Biography Humor

When 21-year-old Jay Mohr moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought the first real job he'd land would be on Saturday Night Live. But, surprisingly, that's just what he did.

These short stories are part of a series, each one creating a delightful mix of "true story, tall story, half-truth, and yarn" written and narrated by the author Tony Powell. Monologued windows into the funnier sides of life—from the comic to the sheer ridiculous—a tongue-in-cheek peep at life’s idiosyncrasies through the eyes of someone who’s now seen it all.

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....

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.

An improv comedian all his life, and a standup comedian for over 15 years, Dave Gutteridge combines his comedy experience with the latest scientific research on humor and the human brain to offer his take on what exactly it is that makes us laugh. Whether you're trying to get a little funnier, on stage or in daily life, or if you're just curious about humor and laughter, this book will provide insights not only on how and why we laugh, but on how we relate.

Yankees flock to the sunny South where flowers bloom even in the middle of winter and summertime rules for most of the year. What nobody tells you is why the Yankees hightail it back North again. Yankee, Go Home exposes the gritty side of the South. Get lost in Arkansas and chased through Alabama by a madman. Find out who really won the Civil War and why. Discover the South through the eyes of a Yankee in this memoir of a Yankee in the South.

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.

Billy, the ground-breaking biography of the nation's favourite iconoclast, gave millions of readers a fascinating insight into the personal and professional life of the genius that is Billy Connolly. Now, in the sequel to that best-selling book, the award-winning Pamela Stephenson celebrates life with the Scottish beastie as he hits the big six-oh.

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?

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.

Like Kofi Annan, Larry Miller is one of the most irresistible comic personalities working today. Known for years as an actor, writer, comedian, and sexual pioneer, he's gained a new following as a cultural commentator and frequent guest on political shows. Now, in Spoiled Rotten America, he fixes his gaze on what's funny about our daily lives; which includes, roughly speaking, everything.

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