WME’s Comedy Agents Get Required Reading, Starting With Lorne Michaels Book

Call it WME‘s comedy book club.

At the weekly gathering of the prominent comedy department within a major talent agency on February 26th, it was disclosed by co-chief and senior partner Mike Berkowitz that all agents would receive a new required reading task. This information has been obtained from sources by The Hollywood Reporter.

Following his comment about finishing Susan Morrison’s 656-page book titled “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live” in a single sitting, Berkowitz mentioned that WME plans to purchase copies for their entire department as a mandatory reading assignment. This is because the book delves into the history of comedy and examines how the producer discovered new creative talent within the industry.

On February 18, the highly acclaimed biography of the TV producer titled “The Random House Book” was launched. This event coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of a well-respected NBC late-night sketch show’s media festivities. The book debuted at the fourth spot on The New York Times‘s bestseller list in the nonfiction section.

As a gamer, I’m on the hunt for the Lorne biography to ignite my upcoming reading list for comedy projects at our Beverly Hills office. The team is all fired up and ready to get reading!

Notably, WME represents a significant number of prominent figures who have graced the stage of Saturday Night Live (SNL), such as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Martin, Martin Short, John Mulaney, Pete Davidson, Adam Sandler, and Eddie Murphy. Several of these stars took part in the SNL50: The Anniversary Special recording on February 16th, attracting a massive audience of 14.8 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. This viewership figure is the highest for the network’s entertainment programming since the 2020 Golden Globes.

Upon being queried for a response, David Kuhn from Aevitas Creative Management, Morrison’s representative, stated: “It’s no surprise that this book would be required reading for anyone seeking insight into how comedy creators think or understand their creative process. The mechanics of humor can be as elusive as Lorne Michaels himself, and this book serves to unveil those hidden aspects.

Read More

2025-03-01 16:54