For laughing out loud

Laughing With Lucy: My Life with America’s
Leading Lady of Comedy
Madelyn Pugh Davis
with Bob Carroll Jr.
Emmis Books; $19.95

Madelyn Pugh Davis attended Elementary School 84 and is a graduate of Shortridge High School and IU School of Journalism. At about age 20, degree in hand, Pugh Davis did the rounds of job hunting, only to be told by Indianapolis’ dailies there were no openings in the society departments. On page 32, master writer Pugh Davis plants a zinger: “I am fascinated by the way serendipity or fate or chance or whatever you want to call it plays a part in our lives.” The rest of the paragraph foreshadows the way her life — professionally and personally — has turned out.

Yes, you have to read the book, written in the breezy, double-take style of a comedy specialist. Why did a naive Hoosier end up in Hollywood writing the I Love Lucy show and its multiple spin-offs, plus other prestigious credits? Well, why not? Her mother had been telling her, “Make something of your life.” The precedent for pursuing a writing career was strong, and Ernie Pyle was a role model who defied gender-pigeonholing. Pugh Davis embarked upon her story via WIRE, Indianapolis’ local NBC radio station. A year later, WWII raging, Pugh Davis, her mother and sister were on their way to L.A., driving a loaner car with four bare tires. Pugh Davis made every detail of the nine-day trip her own. You experienced most of it in six seasons of that laugh ’til you drop show starring the zany red-head, her band leader husband and two neighbors as familiar as, well, your own.

Short on gossip but long on the insider stuff that makes for a successful long run, Laughing With Lucy is equally a cultural history of the 1940s to the present.
Chapter 7 is one of the best overviews of women writers in film, radio and TV. Pugh Davis writes comedy so you can fall down laughing. She writes about the industry so you can stand up to the unfairness of still having a glass ceiling for “girl writers.”

Reading the book prior to viewing the PBS (WFYI 20) American Masters Lucille Ball special did lend a fuller experience to the story. See page 28 for the reason behind Ricky’s memorable open-mouth, wide-eye, “What??!!”” response to Lucy’s line:

RICKY: A tramp came up to me on the street and said he hadn’t had a bite in days.

LUCY: What did you do, bite him?

No, I’m not going to tell. The point is to get you to read the book.