An original “Saturday Night Live” writer who the New York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture,” 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,“ “The Late Show With David Letterman” 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 “700 Sundays”, Martin Short’s Broadway hit “Fame Becomes Me”, the off-Broadway plays “Happy”, “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 a best selling e-book titled “From My Bottom Drawer.
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 television pilot for IFC, is awaiting a September publication of a forthcoming middle grade novel titled “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain In My Ass” (Hyperion) that he co-wrote with Adam Mansbach, and 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”.
