Celebrity Comedy

The memoir of Murray Langston, aka The Unknown Comic, is a detailed account of the highlights and lowlights of each year of his life from June 27, 1944, until his 69th birthday on June 27, 2013. It's the story of how a poor kid from Montreal, being influenced by Jerry Lewis, longed to follow in his funny steps and somehow leave Canada and make it to Hollywood.

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.

As one of America's hottest female comedians, Lisa Lampanelli has earned critical acclaim across the country for her no-holds-barred style and ability to make people laugh at their own stereotypes and differences. Now, from the gutter-mouth comedienne who "talks like a truck driver but resembles a '50s housewife" (New York Times) comes her over-the-top, laugh-out-loud memoir, Chocolate, Please.

In 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus - Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than John Cleese, and managing to ruin only one shot. He became the unit journalist, substitute still photographer, Roman soldier, peasant, near-stalker, and, ultimately, friend and confidant of the comedy legends.

The frank, funny, and astonishing story of Roy 'Chubby' Brown, one of the UK's most popular (and filthiest!) comedians.

For more than 40 years Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise lit up our TV screens with their wonderful humour. This is the inside story, as written and read, by Eric's son Gary. As well as his unique position from inside the family he did extensive research through both families archives to uncover new facts about the duos early years. It provides a fascinating and entertaining picture of two of our most loved entertainers.

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....

S'Mother is a hilarious memoir based on 30 years of unsolicited advice, news updates, and opinions in the form of thousands of inappropriate, embarrassing, and utterly crazy letters showing the pathological extremes maternal instincts can take. Why is a grown woman so frantic that her adult son screw on his windows to keep out killer bees? Are adult trick-or-treaters really that much of a threat?

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.

For half a century Ken Dodd has been sending audiences around Britain in to spasms of laughter and at the age of 80 he is still performing. How did this feather duster salesman from Liverpool become one of the greatest comic geniuses of his generation? In this entertaining biography we follow his life from schooldays in Knotty Ash to the top of his profession with the odd excursion through the courts and Shakespeare!

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.

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.

At the dawn of human civilization, a blind prophet foretold the coming of one who would transform American literature forever, thrilling millions with his prose and debauching thousands with the meltingly seductive rhythm of his poetry. Now he has arrived. His name is Neal Pollack, the author of The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, and he walks among us.

Linda Smith (1958-2006) was a national treasure and voted "wittiest person alive" on Radio 4. From her childhood in Erith, featuring her "sweet smiling fascist grandmother", and holidays abroad (to the Isle of Wight), to her early stand-up days and comedy career, Warren Lakin recalls Linda's story and their life together.

I don't know how it happened. Really, I don't. I was a student at the University of Buffalo, located, of all places, in Buffalo, New York. I guess that's why they called it the University of Buffalo? The year was mid-1960s. Every word of this story is true. Maybe embellished a little to satisfy my creative urge. But it's a story I remember as if it were yesterday. Then again, maybe it was. In the scheme of things. You'll laugh. A lot. You'll remember. A lot. You might even want to go back to college. Well, that might be a bit of a stretch!

Mit genügend Humor wird alles leichter. Bastian Bielendorfer dokumentiert deshalb vom ersten Tag an, durch welche Absurditäten sich unser Leben seit dem Beginn des Corona-Wahnsinns verändert hat. Innerhalb weniger Stunden wird die Hausärztin zur Seuchenexpertin, der Postbote zum Hochrisikoarbeiter. Und Bastis Zuhause mutiert zur Zwangs-WG mit Frau, Mops und Schwiegermutter. Nach ein paar Tagen im Hausarrest erklärt Basti der Corona-Angst den Krieg und beginnt mit seinen schriftstellerischen Aufräumarbeiten in einer Welt, die nie wieder so sein wird wie zuvor.

This is the first audiobook of its type to be released in North America. Road Stories of the Real Highway Comics takes a hard, comical look at the world of stand-up comedy from veteran Canadian stand-up comic, author, and voice-over artist Bryan Cox. If you've thought it might be fun to be a comedian, this audiobook is a must listen. Or, if you've wondered what that life is like, Road Stories uses humor to lay it all out for you.

Once there was a little girl from Fargo, North Dakota, named Maggie Goldfarb who grew up, moved to Manhattan, and morphed into Magnolia Gold, the highly paid editor in chief of Lady magazine. With a corner office, a designer wardrobe, and dozens of loyal employees, Magnolia has been hired to update the dowager of women's magazines. She's on her way to giving Lady a face-lift when she is ignominiously replaced.

Disillusioned by her glitzy life in London and her desirable but cruel TV-presenter boyfriend, Rosie Richardson chucks it all in and spends four years running a refugee camp in Africa. Then famine strikes in a nearby province and an influx of starving refugees threatens to overwhelm the camp. Frustrated by the cautious response of the aid agencies, Rosie decides on a drastic short-term solution.

Writer-Producer Robert Youngson’s seminal compilation documentaries of silent comedy in the 1960s inspired a Renaissance in the legacies of Charley Chase, Snub Pollard, and, above all, Laurel and Hardy as well as other comedians from movies of the teens and '20s. Youngson died young, but his widow, Jeanne, tells author Manago about her late husband’s obsession with movies, laughter, and food.