Download or read book Why is that So Funny written by John Wright and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2007 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Book). This unique exploration of the principles and practice of physical comedy starts with a discussion of the various types of laughter that can be provoked by performance. It then presents graduated sequences of over a hundred games and exercises devised to demonstrate and investigate the whole range of comic possibilities open to a performer. The result is an intensely practical and thoroughly stimulating investigation of how comedy works in physical terms.
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 295 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 Only Joking written by Jimmy Carr and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-09-21 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain’s hottest young comedian presents a seriously funny, up-close look at joking matters—from the social origins of laughter, to the art and craft of humor, to why we can never remember the punch line—featuring over 300 jokes. As the host of the hit game show Distraction (now in its third season on Comedy Central) and one of the premier stand-up acts working today, award-winning comedian Jimmy Carr has won over millions of fans around the world with his trademark rapier wit, laced with "exquisitely economical and perfectly timed one-liners" (The Guardian). For this book he teams up with friend and fellow comedy writer Lucy Greeves to take an in-depth look at where humor comes from and how it works, through exploring its purest form: the joke. Only Joking begins with the mechanism of laughter—how it happens and why even infants do it—then delves into the power of the punch line, exploring the basics of all jokes, from the use of shock and surprise to advanced stand-up techniques such as the "pull-back/reveal." Carr and Greeves go on to explore taboo humor, jokes that bomb, and the psychology of finding something funny. They look into the long-standing connection between politics and humor, and discuss the survival prospects for contentious jokes in the current political climate. Throughout the book they conjure up a supporting cast of colorful joke enthusiasts, from Sigmund Freud to Lenny Bruce, and discuss their influence on the jokes we tell today. Surveying across national, ethnic, and gender divides, this rollicking analysis of why joking will always be close to the human heart is an irresistible exploration of humor that makes clear why we need a good laugh now more than ever.
Download or read book What s So Funny written by David Sipress and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-03-08 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a longtime New Yorker staff cartoonist, an evocative family memoir, a love letter to New York City, and a delightful exploration of the origins of creativity—richly interleaved with the author’s witty, beloved cartoons A wry and brilliantly observed portrait of the budding young cartoonist and his Upper West Side Jewish family in the age of JFK and Sputnik. Sipress, a dreamer and obsessive drawer, goes hazy when it comes to the ceaselessly imparted lessons-on-life from his father, the meticulous, upwardly mobile proprietor of Revere Jewelers, and in the face of the angsty expectations of his migraine-prone mother. With self-deprecation, wit, and artistry, Sipress paints his hapless place in his indelibly dysfunctional family, from the time he was tricked by his unreliable older sister into rocketing his pet turtle out his twelfth-floor bedroom window, to the moment he walks away from a Harvard PhD program in Russian history to begin his journey as a professional cartoonist. In What’s So Funny?—reminiscent of the masterly, humane recall of Roger Angell and the brainy humor of Roz Chast—Sipress's cartoons appear with spot-on precision, inducing delightful Aha moments in answer to the perennial question aimed at cartoonists: Where do you get your ideas?
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 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Funny: The Book is an entertaining look at the art of comedy, from its historical roots to the latest scientific findings, with diversions into the worlds of movies (Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers), television (The Office), prose (Woody Allen, Robert Benchley), theater (The Front Page), jokes and stand-up comedy (Richard Pryor, Steve Martin), as well as personal reminiscences from the author's experiences on such TV programs as Mork and Mindy. With allusions to the not-always-funny Carl Jung, George Orwell, and Arthur Koestler, Funny: The Book explores the evolution, theories, principles, and practice of comedy, as well as the psychological, philosophical, and even theological underpinnings of humor, coming to the conclusion that (Spoiler Alert!) Comedy is God.
Download or read book What s So Funny About Getting Old written by Ed Fischer and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2014-03-11 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One bonus of getting older is that it gives us a great perspective on life . . . and that includes plenty of humor! This collection of cartoons, quips, quotes, and insights introduces a new comedy genre: elderhumor. It captures the wry hilarity of our real-life sitcoms. Generational vocabulary gaps, miscommunications, preoccupation with health and comforts, foibles, disguises (for aging), even physical limitations -- all can have their funny sides when we're laughing at ourselves. One bonus of getting older is that it gives us a great perspective on life . . . and that includes plenty of humor! This collection of cartoons, quips, quotes, and insights introduces a new comedy genre: elderhumor. It captures the wry hilarity of our real-life sitcoms. Generational vocabulary gaps, miscommunications, preoccupation with health and comforts, foibles, disguises (for aging), even physical limitations -- all can have their funny sides when we're laughing at ourselves. This book, a light-hearted gift for anyone who's 50-plus, is a memoryjogger too. Remember the Katzenjammer Kids? Jack Armstrong? Apple Mary? Check out your friends' ages by their responses to a "Vanishing Words" test (examples: "spider," "broomstick skirt," "running board," "the shag"). If you're still calling the refrigerator an "icebox," it's a giveaway -- you're probably over 60. What's So Funny about Getting Old? is brought to you by a comedy team of two. Ed Fischer is an award-winning cartoonist. Jane Thomas Noland, author of Laugh It Off (what's so funny about trying to lose weight?) is a books editor and a former Minneapolis Star Tribune feature writer. Both have delicious ways of looking at life. Both, like all the rest of us, are getting older. Laughter heals. Laughter helps. Laughter keeps us in shape emotionally and physically. Read this book and try it. You'll be convinced, as these authors are, that there's only one way to grow older -- with a healthy sense of humor!
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 So Far So Funny written by Hal Kanter and published by McFarland. This book was released on 1999 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 18, Hal Kanter first came to Hollywood to work as the ghost writer for a comic strip for the princely sum of $10 per week-before he was fired. It was then he heard an Eddie Cantor radio show and realized that he could write better jokes than the famed comedian's writers were providing him. Interestingly enough, Cantor's writers agreed with him, at least to some degree, and hired the brash young man to work with them on the Jack Oakie radio show. Thus was born one of the more interesting and varied careers in Hollywood. Kanter's writing career went from radio shows to screenplays to television series. Along the way he worked with such luminaries as Bob Hope, Frank Capra, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and a host of others. Awarded an Emmy for writing The George Gobel Show, he was the creator of Julia, the ground-breaking television series. Though he went on to enjoy great success as a producer and director, Kanter always considered himself, first and foremost, a writer. And just how many scripts has he written? "More than I can lift," he says.
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 204 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 That s Not Funny written by Matt Sienkiewicz and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024-03-26 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 2022 Best Comedy Book, Vulture A rousing call for liberals and progressives to pay attention to the emergence of right-wing comedy and the political power of humor. "Why do conservatives hate comedy? Why is there no right-wing Jon Stewart?" These sorts of questions launch a million tweets, a thousand op-eds, and more than a few scholarly analyses. That's Not Funny argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx take readers––particularly self-described liberals––on a tour of contemporary conservative comedy and the "right-wing comedy complex." In That's Not Funny, "complex" takes on an important double meaning. On the one hand, liberals have developed a social-psychological complex—it feels difficult, even dangerous, to acknowledge that their political opposition can produce comedy. At the same time, the right has been slowly building up a comedy-industrial complex, utilizing the humorous, irony-laden media strategies of liberals such as Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver to garner audiences and supporters. Right-wing comedy has been hiding in plain sight, finding its way into mainstream conservative media through figures ranging from Fox News's Greg Gutfeld to libertarian podcasters like Joe Rogan. That's Not Funny taps interviews with conservative comedians and observations of them in action to guide readers through media history, text, and technique. You will find many of these comedians utterly appalling, some surprisingly funny, and others just plain weird. They are all, however, culturally and politically relevant—the American right is attempting to seize spaces of comedy and irony previously held firmly by the left. You might not like this brand of humor, but you can't ignore it.
Download or read book Closing Time written by Joseph Heller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A darkly comic and ambitious sequel to the American classic Catch-22. In Closing Time, Joseph Heller returns to the characters of Catch-22, now coming to the end of their lives and the century, as is the entire generation that fought in World War II: Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain, and such newcomers as little Sammy Singer and giant Lew, all linked, in an uneasy peace and old age, fighting not the Germans this time, but The End. Closing Time deftly satirizes the realities and the myths of America in the half century since WWII: the absurdity of our politics, the decline of our society and our great cities, the greed and hypocrisy of our business and culture -- with the same ferocious humor as Catch-22. Closing Time is outrageously funny and totally serious, and as brilliant and successful as Catch-22 itself, a fun-house mirror that captures, at once grotesquely and accurately, the truth about ourselves.
Download or read book What s So Funny written by Donald E. Westlake and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2008-03-04 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In what may be the "best Dortmunder yarn yet," Westlake's seasoned but often scoreless crook must take on an impossible crime, one he doesn't want and doesn't believe in -- but a little blackmail goes a long way (Associated Press). All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, he musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over. From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.
Download or read book What s So Funny written by Stephen Hoover and published by . This book was released on 2013-11-16 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do we laugh? How does comedy work? This book examines the theories from philosophers to scientists on why we need to laugh and how we laugh. For the comedy fan or comedy writer, this enjoyable and fast read will fill you in on all of the theories of humor.
Download or read book Giggle Giggle What s So Funny written by Ben Mantle and published by Campbell. This book was released on 2012 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An hilarious hand-puppet book! Giggle, giggle, what's so funny? Is it two barmy ballet dancers jumping and jiggling? An exercising octopus all puffed out? Or perhaps there is a totally tickle-tastic answer? Put your fingers into this glove puppet and wiggle them to animate the pictures, be it the legs on one page or a head of crazy hair on the next. Great fun for sharing and making little ones laugh, you can easily bring this madcap book alive!
Download or read book Step by Step to Stand up Comedy written by Greg Dean and published by Heinemann Drama. This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you think you're funny, and you want others to think so too, this is the book for you! Greg Dean examines the fundamentals of being funny and offers advice on a range of topics, including: writing creative joke material rehearsing and performing routines coping with stage fright dealing with emcees who think they're funnier than you are getting experience and lots more. Essential for the aspiring comic or the working comedian interested in updating his or her comedy routine, Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy is the most comprehensive and useful book ever written on the art of the stand-up comedian.
Download or read book What s So Funny written by Donna M. Jackson and published by Viking Juvenile. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains why our brains think something is funny, what happens to us physically when we laugh, why you can tickle your friend but not yourself, and much more.
Download or read book What s So Funny Comrade written by Rodger Swearingen and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
