Cinema: Roastmaster General

He writes brilliant jokes for celebrities. Can this top comic writer become famous on his own?

Bette Midler testifies, "for years I never said a word that Bruce didn't charge me for." Robin Williams: "This man cracks my ass--with laughter." Nathan Lane: "He's given more great lines to celebrities than a Hollywood coke dealer."

To receive such praise, from such stars, in public, you should have to be either God or dead. Bruce Vilanch is neither. He is a comedy writer. His name can't be found on film scripts or Broadway marquees or even as Executive Associate Creative Consultant on a UPN sitcom. Yet he is the unseen perp of some of the funniest, most famous or...

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