Doing Time: Comedians Talk Stand-Up

by JT Habersaat

A wild and uncensored glimpse behind the curtain into the mad world of life as a touring stand-up comic.


Drawing on countless hours of in-depth interviews with some of the most influential and respected comedians to ever grab a mic, Doing Time offers a deep dive into the realm of stand-up comedy as both a career and an art form.


Composed by notoriously uncompromising cult comic favorite JT Habersaat and featuring extended conversations with comedy legends such as Patton Oswalt, Dana Gould, Jackie Kashian, Kyle Kinane, Doug Stanhope, Maria Bamford, David Gborie, Todd Glass, Chris Gethard, The Kids In The Hall, Bobcat Goldthwait, Chad Daniels, Neil Hamburger, Vanessa Gonzalez, Brian Posehn, James Adomian, Rory Scovel, Joe Derosa, Jenny Zigrino, and dozens more, Doing Time leaves no stone unturned in this often hilarious, sometimes tragic, and always compelling reveal of what it truly takes to live behind the laugh.

360 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2025

Reviews

[redd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a comedy fan most of my life with friends and family in the scene so I was eagerly anticipating reading JT's brilliant curation and retelling of stories. His book is a thoroughly entertaining behind the scenes look at some of the biggest and best in the business. Doing Time reads effortlessly and settling down to read a page or two will quickly turn into a late night. There are bite sized quotes and thoughtful in depth stories from all of your favorites about their humble beginnings, wild tales from the road, insights on life and memories of compatriots along the way. I highly recommend it to any true comedy aficionado.

[Jeff Zellner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The written equivalent of The Green Room or Tough Crowd. If you can’t get enough of stand up comics talking about comedy, then this is the book for you. Some of my favorites (Daniels, Kinnae) are included. Definitely worth seeking out if you are a fan of the art form.

[David Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Masterpiece for Stand-Up Comedy Fans

I enjoyed Sam Talent's "Running the Light" but my favorite part was Kyle Kinane's foreward. I'm paraphrasing, but it is something to the effect that you pay whatever you're going to pay to see Kyle but the fact that Sam is opening makes it a bargain. Though Doing Time has bonafide killers in it, the openers, features, and road comics steal the show.

At first I was disappointed thinking that JT's voice wasn't going to come through, and I couldn't have been more wrong. The rhythm of the sections and stories rival those of "Working".

My only warning is to make sure you have enough time set aside to look up clips on YouTube as you read this book.