Dudley Riggs had to run away from the circus to join his home with the rest of us. In his new memoir, “Flying Funny,” Riggs carries us from his somewhat Oliver Twist-ish past to his current status as a fabled founder of American improvisational comedy/satire with the Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop.

He was born into the fourth generation of traveling trapeze artists who sidelined in vaudeville. By the age of 5 he was one of the best music hall child stars of the 1930s, belting out a bawdy song that kept his audience in an uproar. His passion for the spotlight, attention and applause stretched over eight decades. Now 85, Riggs tells his story like a daredevil aerialist, flying with the greatest of ease.

Read the full review.