Alan Zweibel is an American comic writer of the highest order. He has authored books, plays, and scripts; he was one of the original Saturday Night Live writing team and has worked on the likes of the classic Curb Your Enthusiasm (as an actor and consulting producer), Monk, and It’s Gary Shandling’s Show. He has written for several Broadway productions and published 12 books, the latest of which is 2020’s Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People be Funnier.
Zweibel was born in Brooklyn and began his comedy career in the early 1970s, writing for stand-up comedians. He kept every joke in a portfolio that he submitted to the creators of Saturday Night Live, and became one of the show’s staff writers when it launched in 1975. He formed a winning partnership with stand-up comedian Gilda Ratner, providing material for her live 1979 live Broadway show. In 1986, he co-created It’s Garry Shandling’s Show along with its star. The show ran for four years, was notable for its boundary-pushing approach (including characters breaking the fourth wall), and won numerous awards. His big-screen credits include North (1994) and The Story of Us (1999).
In the early 2000s, he collaborated with entertainer Billy Crystal on 700 Sundays, a play based on Crystal’s autobiography that has since run twice on Broadway and won a Tony Award. One of his own novels, 2006’s The Other Shulman, won that year’s Thurber Prize for American Humour. Still highly creative nearly 50 years into his career, he collaborated with Crystal on the screenplay for Here Today, a comedy film released in 2020.
