Blog Tour: Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin (Guest Post + Giveaway!)

Happy Wednesday and welcome to my stop on the Crying Laughing blog tour!! I’m so excited to be on this tour, and I’m even more excited for you to read about Lance’s favorite scene from the book! Read on to find out more about the book, author, and tour, plus enter a print copy of Crying Laughing!!!

Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin
Published on November 19, 2019 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 336
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Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already knows: she's hilarious.

It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration.

Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he's even . . . flirting?

Just when Winnie's ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he's been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad's still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie's prepared to be his straight man if that's what he wants. But is it what he needs?

Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie's struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through.

Do you have a favorite scene from Crying Laughing?

One of my very favorite scenes in Crying Laughing is Winnie’s first improv troupe rehearsal. Before I was a writer, I was mainly an actor, and it’s delightful when I get to draw upon my acting experience in my books. I still remember how completely bizarre and embarrassing some theatre games seem when you first do them. It was such a joy to get to recreate that experience through Winnie, doing exercises that involve throwing imaginary balls to each other and shouting out nonsense syllables.

And then, to also recreate the anxiety and self-doubt that comes with trying to do improv made me so happy. Improv, for those who don’t know, is when performers act out scenes they make up on the spot. There are various rules for how to do it well, and when you’re first attempting it, it’s easy to get in your own head. I really loved getting to write that scene, both the moments where Winnie completely fails and the moments where she doesn’t.

I hope readers find that scene as cringey and funny and exciting as I do!