OFF TO COLLEGE: Comedy writer’s book relays lessons learned in a college bar
COMEDY WRITER Adam Lorenzo displays his first book on Larchmont Boulevard.
While attending college at Syracuse University, Adam Lorenzo became the owner of one of the infamous bars in the college town in Upstate New York. First he just worked there. Then he found out the owner was selling it. Being the industrious guy that he is, he worked a deal, purchased the bar and continued going to school.
He spent every day at the bar. He typed his school papers, bartended, studied and slept there. He considered the bar “a cathedral of knowledge.” He found that the setting and interactions with patrons and employees taught him a lot about life. Always wanting to be a writer, he saved his thoughts and pearls of wisdom on scrap paper in a fishbowl at the bar. Perhaps it could be a book someday?
Fast-forward 20 years. Lorenzo sold his bar, spontaneously moved to the Larchmont area with his fishbowl full of miscellaneous knowledge and achieved his dream of becoming a comedy writer by working for David Letterman, “Saturday Night Live” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” among others.
The Larchmont area gave him a sense of community he needed after moving across the country. He frequented many of the shops along the Boulevard and was a regular at the Larchmont Barber Shop (now relocated to Fairfax Avenue at Fourth Street). As Lorenzo says, “I owe my career in sitcoms to the late barber Jerry Cottone.” Cottone had faith in Lorenzo and passed one of his scripts to another of his customers, the producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” This was Lorenzo’s break into sitcoms.
ONE PAGE from Adam Lorenzo’s book.
Then the pandemic hit in 2020. Lorenzo still had the fishbowl filled with kernels of knowledge. Writing a book was his quarantine project.
The book, “All I Need To Know I Learned From My College Bar,” is the result. Much like owning the bar and becoming a writer, Lorenzo took a chance and was not afraid to fail.
At 110 pages with 100 illustrations by Antonio Giovanni Pinna, the book is chock-full of useful insights about life and how to be a good, thoughtful person and make the most out of life’s opportunities.
Each page has a phrase or a couple of sentences with clever illustrations, such as “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough.” It’s not a long read; it’s short, sweet and to the point and filled with insightful, witty phrases for a more purposeful life.
Lorenzo’s book was published in the spring and is available locally at Chevalier’s, Barnes & Noble and Kitson, as well as online. The cost is $14.99.
Category: Entertainment
