Celebrity Comedy

In I'll Have What She's Having, entertainment journalist Erin Carlson tells the story of the real Nora Ephron and how she reinvented the romcom through her trio of instant classics. With a cast of famous faces including Reiner, Hanks, Ryan, and Crystal, Carlson takes listeners on a rollicking, revelatory trip to Ephron's New York City, where reality took a backseat to romance and Ephron - who always knew what she wanted and how she wanted it - ruled the set with an attention to detail that made her actors feel safe but sometimes exasperated crew members.

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it.

Without bothering to get approval from the President, the State Department, or even the FTC, Dave Barry's publishers sent him to Tokyo. You'd think they would have known better. Now the word is Barry has set back our diplomatic relations with the whole Pacific Rim by a couple of decades. Japanese culture, dining, sport, and industry all come under Barry's relentless scrutiny.

In the great tradition of the American almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although best sellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true.

From a stranger in a casting office predicting Matt would succeed at a time when he felt like giving up, to deciding to work with Tim Allen after vowing not to work with another comedian after Roseanne, to learning what love really meant after “Spirit” told him he would marry Angelina—Williams realized that these “glimpses of God” have served as the loving, quiet providence that watched over him. Our job, then, is to pay attention to our lives. Regardless of your beliefs Glimpses will inspire you to look for and find God in your daily life.

Sir Peter Ustinov's beautifully crafted autobiography is told with exquisite wit and insight. From his birth in April 1921, it spans his extraordinary career as actor, playwright, film star, and director, confirming his early belief that he is 'irrevocably betrothed to laughter'. Ustinov's renowned gift for mimicry is exploited to the full in Dear Me. Eccentric relatives, school masters, sergeant majors, and manic Hollywood moguls are all brought unforgettably to life.

Growing up, Jena Friedman didn’t care about being likable. And she never wanted to be a comedian, either. She wouldn’t discover her knack for the funny business until research for her college thesis led her to take an improv class in Chicago. That anthropology paper, written on race, class, and gender in the city’s comedy scene, was, in Jena’s own words, “just as funny as it sounds.” But it did lay the groundwork for a career that has seen her write and produce for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Late Show with David Letterman, and the Oscar-nominated Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

A marriage of convenience...so tempting. Brooke Ponzio can't argue against Cole's flawless logic. The divorce settlement will solve all the money-troubles for Brooke and her unborn child. If only Cole wasn't so mouth-wateringly delicious. Should she risk having her heart broken again? Cole Miller refuses to fall in love. Not ever! That's why he chose Brooke to get him out of his ill-advised contract. Sure, they'll have to make the marriage look real to their parents and the rest of the world. And they'll need to forget all about that sizzling kiss they shared.

No Shame is a very funny, candid and emotional ride of a memoir by one of our most beloved comedians. The working-class son of a coach driver and the youngest member of the Noel Coward Society, Tom Allen grew up in '90s suburbia as the eternal outsider. In these hilarious, honest and heart-breaking stories Tom recalls observations on childhood, his adolescence, the family he still lives with and his attempts to come out and negotiate the gay dating scene. They are written with his trademark caustic wit and warmth, and will entertain, surprise and move you in equal measure.

Being a rock god isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's become a soulless grind. Which is why I'm now on my mate's houseboat, far away from the spotlight, hoping to find my way back to the music. Yeah. Not gonna happen. I've just discovered a stowaway on board, and I can't believe who she is. A bloody princess? And the prim little woman won't leave the boat, so I make an offer to scare her off - a no-strings fling. Only she says yes. I say no, and she promptly locks herself in my bedroom. I swear I'm dropping her off at the next port. She's trouble wrapped in a pretty, virginal package.

In this brand-new memoir, Rylan invites us deeper into his world to reflect on all the things he's learnt from a decade in the limelight, whilst also pulling back the curtain on his personal journey. Covering everything from fame and celebrity to mental health and identity, family and relationships to his love of reality TV, he recounts his life lessons with humour, candour and a huge amount of heart. From the moments that have shaped him to the mistakes that have made him, and the unusual pastimes that have obsessed him along the way.

Every small town needs a villain: and Lexie Steele is Heather Bay’s. Which is why she decides to move to L.A., to start over. Then a chance encounter with renowned actor Jett Carter gives her the chance to do just that, in the most unexpected way.

From growing up in Los Angeles with movie star neighbors, bearing witness to the music scene in the 1960s and seeing the rise of comedy in the early 70s, to studying mime in Paris under the tutelage of Marcel Marceau to becoming a founding member of the seminal comedy troupe The Groundlings, it's no wonder that Lorne Michaels offered Laraine Newman a spot in the original cast of Saturday Night Live. There, Laraine was part of the show that changed TV - and comedy - forever.

Hello. It's Todd Barry. Yes, the massively famous comedian. I have billons of fans all over the world, so I do my fair share of touring. While I love doing shows in the big cities (New York, Chicago, Cleveland), I also enjoy a good secondary market (Rochester, Springfield, Toledo). There's something great about performing in a place where they don't expect to see you.

A voice is calling across the land, "Bombardier Milligan." "Bombadier Milligan is dead," I replied in a disguised voice. The voice replied, "Then he's going to miss his breakfast." The fourth volume of Spike Milligan's legendary account of his time in the army during World War Two begins as he and his regiment land in sunny Italy in 1943 ("The ship touched the beach very gently, so gently I suspect it's not insured").

We all know Drew Carey from his award-winning stand-up career, and his hit television show, but do we really know Drew Carey, the person? In his first book, the bawdy and irreverent Dirty Jokes and Beer, find out about all the many sides to this misunderstood Hollywood star.

Born in 1903, and until his death in 2003, Bob Hope was the only entertainer to achieve top-rated success in every major mass-entertainment medium, from vaudeville to television and everything in between. He virtually invented modern stand-up comedy. His tours to entertain US troops and patriotic radio broadcasts, along with his all-American, brash-but-cowardly movie character, helped to ease the nation's jitters during the stressful days of World War II.

Dennis Miller is back, and he is Ranting Again in this hilarious compendium of wit, wisdom, and righteous outrage. This is good news for all of us who fume at the country's lack of common sense, and seethe at the absurdity of the daily headlines. Setting his sights higher and wider than ever before, Dennis Miller is at the top of his game in a biting and rowdy performance that unleashes his unique brand of scathing wit on anything and everything.

Running away from my disastrous career to an island off the Florida coast wasn't part of my summer plans, but life hasn't been cooperative lately, anyway. At least here, I can hide away and figure out how to untangle the mess I've gotten myself into. One thing is certain: my A-list status and title of America's Sweetheart are long gone, and they're probably never coming back. I'll just remain on this island until the worst of it blows over. Until the gossip magazines move on to another juicy topic. Until the paparazzi lose interest.

Jay Chandrasekhar has spent the past two decades writing, directing, and acting in film and TV. With his comedy group, Broken Lizard, he has produced and directed beloved movies such as Super Troopers, Beerfest, and Club Dread. Now, with the coming release of the long-awaited Super Troopers 2, Jay is ready to tell the ridiculous, madcap, dead-honest story of how he built his career, how he formed Broken Lizard, and, ultimately, how he made Super Troopers.