Comedy Performance

Sol Bernstein, the oldest Jewish stand-up comedian still playing the clubs today, tells his favourite Jewish jokes so that they can be handed down to another generation. Told and adapted by Jews throughout the centuries from the Eastern Europe shtetls of the 19th century to the American Borscht Belt circuit of the 1950s and '60s Sol retells jokes on religion, assimilation, marriage and sex from a people and religion that has always had its humour no matter what the world throws at them.

More than a hundred years have passed since P. G. Wodehouse started writing of Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves, but the stories have lost none of their humor. Bertie Wooster is not very bright, but he enjoys the services of the clever Jeeves, who extricates him from a variety of problems. Wodehouse’s writing is witty and engaging.

Comedy, Tragedy, Therapy. Simon Amstell did his first stand-up gig at the age of 13. His parents had just divorced, and puberty was confusing. Trying to be funny solved everything. Read by Simon Amstell, and interspersed with footage from his stand-up tours, HELP is the hilarious and heartbreaking account of Simon's ongoing compulsion to reveal his entire self onstage. To tell the truth so it can't hurt him anymore. Loneliness, anxiety, depression - this book has it all. And more.

Four comedy writers transform classic joke setups into sharp commentary about the everyday and structural sexism that pervades all facets of life. Jokes to Offend Men arms listeners with humorous quips to shut down workplace underminers, condescending uncles, and dismissive doctors, or to share with their exhausted friends at the end of a long day. A cutting, cathartic spin on the old-fashioned joke book, Jokes to Offend Men is a refreshing reclamation of a tired form for anyone who's ever been told to "lighten up, it's just a joke!"

Learning how easy improv is can be the hard part. There are important lessons in life that can lead to better improv scenes. And there are important lessons in improv that can lead to a better life. By putting improv techniques under an electron microscope of reason, The Tao of Improv: A Philosophy of Creating a Scene can improve the way we function, understand, and interact - on stage and off. Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching are woven into an overall philosophy of scenic improv acting.

‘I never once attended a Sunday morning church service in Stanford. There was always the feeling that they weren’t aimed at families like ours.’ Pam Ayres was the sixth child in a hard-up family who lived in a council house, her parents’ generation were harrowed by the war. Yet they lived by the green in the village of Stanford in the Vale, where everything you needed was within walking distance and the sound of motorcars was rarely heard.

Emily Keane has her life all planned out. She's played by the rules and never stepped outside her box, and now she will finally be rewarded with everything she always dreamed of: a job promotion, a fiancé, and a future she can count on. But when her perfectly planned world falls apart, Emily is plunged into the wildest year of her life. From the beaches of California to Jamaica, New York, and Europe, Emily finds herself on a madcap race against time, running from an unscrupulous organ broker who wants her dead, all the while checking items off her unusual bucket list.

My name is Jared McMullin and for over nine years, I hosted the world's largest live prank call show, "Friday Night Cranks." I made a book with tons of my favorite stories across the run of my show. This book is packed with hilarious and honest memories, which you can watch and look at yourself! Everything from stealing paper penguins, to almost getting arrested for pranks I didn't even do! I can't wait for you to experience my life as a Prankaholic.

The hilarious memoir from award-winning comedian Bridget Christie. When Bridget Christie walked into her local bookshop, she thought she'd come out with a book (hopefully like you've just done). And maybe a calendar of cute photos of cats (hopefully unlike you've just done). The last thing she thought she'd be leaving with was the need for a new wave of feminism and the start of an incredibly successful career.

An entertaining and insightful examination of the Emmy-award winning American satirical news show, broadcast on Comedy Central in the US, and (in an edited edition) on More4 in the UK and CNN International around the world.

Here's my story of 25 plus years in Stand Up Comedy. I've worked with everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Jimmy Fallon, Dennis Miller to Jim Carrey. If you are interested in becoming a comic or just enjoy stories about comedians, this is the book for you. It's like having a good friend who is a comedian, telling you stories from the road.

Mark Twain delivered this humorous speech on taxation and morality at the Tuskegee Institute to commemorate its 25th anniversary. With his signature ironic wit, he told the audience woefully of the public vs. private morals of Christians. He says the Christian maintains the nation’s integrity 363 days a year, but the "other two days of the year he leaves his Christian private morals at home and carries his Christian public morals to the tax office and the polls, and does the best he can to damage and undo his whole year's faithful and righteous work."

Die besten Kolumnen von Hape Kerkeling! Ob Prinz Philip, Lady Gaga, die Kanzlerin oder Til Schweiger - in Hape Kerkelings wöchentlicher Gala-Kolumne "Frisch hapeziert" ist jeder Promi mal Thema. Er schildert Backstage-Erlebnisse beim Comedy-Preis, macht sich seine Gedanken über VIPs im Weltraum, Royals in Trekking-Boots und den "Twittler" Donald Trump. Auch sich selbst nimmt der beliebte Entertainer nicht aus und plaudert aus dem Nähkästchen.

This year, Penguin is proud to bring you comedy from what would have been the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Hosted by Scotland's very own Fern Brady, listeners can be transported to the virtual pubs, clubs and cellars of Edinburgh, where they will be treated to the finest audio comedy festival Covid-19 can necessitate. Featuring nearly eight hours of original material from some of the most exciting comedians working today, including Ivo Graham, Lou Sanders, Jordan Brookes, Sofie Hagen, Dane Baptiste and so many more, Edinburgh Unlocked is an unmissable audio comedy festival.

Back in 1972, people had never heard of Samantha, Sven, nor Mrs. Trellis, and had no idea of the rules of Mornington Crescent, nor what points are for. The year 2022 marks 50 years of radio insanity—of the nation's finest comic minds being given silly things to do, with some of them set to music. Celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the greatest radio comedy of all time, the antidote to panel games, with the epic and exhaustive, fully authorized history of both I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again and its beloved spin-off, I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue.

The Rant is Due features Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian Lewis Black performing diatribes submitted by his fans. For the first time, these hilarious rants, performed in front of a live audience, are available as a weekly audio program.

The Woke—that humorless, joyless, shame-inducing virus—are killing comedy…and that is great for comedians! So argues award-winning comedian Lou Perez in his hilarious and provocative book debut, That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore. Through the lens of comedy, Lou examines anti-racism, sex, gender, cancel culture, and all the modern-day sacred cows that have been propped up in recent years. An equal-opportunity offender, nothing is safe from his mockery. Lou punches up, he punches down—he’s throwing haymakers in every direction!

Crowdbending: Mastering the Art of Shaping Laughter & Audience Connection By John Heffron 🎤 What if I told you the audience isn’t in control of your show—you are? 🎤 Ever watched a comic own the stage—like they’re bending the energy of the entire room to their will? It’s not luck. It’s not charisma. It’s Crowdbending. Whether you’re a stand-up comedian, public speaker, or just want to command attention at your next presentation, Crowdbending teaches you the science and art behind captivating any crowd. This isn’t just about telling jokes. It’s about controlling the ...

On December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl took the stage at San Francisco's hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emerged - Shelley Berman, Mike Nichols, and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others.

家来ともども野駈けに出た殿様。そこへ、秋風にたなびいてさんまを焼くにおいが漂ってきた。あまりにも良いにおいなので、家来を使いにやって食べてみるととても旨い。それ以来殿様はさんまのことが忘れられなくなってしまう…ご存知「目黒のさんま」を五代目圓楽がクスグリたっぷりに快演。 昭和60年「NHK寄席」からの放送音源。