After months reading this book on and off, I have finally finished Girl Walks into a Bar… by Rachel Dratch and I really enjoyed it. Rachel Dratch is probably best known from her time on Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006, but she has also appeared on a lot of other TV shows and movies such as 30 Rock and Fish Hooks. She’s also an improv veteran from The Second City in Chicago. Girl Walks into a Bar… is Drach’s very entertaining and funny memoir. She discusses her comedy career, but mostly focuses on her personal life, reliving experiences that range from her time studying at Dartmouth to dating a sex addict. What I also particularly enjoy about this book is that although Dratch is an extremely successful person, her story seems a little more realistic than some of her counterparts’ (let’s just say she doesn’t have her own TV show called “The Rachel Project). Though Dratch did end up on Saturday Night Live, she had a very difficult time progressing in her career, especially early on. She’s a great example of someone who had to audition many times before landing a role, or stick things out for what probably seemed like forever before moving onto a new chapter in her comedy career. Even after her time on SNL, Dratch has had trouble landing roles that she really wants, or breaking out of the typical “best friend” character in roles she does land. However, the moral of the story seems to be: shit works out. I personally found Dratch’s story realistic and comforting. Her style is very light and funny even as she deals with potentially heavy topics like possibly giving up the opportunity to have a child and facing an unwanted career slowdown. I definitely recommend this book to any fan of Dratch’s work, and to anyone interested in comedy in general (especially women!).
My rating: 7/10
(Actually) Lost in Translation 
