Throwback Thursday: Comedy Writer Alan Zweibel Tells a Funny Story About Simon and Garfunkel

Alan Zweibel is a funny guy. He's been writing comedy since graduating from college, when he started writing for stand-up comedians who paid him seven dollars a joke. He later compiled over 1,100 of them into a portfolio which he showed to producer Lorne Michaels who then hired Zweibel to be one of the original writers of a new show called Saturday Night Live.

During his 5 years at Saturday Night Live (1975–1980), Zweibel wrote many memorable sketches, including the Samurai for John Belushi, and helped to create the characters of Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella, both portrayed by Gilda Radner. As an in-joke, Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey, a name and hometown often associated with the Roseannadanna character, was Zweibel's real life brother-in-law and did live in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Today's post comes from a book that he wrote -- The Other Shulman – a novel that won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor. 

In an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Zweibel read a funny excerpt from the book in which the Shulman character, on the verge of failing a college poetry class,  plagiarizes the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel's mega-hit, The Boxer, and reads it as poetry in a class taught by an ancient, clueless professor. 

After watching the video, we felt an urge to watch Simon and Garfunkel singing The Boxer. You'll find it, from their 1981 concert in Central Park, just below the Zweibel video.

Enjoy! 

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