Famed Valley Stream comedian hits the books

Comedian Jim Breuer has been hiding something from all of us. The Valley Stream native has proven his comedy chops on TV with “Saturday Night Live,” in the movies with “Half-Baked” as well as on the radio with his Sirius satellite radio show “Fridays with Breuer,” but now he has revealed his talents as a storyteller through his debut book, “I’m Not High.”

Without being preachy and talking directly from experience, he breaks stories down so they are relatable while charming everyone with his likable tone. Breuer, a 1985 graduate of Central High School, conquers all this without utilizing his most intense weapon, his physical comedy. However, he’s funny, entertaining and motivating strictly through words that jump off the page. You don’t even need to know who he is to enjoy the book, whose title is a joke about the fact that he always looks stoned.

Breuer, who describes himself as “Cosby with a Metallica shirt,” started writing strictly for himself in 2008. “I always wanted to write this book. This is something I wanted to do on my own,” he said. “I didn’t want a book deal to jade me. I wanted to write what I wanted to write. I would show it to various people and they loved it and would share it with others. No one expected it from me. I’m really proud of it.”

In the book, Breuer delves into his years at “Saturday Night Live” where he takes you behind the scenes to the battles in the writers’ room. “So many great skits are cut in the writers’ room before they have a chance to be heard. Obviously the machine works but it’s frustrating,” he said. “One of the greatest things that happened was when a writer like Steve Koren came to me, Molly Shannon and others and said, ‘Tell me what you want to develop.’ He’s the only writer who did that. The other writers were doing this for their own egotistical motivation. The mentality is these guys want to win and they will slice your throat to do it. It was an ugly scene.”