Mike Sacks

Mike Sacks is an American author, humor writer, and magazine editor based in New York City. Sacks is currently an editor at Vanity Fair and formerly worked for The Washington Post.^[1][2]

Early life

Sacks was born in Virginia and raised in Maryland. He attended Winston Churchill High School before attending Tulane University in New Orleans.^[3]

Career

Sacks contributes to the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Esquire, Salon, Vanity Fair, GQ, Believer, Vice, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]} Sacks' collection of humorous photos of television shows has been featured on NPR and Gawker.^[13][14] He has also been featured in The New York Post, Vanity Fair, and LA Weekly, and has appeared on BBC, CNN and NPR's Weekend Edition.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]}

And Here's The Kicker

Sacks’ first book, And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Humor Writers About Their Craft, was released in Summer 2009. Some of those interviewed include: George Meyer, Harold Ramis, Al Jaffee, Buck Henry, Bob Odenkirk, Stephen Merchant, David Sedaris, Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, and Daniel Clowes.^[21]

Poking a Dead Frog

His fourth book, a sequel to And Here’s the Kicker, is called Poking a Dead Frog and will be published in June 2014 by Viking/Penguin. Among those featured in Poking a Dead Frog are: Jim Downey, Terry Jones, Diablo Cody, Paul F. Tompkins, Mike Schur, Henry Beard, Megan Amram, Carol Kolb, Dave Hill, James L. Brooks, Marc Maron, George Saunders, Alan Spencer, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Bill Hader, Mel Brooks, and Patton Oswalt.^[22][23]

Other Writing

Sacks co-wrote Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk, with the Pleasure Syndicate, a comedy-writing group consisting of Scott Jacobson (Daily Show, Bob’s Burgers), Todd Levin (Conan), Jason Roeder (Onion), and Ted Travelstead (Vanity Fair). The book was released August 28, 2010.^[24] In February 2011, Sacks authored a collection of humor pieces that were published by Tin House Books. The book, Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason, contains pieces from The New Yorker, Esquire, Time, Vanity Fair, McSweeney’s, and other publications.^[25] The AV Club wrote "The fun in Your Wildest Dreams is watching Sacks unpack his weirdness, and there’s plenty of weirdness to unpack."^[26]

Sacks is also the co-editor of the March 2012 advice book, Care to Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars?, featuring contributions from, among others, Louis C.K., Dave Eggers, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Hornby, Sam Lipsyte, Merrill Markoe, Laraine Newman, Simon Rich, Bob Saget, George Saunders, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman, Paul Simms, Jerry Stahl, Fred Willard, and Weird Al Yankovic.^[27] He has also contributed to the books Esquire Rules and Esquire Presents: Things A Man Shouldn’t Do After the Age of Thirty; Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists; and The McSweeney’s Book of Politics and Musicals.^[28][29]

Doin' It with Mike Sacks

Sacks's weekly podcast, started in January 2016. The show consists of interviews, comedy bits, and bootleg audio clips. Guests include, David Sedaris, Emma Allen of The New Yorker, Beth Newell of Reductress, Bill Hader, and Mike Ward.

Sedaris has said the following about the podcast:

“If you don’t know who Mike Sacks is, well, you should. His writing is funnier than just about anyone’s and now he has a podcast that is excellent. I say Hooray for Mike Sacks and everything he stands for.”^[30]

References