Striking comedy gold

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This article was published 10/01/2026 (205 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In his second book, filmmaker, comedian and self-proclaimed hoarder Judd Apatow digs through his archives to share photos, mementos and his overall love of comedy in a heavy tome covering his childhood and career.

Growing up in Long Island, N.Y. as a child of divorced parents, Apatow was obsessed with comedy and celebrity culture from an early age. In his early years, he collected actors’ and comedians’ headshots and autographs, dressed as Harpo Marx for Halloween and kept a book of joke ideas in the sixth grade.

As a teenager, he was interviewing some of the day’s biggest comedians for his high school radio station — including Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short, Howie Mandel and Jay Leno. Pictures and autographs are all included here.

He also shares extensive photos and articles from his many projects over the years.

Apatow, now 58, broke out as a comedy director in 2005 with The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which made a star out of Steve Carell, and is also known for the acclaimed Knocked Up and more personal but less acclaimed films such as Funny People and This is 40.

As a writer and producer, Apatow’s name has been attached to more comedy projects than you’d probably expect — from cult TV shows such as The Ben Stiller Show and Freaks and Geeks to some of the most successful big-screen comedies of the last 20 years including Bridesmaids, Anchorman and Pineapple Express.

While there are many photos and clippings from those projects, there are also sections on his early days of stand-up comedy, sharing an apartment with Adam Sandler and appearing on The Dating Game.

Highlights include script pages from his time as a writer on The Larry Sanders Show, on-set Polaroid photos of now-famous actors in some of his early projects and an embarrassing email war with Mark Brazill, creator of That ‘70s Show.

If you are an Apatow fan, he covers everything here, and you can tell which works he’s most proud of by the number of pages he gives to each (the 2007 John C. Reilly box office flop Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a parody of music biopics, gets some deserved love).

Surprisingly, Apatow doesn’t go into great detail on his personal life. Sure, there are many photos of his wife, Leslie Mann, and their two daughters, but he mostly keeps it to their work in his projects (both daughters appeared in a few of his biggest films when they were young).

It may be a bit exhausting for a casual fan, but there’s plenty of fun to be found for anyone who considers themselves a comedy nerd.

And Apatow pulled it all together for a good cause — proceeds of Comedy Nerd go to people affected by the 2025 fires in Los Angeles.

Alan MacKenzie is a Winnipeg-based writer and improv comic.