ENGLISH LIT 344 / COMEDY & SATIRE

Who's Who in American Comedy

Al Franken

Franken and his writing partner Tom Davis wrote and performed at Minneapolis's Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop theater where they specialized in political satire. They moved to Los Angeles and became two of the original writers (and occasional performers) on Saturday Night Live. After leaving SNL, Franken did some radio work, wrote five best-selling non-fiction books (focusing on politics) and then became involved in politics himself. (He is currently running for the U.S. Senate in his home state of Minnesota.

Here's part one of a series of clips of his appearance on Dave Letterman's show in 2006.'

[For more details on these people, check their listing in Wikipedia, but note--this is one of the rare times I can accept the use of Wikipedia as a source. I have found that most of the information there about these people is reliable.]