The Immortal Mel Brooks Highlight

Well, when I was just a kid writer—I’ll never forget—Mel Tolkin, the head writer of the Show of Shows, when I worked with him, he said, “Even though you’re an animal from Brooklyn, I think you have the beginnings of a mind.” So he said, “I’m gonna help you; you know, you’re a natural comedy writer, but you should read what comedy is and maybe you’ll get an idea of what path to take.” And he gave me Dead Souls to read. Nikolai Gogol. It’s a brilliant idea and great writing. And then later I read Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, who wrote The Twelve Chairs. I love The Twelve Chairs. I made it into a movie.