Biography Humor

From poignant to bizarre, the "writers" of these 25 letters are a diverse group with the strangest requests. The cleverly written songs are even funnier than the letters.

In 2004 Dom Joly wrote a spoof autobiography called Look At Me, Look At Me. In Here Comes the Clown, he takes up the story of his life from 14 January 2000 when the very first episode of Trigger Happy TV aired on Channel 4 and everything changed for him. Suddenly he was famous; reality was weirder than any fiction he could conjure up. This is the story of what happened next, through snippets of recollections from his adventures in show business....

When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, Black faces were still rare on television, Black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow “Flip” Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as “TV’s first black superstar”? Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture.

Lauren Weedman is not okay. She's living what should be the good life in sunny Los Angeles. After a gig as a correspondent with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, she scored parts in blockbuster movies, which led to memorable recurring roles on HBO's Hung and Looking. She had a loving husband and an adorable baby boy. In these comedic essays, she turns a piercingly observant, darkly funny lens on the ways her life is actually not okay.

Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Ten thousand miles later his family's been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-culti, and, after a near drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy, his own marriage is in jeopardy.

Moving to New York City is the worst decision you'll ever make. Unless you're like a certain singer who arrived with millions of dollars and legions of screaming fans. You're going to live in the equivalent of a shack [shit hole], suffer through moronic roommates [personal death], be broke off your ass [literally], and all while trying to prove to the world [yourself] you can make it in the big city. You can call it a day and crawl back to wherever you hail from or you can put on your big girl panties and survive.

Hans Scheibner verfasste die legendären Songtexte "Das macht doch nichts, das merkt doch keiner" und "Schmidtchen Schleicher". Als Liedermacher, Autor und Kabarettist begeistert er ein großes Publikum. Nach den Kriegsjahren arbeitete er als Verlagskaufmann und Journalist. Seine Liebe aber galt dem Theater und Kabarett. Ob auf der Bühne oder in diversen Fernsehsendungen, oft kam es wegen seiner scharfzüngigen Bemerkungen zum Eklat.

Years ago, Steve Hannah’s chance detour through the Midwest cut short a planned cross-country trip. He found himself in Wisconsin, a distinctly different place from the East Coast, where he was born and raised. Charmingly beautiful and full of welcoming people, America’s dairyland would soon become his home. Dairylandia recounts Steve Hannah’s burgeoning love for his adopted state through the writings of his long-lived column, “State of Mind”.

Adrianne Geffel was a genius. Praised as the "Geyser of Grand Street" and the "Queen of Bleak Chic," she was a one-of-a-kind artist, a pianist and composer with a rare neurological condition that enabled her to make music that was nothing less than pure, unmediated emotional expression. She and her sensibility are now fully integrated into the cultural lexicon; her music has been portrayed, represented, and appropriated endlessly in popular culture. But what do we really know about her?

Con Frank Martínez. Ser comediante no es cosa fácil, ni materia de risas, no señor. Tratar de hacer reír al otro es una experiencia endemoniada, muy divertida eso sí, pero infernal. Acompaña al reconocido comediante colombiano Gonzalo Valderrama a descubrir junto a sus famosos invitados cuáles son las obsesiones, procesos creativos, retos y pecados que tienen a estos ´standuperos´ en llamas y de tour descendiendo por los círculos del Infierno.

Martha Howald grew up on a farm, and she loved spending time with her dad. Even when he was loading manure onto a spreader, there she'd be with a little pitchfork, doing her part to clean up the mess from the cows and hogs. In fourth grade, she was thrilled when her older brother returned home from the army and started dating her favorite teacher - Miss Hill. The two would end up getting married, and Martha couldn't have been happier. Join Martha as she recalls funny moments, challenges conquered, and lessons learned over a life that's been not-so politically correct.

They blame you when they get in trouble. They seem like your parents' favorite. They are the only enemy you can't live without. Almost everyone has a juicy story about their siblings - even famous people. Meet those who got along, those who didn't, and everyone in between!

What does a lonely girl in Japan do when she's bombarded with a lack of sleep and love on the brain? She makes some questionable online dating decisions, of course! Follow me, Cyndi, as I descend into some of the craziest days of my life. Dealing with creepy swipe-righters, fighting pharmacies for rubber prophylactics, getting lost in sleepy Japanese neighborhoods, staring at a bedazzled karaoke machine.... Oh, and meeting the one-night stand who would become the love of my life.

Comedy, Tragedy, Therapy. Simon Amstell did his first stand-up gig at the age of 13. His parents had just divorced, and puberty was confusing. Trying to be funny solved everything. Read by Simon Amstell, and interspersed with footage from his stand-up tours, HELP is the hilarious and heartbreaking account of Simon's ongoing compulsion to reveal his entire self onstage. To tell the truth so it can't hurt him anymore. Loneliness, anxiety, depression - this book has it all. And more.

Er sei stolz auf seinen berühmten Vorfahren, den gestiefelten Kater, behauptet Kater Murr. Nun: sprechende Katzen sind in der Literatur wahrlich keine Seltenheit. Doch schon in den Lebensansichten des Katers Murr von E. T. A. Hoffmann, einem 200 Jahre alten Text, tritt ein Kater höchstpersönlich als Autor und Erzähler in Erscheinung und offeriert der Nachwelt seine Weisheiten und Erkenntnisse.

Dopo il ritratto di Alan Blair in "Sveglia, Sir!" e quello autobiografico di "Veloce come la notte", Ames si mette a nudo senza pudore. Insicuro nei rapporti con le donne, angosciato dalla depressione, ossessionato dalla calvizie e dall'impotenza, si rivela una sorta di antieroe in cerca di un'identità, ma soprattutto in lotta con se stesso per non farsi tentare dal Prozac e dal Viagra. Le sue bizzarre manie diventano il filo rosso di un esilarante viaggio, dall'adolescenza alla "immaturità", nei suoi problemi con il sesso, dovuti all'incapacità di accettare il proprio corpo.

In 1959, the year Terry Galloway turned nine, the voices of everyone she loved began to disappear. No one yet knew that an experimental antibiotic given to her mother had wreaked havoc on her fetal nervous system, eventually causing her to go deaf. As a self-proclaimed "child freak," she acted out her fury with her boxy hearing aids and Coke-bottle glasses by faking her own drowning at a camp for crippled children

Ed Patrick is an anaesthetist. Strong drugs for his patients, strong coffee for him. But it's not just sleep-giving for this anaesthetist, as he navigates emergencies, patients not breathing for themselves and living with a terrifying sense of responsibility. It's enough to leave anyone feeling numb. But don't worry, there's plenty of laughing gas to be had.

In questo nuovo volume, gli autori della pagina Facebook "Se i social network fossero sempre esistiti" raccontano venti storie di disagio, facendo luce sulle biografi e di altrettanti personaggi che hanno spaccato il mondo nonostante il mondo si sia accanito su di loro come gli invitati sul buffet di un matrimonio.

Ein Zettel an der Tür eines Bordells verändert alles: "Bardame gesucht", steht drauf und Fanny, Mitte 20 und chronisch pleite, nimmt den Job an. Eigentlich will sie Starreporterin bei der Münchner Morgenpost werden, der Chef schickt sie aber nur zu Terminen der Modellbahnfreunde Pfaffenwinkel. Der neue Job im "Lollipop" ist deutlich aufregender: Fanny freundet sich mit Bordell-Chefin Rosi und der schönen wie mutigen Prostituierten Palina an.