He lives in Jersey but grew up in Wantagh, and on May 31st, he’s coming back to Long Island to read two essays at Word Up: Long Island LitFest!
Alan Zweibel has had a prolific career, which began when be became one of the original writers for “Saturday Night Live.” Alan has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” (which he co-created and produced), “Monk,” “PBS’s Great Performances,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
A frequent guest on all of the late night talk shows, Alan’s theatrical contributions include his collaboration with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award winning play (and Emmy nominated HBO special) “700 Sundays,” Martin Short’s Broadway hit “Fame Becomes Me,” and the off-Broadway plays “Happy,” “Comic Dialogue,” “Between Cars,” “Pine Cone Moment,” and “Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy,” which he adapted from his best-selling book.
Other books by Alan are the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel “The Other Shulman,” the popular children’s book “Our Tree Named Steve,” “North,” a collection of short stories and essays titled “Clothing Optional,” and the novel “Lunatics” that he co-wrote with Dave Barry.
Alan’s humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post and MAD Magazine. He has also penned two best selling e-books titled “From My Bottom Drawer: Vols. I and II.”
The co-writer of the screenplays for the films “Dragnet,” “North,” and “The Story of Us,” Alan has received an honorary PhD from the State University of New York and because of the diversity of his body or work, in 2010 the Writers Guild of America, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alan is currently an executive producer on Showtime’s documentary series “Inside Comedy” starring David Steinberg, is writing and producing a pilot for IFC, is awaiting publication of a forthcoming Young Adult novel titled “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain In My Ass” (Hyperion) that he co-wrote with Adam Mansbach, and is writing the book for a Broadway musical version of “Field of Dreams.”
And in addition to the late night talk shows, on the TV screen he’s also appeared in episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Law & Order”.
But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he’s co-produced with his wife Robin; their children Adam, Lindsay and Sari; and their grandchildren Zachary, Alexis, Jordan and Kylie.