E.B White famously summed up the general attitude toward analyzing humor when he compared it to dissecting a frog: "Few people are interested and the frog dies of it."

'Talking Funny' (Friday, April 22, 9PM ET on HBO) avoids killing the frog by taking four of the biggest stand-up comedians in the business -- Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Louis CK -- and putting them in a casual setting to interview each other.



Comedy nerds will be satisfied with the level of details, and casual fans will be happy to hear the big names swap stories. The quartet shareS a certain amount of familiarity, with CK being the common connection between them. He wrote the screenplay for the Rock vehicle 'I Think I Love My Wife,' played a supporting role in Gervais's 'The Invention of Lying' and, as Louis mentions in the special, angered Seinfeld when opening for him in Boston years ago. Louis was still making a name for himself, and he introduced Seinfeld as the best comic in the world, something that automatically set up expectations Seinfeld then had to meet.

At one point, as you can see in our exclusive preview below, Seinfeld actually tries to tell one of Louis' jokes, only to have Louis tell him "That's a completely Seinfeld-ed version" -- and Seinfeld fans know exactly what that means.

It's fun to watch these guys talk shop. Gervais wonders aloud at one point what would happen if the people who pay to see comedians realized they could do it themselves. "They can play touch football, too," says Louis. "They can watch each other play football. But the guys who make money on the Super Bowl aren't going, 'If people play football in their backyards they're not going to watch this anymore."

Seinfeld is a master of clean, observational comedy, while Louis takes a much more personal, often profane and scatological approach. But they found common ground when Louis remembered the first bit of material that worked onstage for him, about how street signs should be punctuated. Seinfeld, it turns out, once had a very similar bit.

Perhaps the most valuable bit of information for those looking for clues on how to be funny is the simple statement that you have to have jokes. "Under this weird persona, under your crazy glasses, under your crazy voice, whatever gimmick you have," says Rock, "Henny Youngman has to have something to do with it."

A couple of other highlights to look for: a discussion on profanity, including Seinfeld talking about the only F-bomb he ever dropped onstage and Gervais discussing the perception of "mean" comedy. All in all, an entertaining and informative discussion.

Watch our exclusive preview
& more clips from 'Talking Funny':