/2
"Is a comedian born or made?" This oft-repeated question in any artistic field is only part of what is explored in the novel "The Material" by Camille Bordas. The story unfolds over the course of a single day in the lives of the students and professors of a master's degree in comedy at the University of Chicago. The richness of this novel lies in its diversity of characters and themes. However, this very breadth can be a double-edged sword, as the book, in its eagerness to cover so much, is an exposition of themes without reaching any clear conclusion.
I wouldn't define this novel as funny, and I think that doing so works against it because it raises expectations that I don't think were the author's intention.
Despite these possible limitations, I enjoyed the reading very much. The characters are well developed, and the themes discussed feel remarkably real plot threads, it offers a rich and rewarding reading experience.
"¿Un comediante nace o se hace?" Esta pregunta, tan repetida en cualquier campo artístico, es solo una parte de lo explorado en la novela "The Material" de Camille Bordas. La historia se desarrolla a lo largo de un solo día en la vida de los estudiantes y profesores de una maestría en comedia en la Universidad de Chicago. Sin embargo, esta temática es solo la punta del iceberg, ya que el libro también aborda diferentes problemáticas que afectan a los miembros de la sociedad actual.
Yo no definiría esta novela como divertida, y creo que hacerlo juega en su contra porque genera expectativas que no creo que estuvieran en la intención de la autora.
La riqueza de esta novela radica en su diversidad de personajes y temáticas No obstante, esta misma amplitud puede ser una espada de doble filo, ya que el libro, en su afán de abarcar tanto, es una exposición de temas sin llegar a ninguna conclusión clara.
A pesar de estas posibles limitaciones, disfruté mucho de la lectura. Los personajes están bien desarrollados y los temas tratados se sienten extraordinariamente reales hilos argumentales, ofrece una experiencia de lectura rica y gratificante.
"Is a comedian born or made?" This oft-repeated question in any artistic field is only part of what is explored in the novel "The Material" by Camille Bordas. The story unfolds over the course of a single day in the lives of the students and professors of a master's degree in comedy at the University of Chicago. The richness of this novel lies in its diversity of characters and themes. However, this very breadth can be a double-edged sword, as the book, in its eagerness to cover so much, is an exposition of themes without reaching any clear conclusion.
I wouldn't define this novel as funny, and I think that doing so works against it because it raises expectations that I don't think were the author's intention.
Despite these possible limitations, I enjoyed the reading very much. The characters are well developed, and the themes discussed feel remarkably real plot threads, it offers a rich and rewarding reading experience.
"¿Un comediante nace o se hace?" Esta pregunta, tan repetida en cualquier campo artístico, es solo una parte de lo explorado en la novela "The Material" de Camille Bordas. La historia se desarrolla a lo largo de un solo día en la vida de los estudiantes y profesores de una maestría en comedia en la Universidad de Chicago. Sin embargo, esta temática es solo la punta del iceberg, ya que el libro también aborda diferentes problemáticas que afectan a los miembros de la sociedad actual.
Yo no definiría esta novela como divertida, y creo que hacerlo juega en su contra porque genera expectativas que no creo que estuvieran en la intención de la autora.
La riqueza de esta novela radica en su diversidad de personajes y temáticas No obstante, esta misma amplitud puede ser una espada de doble filo, ya que el libro, en su afán de abarcar tanto, es una exposición de temas sin llegar a ninguna conclusión clara.
A pesar de estas posibles limitaciones, disfruté mucho de la lectura. Los personajes están bien desarrollados y los temas tratados se sienten extraordinariamente reales hilos argumentales, ofrece una experiencia de lectura rica y gratificante.
January 30, 2024
Looks like I’m the first person to review this one with words. Okay then…
What does every comic need for his stand-up act? The material. And yet, this novel about comics and their material manages to be both not particularly funny and not all that substantial somehow.
It takes place over the course of a single day as a bunch of young people inexplicably convinced that being funny can be taught and their teachers who don’t seem convinced much of anything except that life slaps you around more and more the older you get muddle through their interactions and seemingly endless inner monologues.
It’s a very internal sort of book (through rather readable, irrespective of the density it gives its narrative), so you get to spend a lot of time inside the characters’ minds. Which would be fine and dandy, had they been more likeable or interesting. And yet somehow despite their various crushes and conflicts and all, whether it’s a seasoned comic who got into hot waters for sleeping around with women thirty years his junior and casually proposing marriage or a comic just starting out who does everything right but doesn’t have much to say, it’s all just … tepid.
The novel is objectively well written and occasionally mildly humorous, but it’s heavier than the story merits and not as engaging or exciting as you might have hoped for. Reading it was kind of like watching a much-too-long stand-up act that fails to entertain. Didn't work for me, didn't engage me, dragged. But then again, comedy is subjective. As is reading. So I’m sure this novel will find its fans. Thanks Netgalley.
What does every comic need for his stand-up act? The material. And yet, this novel about comics and their material manages to be both not particularly funny and not all that substantial somehow.
It takes place over the course of a single day as a bunch of young people inexplicably convinced that being funny can be taught and their teachers who don’t seem convinced much of anything except that life slaps you around more and more the older you get muddle through their interactions and seemingly endless inner monologues.
It’s a very internal sort of book (through rather readable, irrespective of the density it gives its narrative), so you get to spend a lot of time inside the characters’ minds. Which would be fine and dandy, had they been more likeable or interesting. And yet somehow despite their various crushes and conflicts and all, whether it’s a seasoned comic who got into hot waters for sleeping around with women thirty years his junior and casually proposing marriage or a comic just starting out who does everything right but doesn’t have much to say, it’s all just … tepid.
The novel is objectively well written and occasionally mildly humorous, but it’s heavier than the story merits and not as engaging or exciting as you might have hoped for. Reading it was kind of like watching a much-too-long stand-up act that fails to entertain. Didn't work for me, didn't engage me, dragged. But then again, comedy is subjective. As is reading. So I’m sure this novel will find its fans. Thanks Netgalley.
July 17, 2024
DNF at 38%.
There’s a good book in here somewhere, but it’s smothered by warmed-over whining about how you “can't say anything anymore” and “everyone is offended by everything” and so on, the same tired complaints we’ve all heard a million times already. And the thing is, it is in fact true that people on social media will find a way to get mad about literally anything (see: Chili Neighbor, Coffee Wife, Lindsay Ellis, etc.). But the book doesn’t say anything new or interesting or funny about any of it. This book seems to think it has its finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist, but in fact it’s several years behind. It also has a strong air of, like, “isn't a travesty that young women are so mean and unfair to rich famous men.”
There absolutely are good jokes you can make about how literally anything can be spun as “problematic,” but this book fails at that task. I’ve heard 18-year-olds in 2012 make funnier jokes about it than this book did.
Then there’s the fact that so much page space is taken up with complaining and harping on the same topic. It’s all tepid, sneering attempts at social commentary, and hardly any plot. And I’m not even a plot-driven reader; I can put up with no plot if I find the characters interesting. But the characters are so insufferable that I didn’t enjoy spending time with them.
There’s a good book in here somewhere, but it’s smothered by warmed-over whining about how you “can't say anything anymore” and “everyone is offended by everything” and so on, the same tired complaints we’ve all heard a million times already. And the thing is, it is in fact true that people on social media will find a way to get mad about literally anything (see: Chili Neighbor, Coffee Wife, Lindsay Ellis, etc.). But the book doesn’t say anything new or interesting or funny about any of it. This book seems to think it has its finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist, but in fact it’s several years behind. It also has a strong air of, like, “isn't a travesty that young women are so mean and unfair to rich famous men.”
There absolutely are good jokes you can make about how literally anything can be spun as “problematic,” but this book fails at that task. I’ve heard 18-year-olds in 2012 make funnier jokes about it than this book did.
Then there’s the fact that so much page space is taken up with complaining and harping on the same topic. It’s all tepid, sneering attempts at social commentary, and hardly any plot. And I’m not even a plot-driven reader; I can put up with no plot if I find the characters interesting. But the characters are so insufferable that I didn’t enjoy spending time with them.
June 9, 2024
The Material is the new novel by French author Camille Bordas. It's a novel about the teachers and students a in stand-up comedy school. The students Artie, Olivia, and Phil have to deal with their professors and mentors Dorothy, Ashbee, Kruger and Manny a visiting professor who is Manny in a sex scandal. Through out the novel you get to see the insecurities that both students have about their own survival as comics. You're only as good as your last joke. There is s anew Tom Brady roast on Netflix and it's kind of like witnessing how the sausage is made. You see when the audience love the jokes and when something bombs. I have friends who are professional comics and will be telling them to read this book. It's interesting how the writer gets into the mind of these characters asing why thy want to be comics and why we as audience laugh at the jokes. Is there something behind the storytelling. I truly didn't know where the author was going to take this book at the end. I was expecting a funny punchline ending but instead got something heartfelt and honest. I won't say what it is but will say read this book if you like going to comedy shows or have ever had the desire to standup comedy. Truly a fantastic book. Thank you to Random and Netgalley for the ARC.
June 29, 2024
A look at the inner workings of the minds of several comedians at various stages in their careers, as well as their students who are pursuing MFAs in comedy. In the course of a few short hours, we get to observe preparations for class, a faculty meeting, a class cut short by an active shooter drill (because who can get away from that), an open mic contest, and a midnight diner trip, but we are also shown the rich history and the family conflicts that drive these actors to chase the limelight, or at least connection.
As points of view switch, the reader can revel in the internal monologues while also choosing whether or not to agree. Strait-laced, over-handsome, and overeager Artie muses, "Intuition was for lazy people, it was for people who didn't want to think that hard," while Dorothy, a veteran of the stand-up scene who now teacher improv, argues herself into and out of an epiphany with blinding speed.
I was reminded both of Elif Batuman's The Idiot for the bright, lost, young people, and Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy for the endearing cynicism of the comic writer.
Although, I so wanted to keep tagging along with this interesting bunch that I was surprised when the ride came to an end, I found the final scene as gracefully awkward as the rest of the book.
As points of view switch, the reader can revel in the internal monologues while also choosing whether or not to agree. Strait-laced, over-handsome, and overeager Artie muses, "Intuition was for lazy people, it was for people who didn't want to think that hard," while Dorothy, a veteran of the stand-up scene who now teacher improv, argues herself into and out of an epiphany with blinding speed.
I was reminded both of Elif Batuman's The Idiot for the bright, lost, young people, and Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy for the endearing cynicism of the comic writer.
Although, I so wanted to keep tagging along with this interesting bunch that I was surprised when the ride came to an end, I found the final scene as gracefully awkward as the rest of the book.
June 27, 2024
Three and a half stars.
This was on my to-read list for months before publication. I thought it would make a bigger splash than it seems to have done.
In the seventies, I was a stand-up comedy junkie. The idea of a novel about an MFA program in comedy seemed like solid gold.
Turned out the book was more sterling silver with gold plating, because we weren’t so much seeing the comics on stage, we were experiencing their lives, their insecurities, their tendency to do anything-- lie, cheat, steal-- for a killer joke.
Everyone here could have benefited from a good therapist. (Don’t want to single anyone out as the most in need, but I’m looking at you, Andy Kaufman conspiracy theorist.) Not group therapy, though-- they’d all be one-upping each other trying to make the therapist laugh.
The academia part of the plot is handled well, and some of the characters, at least, are allowed some personal growth. I guess it’s hard to grow significantly in the course of a single day.
No resolution at all by the ending. The book simply stops, while campus life in Chicago goes on. Still worth a read, though, especially if you’re a long-term fan of stand-up.
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