His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invents himself as a bona-fide action star. In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad-a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing-eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr.

He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at SNL. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “Odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations and including a side-trip that is baffling to all who know him, into the action-man world, it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty.īob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul opens up about the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it’s like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at fifty.īob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. But when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, Bob was more astonished than anyone to find himself on Breaking Bad.In this hilarious, heartfelt memoir, the star of Mr. Then his career met the hope-dashing machine that is Hollywood development. Show With Bob and David, which inspired an entire generation of comedy writers and stars. As he weathered the beast that is live comedy, he stashed away the secrets of sketch writing-employing them in the immortal 'Motivational Speaker' sketch for his friend Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City's legendary Del Close, which eventually led to a job as a writer at SNL. Charting a 'Homeric' decades-long 'Odyssey' from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago all the way to a dramatic career that is baffling to his friends, it's almost like there are two or three Bob Odenkirks.but there is just one and one is enough, frankly. And yet he will try like hell to explain it here, because.

Bob odenkirk biography book