Mike Sacks


Mike Sacks is an American author, humor writer, and magazine editor based in New York City. Sacks is currently an editor at Vanity Fair and formerly worked for The Washington Post.

Early life

Sacks was born in Virginia and raised in Maryland. He attended Winston Churchill High School before attending Tulane University in New Orleans.

Career

Sacks contributes to the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Esquire, Salon, Vanity Fair, GQ, Believer, Vice, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Sacks' collection of humorous photos of television shows has been featured on NPR and Gawker. He has also been featured in The New York Post, Vanity Fair, and LA Weekly, and has appeared on BBC, CNN and NPR's Weekend Edition.

''And Here's The Kicker''

Sacks’ first book, And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Humor Writers About Their Craft, was released in Summer 2009. Some of those interviewed include: George Meyer, Harold Ramis, Al Jaffee, Buck Henry, Bob Odenkirk, Stephen Merchant, David Sedaris, Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, and Daniel Clowes.

''Poking a Dead Frog''

His fourth book, a sequel to And Here’s the Kicker, is called Poking a Dead Frog. It was published in June 2014 and was a New York Times Bestseller. Among those featured in Poking a Dead Frog are: Jim Downey, Terry Jones, Diablo Cody, Paul F. Tompkins, Michael Schur, Henry Beard, Megan Amram, Carol Kolb, Dave Hill, James L. Brooks, Marc Maron, George Saunders, Alan Spencer, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Bill Hader, Mel Brooks, and Patton Oswalt.

''Stinker Lets Loose!''

Mike Sacks is the publisher of the audiobook re-release of the 1977 trucking and CB movie Stinker Lets Loose! He also wrote the foreword.
In 2018 Stinker Lets Loose! was released as an audiobook via Audible. Sacks teamed up with director Eric Martin to adapt the novelization into a fully immersive cinematic audio experience starring Jon Hamm as Stinker, Rhea Seehorn as Gwyneth, Andy Daly as Boner, John DiMaggio as Jumbo and Sheriff Sledge, Paul F. Tompkins as Clarence Macleod and Mr. Walsh, Jessica McKenna as Buck, Kimmy Gatewood as Betty, Mark Gagliardi as Big Red, Justin Michael as Pip, James Urbaniak as President Jimmy Carter and Jeremiah King, Andy Richter as Orville Max, and Phillip Baker Hall as the Big Man. The audiobook also includes an Introduction by Sacks. Full cast includes: Scott Brick, RC Bray, Rachel Butera, Emily Woo Zeller, PJ Ochlan, Suzanne Elise Freeman, Heather Forte, Robert Beitzel, and Seth Allen. Original songs by CJ McKnight as played by Mark Rozzo.

''Randy: The Full and Complete Unedited Biography and Memoir of the Amazing Life and Times of Randy S.!''

A self-published memoir of a thirty-something, Randy, from Maryland found by Mike Sacks at a garage sale and re-published "as is." Randy sold his family farm and commissioned an out-of-work local author, Noah B., to write and type his memoir. A modern-day version of a 15th century biography commissioned by a wealthy Medici patron.
"Randy! is a hilariously, unexpectedly poignant and eminently worthy addition to Sacks’ sociological/anthropological exploration of the American Jackass and his curious ways."--Nathan Rabin, https://www.nathanrabin.com/happy-place/2018/8/15/literature-society-mike-sacks
"A writer mined his ’80s adolescence in the D.C. suburbs. Then came the Kavanaugh hearings." -

''Passable In Pink''

A lost John Hughes type movie from 1983. Sacks once again teamed up with director Eric Martin to adapt the novelization into a fully immersive cinematic audio experience starring Gillian Jacobs, Adam Scott, Bobby Moynihan, Bob Odenkirk, Laraine Newman, Julie Klausner, Judd Nelson. Rhea Seehorn, James Adomian, Justine Bateman, and many others.

Other Writing

Sacks co-wrote Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk, with the Pleasure Syndicate, a comedy-writing group consisting of Scott Jacobson, Todd Levin, Jason Roeder, and Ted Travelstead. The book was released August 28, 2010. In February 2011, Sacks authored a collection of humor pieces that were published by Tin House Books. The book, Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason, contains pieces from The New Yorker, Esquire, Time, Vanity Fair, McSweeney’s, and other publications. The AV Club wrote "The fun in Your Wildest Dreams is watching Sacks unpack his weirdness, and there’s plenty of weirdness to unpack."
Sacks is also the co-editor of the March 2012 advice book, Care to Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars?, featuring contributions from, among others, Louis C.K., Dave Eggers, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Hornby, Sam Lipsyte, Merrill Markoe, Laraine Newman, Simon Rich, Bob Saget, George Saunders, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman, Paul Simms, Jerry Stahl, Fred Willard, and Weird Al Yankovic. He has also contributed to the books Esquire Rules and Esquire Presents: Things A Man Shouldn’t Do After the Age of Thirty; Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists; and The McSweeney’s Book of Politics and Musicals.

''Doin' It with Mike Sacks''

Sacks podcast started in January 2016. The show consists of interviews, comedy bits, and bootleg audio clips. Guests include: David Sedaris, Julie Klausner, Ben Schwartz, Jack Handey, Danny McBride, Rhea Seehorn, George Saunders and more.
Sedaris has said the following about the podcast:
“If you don’t know who Mike Sacks is, well, you should. His writing is funnier than just about anyone’s and now he has a podcast that is excellent. I say Hooray for Mike Sacks and everything he stands for.”