Well, I'll Be a Dirty Bird

Karl Tiedemann, a New York City native, studied film production at NYU. One of his short films, King of the Z's, a parody documentary about a low-budget movie studio, co-created with Stephen Winer, led to a stint on the writing staff of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman and an Emmy nomination. He later worked on series for NBC, the Disney Channel, and others. He performed extensively in local comedy clubs as half of a team and was often in "Sunday Night Improv," an ongoing NYC comedy show. Television appearances include the Letterman show, Robert Klein Time America's Funniest People, Kwik-Witz, Cosby, and TV Land's Sixty Second Sitcoms. Tiedemann spent a year at Jacques Lecoq's theatrical school in Paris and participated in clown workshops with Dominic Jando of the Big Apple Circus. He is the author, or co-author, of several comedy plays (one an award-winner) which have been produced both in Europe and in many of these United States. In 2019, he co-produced the feature-length documentary Funny You Never Knew about three neglected comedians from the first decade of television. The film has won awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival (CA), the Garden State Film Festival (NJ), the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FL), DocUtah, and elsewhere.

“I'm delighted by this wonderful book about George Gobel. What a greatly funny man Gobel was. Treat yourself to this reminder of that—and to the hearty laughter you'll enjoy.” —Dick Cavett“Mr. Tiedemann provides a public service rescuing George Gobel from ‘forgotten man’ status in the annals of TV comedy. A must-read for television fans who’ve never heard of Gobel, as well as younger TikTok fans who’ve never heard of television!” —Max Pross, writer (Late Night with David Letterman, Seinfeld, The Simpsons)“Karl Tiedemann made me laugh when we wrote for Letterman, now he's making me laugh reading about Gobel. Thanks, Karl! Also thank you to Pet Milk and Dial Soap for sponsoring The George Gobel Show. Stock your pantry with those fine products today (after you read this book).” —Tom Gammill, voice actor and writer (Seinfeld, The Simpsons, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show)“Most of us primarily remember George Gobel fondly but only for his guest appearances on 1960s variety shows like Dean Martin and the Smothers Brothers—and for his legendary ad-lib on the Tonight Show about life being a tuxedo. The first of many surprises of this remarkable book on Gobel's life and work is to learn that he was the star of one of the most radical and innovative programs in the history of television, a program that was equal parts sit-com and variety show but ultimately was not like any show that came before or since. . . . This deeply researched, very well-written account gives us a remarkable perspective on Gobel's story, from his early days in Chicago, his roots in country music, his rise in the nightclubs, and his brief but meaningful breakthrough on TV, challenging the norms of the big time larger-than-life comedy superstars of the day with a style that was intimate and understated. Mr. T makes the case that Gobel, no less than such contemporaries as Ernie Kovacs, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, was a major figure in the development of TV comedic style.” —Will Friedwald, music critic for The Wall Street Journal and author of A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers“A long overdue account and appraisal of a lovable little comedian, once wildly popular and now virtually forgotten. A whimsical Everyman whose ‘quiet knack for understatement’ deserves to be remembered, George Gobel has found a worthy biographer and perceptive critic in Karl Tiedemann. Well, I'll Be a Dirty Bird is a rollicking show business saga with more delightful pop cultural walk-ons than any comedy aficionado could ask for—from Jerry Lewis to Joe Flynn, Phyllis Diller to Barbara Eden, Lucy to Groucho, and Rowan to Martin. A very entertaining and often touching read.” —Steve O'Donnell, Emmy Award–winning television writer and producer