Celebrity Comedy

David Acuff is a Hollywood insider, a military brat, a comic, a piano recital survivor, a BMW murderer, an offensive linebacker, a dog licker, a divorced TikToker, a father of three Jedi princesses, and possibly a child prodigy. He is also a semi-centurion. That's a word he made up when he turned 50 this year because "quinquagenarian" sounds like a horse disease or a Menudo song. And before he could move on to the next nifty fifty, he wanted to process how he'd lived, laughed, loved, and litigated along the way. So he wrote this semi-memoir. A semi-memie, let's call it.

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.

Rhett is country music royalty. So when he's asked to attend the celebrity wedding of the year at a resort, he agrees and plans to hide out in the small beach town. Now faced with a younger woman’s obsession, Rhett wants Jessie to help. When he proposes a fake engagement, Jessie shouldn't say yes...Like nearly every other woman in America, she crushed on the hot and hunky Rhett. But it’s her chance to prove to the rest of the world that she’s no longer an ugly duckling. She’ll be sure to protect her heart, but for now she’s going to play along - until fake becomes too real.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Where Have All the Bullets Gone?, written and read by Spike Milligan. Back to those haunting days in Italy in 1944, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, with lava running in great red rivulets down the slope towards us, and Jock taking a drag on his cigarette and saying, "I think we've got grounds for a rent rebate."

David Brenner draws on highlights from his "Laughter to the People" tour's stand-up material to show how humor can give us the power to transcend personal and world problems, from the unavoidable, like aging, to the uncontrollable, like war. His observations cover a wide range of issues, including fear of flying, going bald, marriage and divorce, pets, politics, terrorism, losing and gaining weight, money problems, and religion.

For Alex Davidson, being a celebrity publicist at a Los Angeles PR firm isn't the glamour job she thought it would be. Her love life is zilch, her newest client is an actor fresh out of rehab, and her firm has just been bought out by a rival agency. Suddenly, Alex finds her once-secure job at stake.

Robin by Dave Itzkoff shows how Robin Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.

Have you ever wanted to go to prison? Of course not. What normal person would? But haven't you wondered what it would be like? To be locked up? To do hard time? What is it really like? Is it as bad as the movies? It can't be, can it? Spoiler alert: It is! How did I cope with it? By making jokes out of the situation, which was easier said than done some days. I wanted to write something unique, something different from anything you have ever seen before.

Frank Skinner is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most successful comedians appearing on British screens. Born Chris Collins in 1957, he grew up in the West Midlands where he inherited his father's passion for football, a West Bromich Albion supporter, along with a liking for alcohol. Expelled from school at 16, Frank held various jobs, later going on to gain an MA in English Literature.

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.

Victoria Wood was a true pioneer among entertainers, earning her the rightful place as a national treasure time and time again. So one of the greatest sadnesses following her death in 2016 was that she left the world without giving her own full account of her life, having never written her autobiography. Now, with complete and exclusive access to Victoria's extensive archive of personal and professional material, and with intimate interviews with her family and closest friends, Jasper Rees will finally tell her rich story in full.

Mientras crecía, los padres de Rafa no querían que se sintiera diferente porque, como su mamá le dijo: “Los sueños no deben tener fronteras”. Pero cuando intentó sacar su licencia de conducir en su tercer año de preparatoria, sus padres se vieron forzados a revelarle su estatus migratorio. De pronto, el chico que moldeó todos sus estudios de preparatoria como en los programas de televisión estadounidenses, no tenía idea de que iba a hacer —¡no había un episodio de Salvados por la campana donde Zack fuera deportado!

Byron Allen is a multifaceted talent whose contributions to black comedy and entrepreneurship have left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry. From his humble beginnings in stand-up comedy to building a media empire, Allen's journey is a testament to his creativity, resilience, and business acumen.

Raised in Manhattan by her overly protective sex-therapist mother who wore "seven layers of shoulder pads" and her two doting grandparents, life in Wendy Spero's world has never been dull. As a child, she passed the time organizing impromptu "garage sales" on city sidewalks, sniffing fruit-scented magic markers to intoxication, parenting dozens of high-maintenance stuffed animals, and seeking out other "microthrills", which she writes about in this hilarious audiobook of odd but true stories.

This is no ordinary celebrity biography pieced together by an outsider. Steve Martin and author Morris Walker had a close relationship growing up. They were class clowns together, charming the girls and the teachers with their wit, and eventually going on the road as comedians. This personal account will introduce you to the Steve Martin you've never seen before.

Danny Wallace had been staying in. Far too much. Having been dumped by his girlfriend, he really wasn't doing the young, free and single thing very well. Instead he was avoiding people. Texting them instead of calling them. Calling them instead of meeting them. That is until one fateful date when a mystery man on a late-night bus told him to 'say yes more'. These three simple words changed Danny's life forever. Yes Man is the story of what happened when Danny decided to say YES to everything.

British television has hosted some celebrated double acts over the years. But none of these acclaimed duos come within a million miles of challenging the cherished place in television's golden age occupied by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, whose partnership lasted from 1941 to Morecambe's death in 1984. Icons of British television in the 1970s, Eric and Ernie were, in the words of one commentator, 'the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced'.

In How to Produce Comedy Bronze, legendary TV producer Jon Plowman lifts the hood on the comedy industry so you can peer inside and wonder how any of it ever got made in the first place. In a career spanning 30 years Jon has learned (almost) everything there is to know about comedy and now wants to share his wealth of knowledge, before he becomes completely demented and forgets how to do it.

"My name is Darnia Storm. I was a stunning glamour model, now I'm a beautiful actress. I adore men - and love women. But not everyone shares my amazing success. Jealousy and bitterness are now my co-stars. Someone is stalking me, but who? I need help..." Trench takes the Lead, and Old Tom directs the Show from backstage...

Four years have passed. Four long years since Ava and Leo have been in the same room, since he drove away with her heart in his hands and never looked back. Ava wouldn’t know how to begin to make up for all the time she’s lost with her best friend, who also happens to be the man of her dreams. Leo’s life has only grown better. Reciprocity is living the good life; a song on a hit movie soundtrack, loads of girls at every stop, getting ready to co-headline their first major tour. He doesn’t let himself think about the past and the girl he let slip away all those years ago. Ava knows ...