Download or read book Funny Man written by Patrick McGilligan and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 772 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deeply textured and compelling biography of comedy giant Mel Brooks, covering his rags-to-riches life and triumphant career in television, films, and theater, from Patrick McGilligan, the acclaimed author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award–winner Mel Brooks was behind (and sometimes in front the camera too) of some of the most influential comedy hits of our time, including The 2,000 Year Old Man, Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. But before this actor, writer, director, comedian, and composer entertained the world, his first audience was his family. The fourth and last child of Max and Kitty Kaminsky, Mel Brooks was born on his family’s kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, and was not quite three-years-old when his father died of tuberculosis. Growing up in a household too poor to own a radio, Mel was short and homely, a mischievous child whose birth role was to make the family laugh. Beyond boyhood, after transforming himself into Mel Brooks, the laughs that came easily inside the Kaminsky family proved more elusive. His lifelong crusade to transform himself into a brand name of popular humor is at the center of master biographer Patrick McGilligan’s Funny Man. In this exhaustively researched and wonderfully novelistic look at Brooks’ personal and professional life, McGilligan lays bare the strengths and drawbacks that shaped Brooks’ psychology, his willpower, his persona, and his comedy. McGilligan insightfully navigates the epic ride that has been the famous funnyman’s life story, from Brooks’s childhood in Williamsburg tenements and breakthrough in early television—working alongside Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner—to Hollywood and Broadway peaks (and valleys). His book offers a meditation on the Jewish immigrant culture that influenced Brooks, snapshots of the golden age of comedy, behind the scenes revelations about the celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks’ troubled first marriage. Engrossing, nuanced and ultimately poignant, Funny Man delivers a great man’s unforgettable life story and an anatomy of the American dream of success. Funny Man includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert.
Download or read book A Funny Man written by Patricia Jensen and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A funny man with a funny smile, funny car, and funny crocodile likes to do things just a little bit differently. Includes activity pages.
Download or read book The Funny Man written by John Warner and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son, by night he performs in small clubs. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn't sound like much, but they're happy (more or less) - until the day he comes up with his magic gimmick. And what is it? He performs his set with his fist in his mouth. Jokes, impressions, commercials - all take place with his fist wrist-deep in his mouth. People are crazy for him, but he's tired of it. This brilliant debut documents one man's slide from everyman to monster.
Download or read book The Funny Men written by Steve Allen and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Do You Talk Funny written by David Nihill and published by BenBella Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public speaking can be terrifying. For David Nihill, the idea of standing in front of an audience was scarier than cliff jumping into a thorny pit of spiders and mothers-in-law. Without a parachute or advanced weaponry. Something had to change. In what doesn't sound like the best plan ever, David decided to overcome his fears by pretending to be an accomplished comedian called "Irish Dave" for one full year, crashing as many comedy clubs, festivals, and shows as possible. One part of the plan was at least logical: he was already Irish and already called Dave. In one year, David went from being deathly afraid of public speaking to hosting a business conference, regularly performing stand-up comedy and winning storytelling competitions in front of packed houses. And he did it by learning from some of the best public speakers in the world: stand-up comedians. Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker shows how the key principles of stand-up comedy can be applied to your speaking engagements and presentations to make you funnier, more interesting, and better looking. (Or at least two of the three.) Whether you are preparing for a business presentation, giving a wedding toast, defending your thesis, raising money from investors, or simply want to take on something you're afraid of, this book will take you from sweaty to stage-ready. You'll learn how to: - Craft a story and content that your audience will want to listen to - Find the funniest parts of your material and how to get to them faster - Deal with stage fright - Master the two most important parts of your performance: timing and delivery Ten percent of the author's proceeds from this book will go to Arash Bayatmakou via Help Hope Live until he is fully back on his feet and thereafter to one of the many facing the same challenges after suffering a severe spinal cord injury.
Download or read book The Funny Guy written by Jonathan W. Maupin and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2012-04 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a world where frustration and sadness seem to be the norm, The Funny Guy breaks the mold. The comic strip focuses on a young man and his everyday situations, which become comical. The cartoon's main character (Fun) is a modern-day Charlie Chaplin! His days begin normal and end hilarious! and the people he interacts with each day represent every walk of life. From a pushy landlord, a quick-to-write-a-ticket traffic cop, and a slang-talking hobo. The Funny Guy is a cartoon in which every person—no matter what race, age, or religion—can appreciate and enjoy.
Download or read book I m Not a Terrorist But I ve Played One On TV written by Maz Jobrani and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-02-16 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previously published in hardcover: 2015.
Download or read book It s Kind of a Funny Story written by Ned Vizzini and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2010-09-25 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away.
Download or read book A Confederacy of Dunces written by John Kennedy Toole and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).
Download or read book Mr Funny written by Roger Hargreaves and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1997-09-29 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They're back! Rediscover the zaniest characters you've ever met in this best-selling series which has sold millions worldwide. Bright and charming, with easily recognizable characters and a small take-along format, Mr. Men and Little Miss books are easy enough for young readers, witty enough for humor-prone adults, and highly collectible for one and all. Also check your local listings to view the Mr. Men & Little Miss TV show. Back to the Mr. Men & Little Miss microsite.
Download or read book What s So Funny written by Tim Conway and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Six-time Emmy Award-winning funny man Tim Conway—best known for his roles on The Carol Burnett Show—offers a straight-shooting and hilarious memoir about his life on stage and off as an actor and comedian. In television history, few entertainers have captured as many hearts and made as many people laugh as Tim Conway. What’s So Funny? follows Tim’s journey from life as an only child raised by loving but outrageous parents, to his tour of duty in the army, to his ascent as a national star. Conway’s often-improvised humor, razor-sharp timing, and hilarious characters have made him one of the funniest and most authentic performers to grace the stage and studio. As Carol Burnett, who also provides an intimate foreword to the book, has said, “there’s no one funnier” than Tim Conway. What’s So Funny? shares hilarious accounts and never-before-shared stories of behind-the-scenes antics on McHale’s Navy and The Carol Burnett Show as well as his famous partnerships with entertainment greats like Harvey Korman, Don Knotts, and Dick Van Dyke; and his friendships with stars like Betty White and Bob Newhart. Filled with warmth, humor, and heart, What’s So Funny will delight and inspire fans everywhere.
Download or read book Funny The Book written by David Misch and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FUNNY: THE BOOK - EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT COMEDY
Download or read book Insane City written by Dave Barry and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-01-29 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seth Weinstein always knew Tina was way, way, way out of his league. Which is why he’s still astonished that he’s on a plane heading for their wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse has already pulled an airport prank on him—and he’s survived! It should be easy going from now on. But Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. A simple drink or two with the boys sparks a series of events that will pit Seth and his friends against everything and everyone imaginable, from his very powerful, very disapproving soon-to-be father-in-law to the federal government to a love-struck orangutan. Seth’s hope for smooth sailing is turning into a trip on the Titanic. And the water is getting deeper by the minute…
Download or read book Seriously Funny written by Howard Jacobson and published by Viking Adult. This book was released on 1997 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation of the origins of comedy and the meaning of laughter, drawing on biology, anthropology, classical studies, behavioural science, philosophy and psychology - with a few authorial jokes along the way.
Download or read book Mantan the Funnyman written by Michael H. Price and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mantan Moreland would become Louisiana s richest gift to the funnyman traditions of Old Hollywood. He would happily wield his charm and charisma as second banana in a slew of films of the 1930s and 40s. Moreland found his place in the spotlight, if not quite the sun, during the waxed-and-waning years of the Great God A mighty Depression as These United States lurched back toward prosperity via warfare. Thus situated, Moreland stood his ground for more than a decade before he found himself maneuvered toward a lower station in an upheaval of Cultural Correction. Mantan Moreland was one of Old Hollywood s most energetic comedians all due respect to the enshrined houses of Marx, Fields, Keaton and Chaplin. And Moreland s story, related in the most direct terms short of his own account, shows him to have been the most resilient, defiant and resurgent of that lot, as well. That is, within the limits imposed by the spirit of the times, a forgetful mass audience, and the disloyal marketplace itself. Hopefully Mantan the Funnyman will help Mantan Moreland find his well-deserved place in the sun.
Download or read book A Funny Life written by Michael McIntyre and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael McIntyre is a much-loved stand-up comedian, with sell-out international tours and the hugely popular television series Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and The Wheel. But the road to stardom was paved with near-disasters, as he hilariously recounts in his autobiography. Picking up where his first book, Life and Laughing, ends, Michael has had his first breakthrough, his 2006 appearance on The Royal Variety Performance. He was horribly in debt, with a young baby, living in a flat so tiny the kitchen was in the coat cupboard. And as well-received as his performance had been, the job offers weren’t exactly rolling in. Would he ever make his dreams a reality? Michael’s adventures will have you laughing out loud as he describes his rise, fall and rise again. He might be selling out arena tours but his wife Kitty and two sons keep his feet firmly on the ground. Honest and revealing, and full of his unique observational humour, A Funny Life is a book his millions of fans will love.
Download or read book The Funny Man written by John Warner and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dark comedy about celebrity is from the author who is “among the most perceptive and edgy chroniclers of an increasingly coarse American culture” (New York Journal of Books). The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son; by night he performs in small clubs. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn’t sound like much, but they’re happy, more or less. Until the day he comes up with it. His thing. His gimmick. And everything changes. He’s a headliner, and the venues get bigger fast. Pretty soon he has a starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster, all thanks to the gimmick. Which is: He performs with his fist in his mouth. Jokes, impressions, commercials—all with his fist in his mouth. The people want him—are crazy for him—but only with his fist in his mouth. And the funny man is tired of having his fist in his mouth. Thus, as the novel begins, his career is in tatters, his family has left him, and he’s on trial for shooting an unarmed man six times. His lawyer argues that he is not guilty by reason of celebrity. It remains to be seen whether he can be saved . . . A smart satire of our absurd culture, The Funny Man documents one individual’s slide from everyman to monster—even as it reveals the potential for grace and mercy in his life.
