Jim Carrey: The Joker is Wild

by Martin Knelman

This is the absorbing, touching story of a lonely boy from a troubled family who found the secret of making people laugh - and dreamed of becoming a comedy star. When Jim Carrey's father (himself a frustrated performer) lost his job, the whole homeless family was enlisted to work as night cleaners at a factory in exchange for lodging in a strange suburb. Scrubbing washrooms by night turned Jim Carrey into a desperate and angry school dropout, and made Jim determined to succeed in a new life. Jim developed a series of celebrity impressions that led to his comedy club breakthrough when he was 19. But his drive for the big time took him to Los Angeles, where he scuffled in comedy clubs and then landed a role in the hip TV series "In Living Color." That paved the way for a phenomenal movie breakthrough with the surprise hit "Ace Ventura", "Pet Detective." More hits "Mask," "Dumb and Dumber" and "Liar, Liar." Now, after his dramatic performance in "The Truman Show," Jim Carrey's career is taking an intriguing new direction. His role as the late comedian Andy Kaufman in the forthcoming "Man In The Moon" is already being described as Oscar material this March. Hilarious and poignant, Jim The Joker Is Wild tells for the first time the full, astounding inside story of Jim Carrey's bumpy rise to stardom.

Genres: Biography

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Anne Patkau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fansite http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/
Jim Carrey overcame great hardship and poverty to transform his humor into millions, and an inspiration. In Canada, where our government is famous for soft-hearted protection of weak, he slipped through the cracks, in my nearby neighborhood. I loved his movies, and read a better big color bio that I cannot find, so substituted this kiddie edition available in my local library for now.

The worst of reviewing books like this is this. (arg) Same as I easily assimilate funny expressions, foreign accents and new languages, I absorb unwanted yuck. Moral? Don't let people (books, TV, films) into your brain if you don't want them to stay.

Pros? Essentials. Simple, short, straight-forward, fast read, mostly praises. By junior high school teacher from third-hand books or accounts, biographies mainly, inset shaded text around bw (black and white) photos 1/3 - full page size, mostly Archive, Corbis, Photofest.

Cons? No direct quotes or interviews. Reminds me of those birds who predigest nestling pap. Relegated to J (juvenile) section, despite vocabulary "assailed .. surreptitiously .. anarchic .. fusion .. substantial .. analyzing .. ante" p60. Like school history classes that bored me, a list of names and dates, padded but not invigorated.

Using long convoluted sentences, passive conditional verb tenses, substituting multi-syllable words for simple one-syllable versions, does not enhance or upgrade the result to quality literature. A thesaurus is invaluable. An automated spell-checker is fallible.

Like most Carrey bios, this dates from the peak of Carrey's fame. This is not the tear-jerker I previously read, that emphasized his dropout impoverished youth, hungry jobless family crammed into a small trailer, his depression, double divorce, and had many color movie frames. Incomplete. Little on my favorite The Mask, fellow actors. Preview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l37DBE... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGxB... Omits my other favorite Grinch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQV5P... Preview.

Little revelation of secrets. His mom constantly complained of illness until her family ignored her, yet died of double kidney failure (lupus?). For "Dumb and Dumber" film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRE7gI..., he removed cap from really chipped front tooth, combined "Spock from Star Trek with Jerry Lewis from The Nutty Professor p66. The Cable Guy might be good, but advertised as a comedy, guaranteed disappointment, to me for sure.

Liar, Liar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGpS0... is fall-off-the-couch funny. Max 5, constantly let down by his lawyer dad, makes a birthday wish that he be unable to lie for just one day. Now listen to how boring wordiness dries out the excitement.

"Carrey strings together a series of hilarious encounters in which he disturbs coworkers and passersby with his honest responses. Gradually Reede realizes how frequently he lies and how much of a disappointment he has been to his son .. He delivered a complex individual who laughs on the outside to cover the pain hidden inside." p80. Yawn. Snore.

"Recent Projects" chapter inaccurately lists Fool on the Hill "a disc jockey who operates a radio station at a mental institution" and The Incredible Mr Limpet "will rely heavily on animation" p88, neither Carrey's. "Plans for the Future" being "onstage" p91 is an obvious guess. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty may still come out (2013 imdb), but not with Carrey http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/movies.... The Incredible Burt Wonderstone does not seem to stretch his abilities, comic or dramatic, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwOf29... but what are those current abilities? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24tE-V... interview with big feet and little wings

[Mike Kowis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was excited to read this biography of funnyman Jim Carrey b/c I was a huge fan of his hollywood hit movies during the 1990s. This book does a good job of describing the hard times of Jim's childhood, including living in poverty conditions and a disfunctional family life. It also explains how those experiences shaped him into the talented comedian that he later became. It also covers one of the more inspirational stories about Mr. Carrey's life, that being how he wrote a $10M personal check to himself and carried it around in his wallet as motivation to someday make it big... and it worked! I had already heard this story before I read this book, but I was unaware of what he later did with the check (I won't spoil it for you). The book also covers his failed marriages and other personal issues he had with his parents. The book doesn't seem to get into his most popular works (Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, Liar Liar, etc.) until late in this book. The only negative I can think of is that I wish this book offered a little more details about the making of those movies and the behind the scenes stuff and more funny stories too. Overall, it was a good review of his life and I'm glad I read it.

[Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biographies aren't generally what I enjoy reading. I found this one about Jim Carrey interesting because it goes into detail about how he got started and used comedy as a way to get by--especially in a not so glamorous childhood. It was well written about his trials in comedy as well as with his family.

[Jagbir Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I think the book offers a good biography of Jim Carrey. However, there are parts of the book that become boring because of all the names being mentioned without too much context; I felt that those are simply used as fillers.

[Ryan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

great easy read.

[Robert Sadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Interesting life. One of my favourite comedians turned actor.

[Cory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent bio of a great actor. Touches on several movies but only offers in-depth details on a couple of them. Easy read.

[Grant Trevarthen · Rating 4 out of 5]

On January 17th 1962 a baby boy, was born to Percy & Kathleen Carrey in Burlington, a suburb in Ontario Canada. The youngest of 4,he was a bright who showed skill at comedic skits and he became the class buffoon. As with a lot of comedians, his humor masked a difficult childhood, where poverty was the norm, and thus the neighborhoods they lived in were rough and crime ridden.
Through his early adult years he endured failure as a stand-up comedian and he worked in Comedy clubs gradually gaining recognition.
In 1986 after a few cameo roles in forgettable movies he was noticed by Francis Ford Coppola (Godfather trilogy) for a supporting role in 'Peggy Sue Got Married'. This was followed quickly by The Dead Pool, the last of the Dirty Harry movies he played along side Clint Eastwood, with would have a lasting friendship. I was addicted to his films from 1994 when he did the first of the 2 Ace Venture Pet Detective movies, where we were treated to his facial calisthenic, and his ability to talk with his Rectum.
I have to say my 2 favorites of his movies is and always has been 'Dumb & Dumber', where as Lloyd Christmas a Limo driver he teams up with Jeff Daniels for a laugh a minute road-trip, this movie I've seen numerous times and it has never waned. Also 'The Mask',with Camryn Diaz he is Stanley Ipkiss a mild-mannered who discovers a Viking mask and upon wearing said mask, he becomes as Carrey himself describes as "Astaire on acid".
In recent times, Carrey has widened his acting range with such films as 'The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind', with Kate Winslet. My he continue to make us laugh for years to come.

[David Belisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I'm writing screenplays, Carrey is always in mind for a character. I hear his laugh and see his actions. This book is the amplification of that. Warts and all ... the trials and tribulations. A must for the Carrey fan.

[Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! It told a lot about Jim Carrey's past before becoming the celebrity he is today. I highly recommend this to any Jim Carrey fan!