The youngest of five children with a father who was jokester and a mother who did impressions, Sidney Karger learned early that being funny garnered attention from his parents.
It also instilled in him a sense of comedic timing coupled with an obsession with both “Comedy Central” and “Saturday Night Live” as well as director John Hughes who directed several movies in Karger’s hometown of Highland Park, Illinois including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Risky Business” and “Sixteen Candles.”
“He was my god,” says Karger, who knowing that Hughes had been a copywriter for an advertising firm studied advertising at Michigan State University. He was successful as a copywriter but didn’t find the work fulfilling.
“It didn’t fill my comedy writing needs,” says Karger, who around that time was offered a job writing for “Comedy Central ” and was unsure of what to do. “I remember standing on a street corner, talking to family, asking do I want to go with an advertising job or “Comedy Central.” It’s pretty amazing when you think of it.”
Karger chose “Comedy Central” and also was a contributing writer to “Saturday Night Live.”
Working for “Comedy Central” was amazing, says Karger, describing the job as “great fun and like working with family.”
With his success,Karger, an award-winning screenwriter for film and television, has now branched out with a romantic comedy (or rom-com as they’re known) titled “Best Men” (Penguin-Random House). The story is about Max, a gay guy struggling with his failing romance, and Paige, his best friend since childhood. Now engaged, Paige is having her usual second and third thoughts and Max, who is Paige’s man of honor and her soon-to-be husband’s younger brother and best man work together to keep the marriage on track. And, of course, fall in love.
The novel, a New York-centric look at love, friendships, finding yourself and realizing your potential, is full of witty conversations and observations. It’s warm, inviting and laugh-out loud funny at times as well. It’s received lot of glowing reviews and was featured as “most anticipated” and made suggested reading lists from Goodreads, BuzzFeed, BookRiot, and LGBTQ Reads.
“Max and Paige’s friendship is ultimately the star of the show, and readers will find their banter reminiscent of fan favorites like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey or Dan Levy and Annie Murphy. A charming debut filled with cocktails, chocolate and comedy,” wrote Kirkus Review, while Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author and journalist, describes the book as “Bursting with laughs and so much love, Sidney Karger’s debut novel delivers a truly refreshing spin on the romantic comedy. It’s full of funny, flawed and poignant characters, set in the dreamy, sharply-observed New York City that we love. ‘Best Men’ is a big-hearted, feel-good summer escape.”
And though Karger recenlty released his second novel, “The Bump, ” he still is writing screenplays as well as doing rewrites of scripts. It’s a good balance.
“I always wanted to be a screenwriter and comedian when I was in college,” says Karger about his career path. “So I decided to write smaller like about Highland Park.”
His script made the coveted Black List, Hollywood’s shortlist of the most liked screenplays, and he started getting numerous writing assignments.
Now, he’s able to write across several mediums and have fun doing it.
This article originally appeared in the Northwest Indiana Times.
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