The Funniest One in the Room

The Funniest One in the Room
Author: Kim Howard Johnson
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1569764360

Nichols and May. John Belushi. Bill Murray. Chris Farley. Tina Fey. Mike Myers. Stephen Colbert. For nearly a half century, Del Close—cocreator of the Harold, director for the Second City, San Francisco's the Committee, and the ImprovOlympic, and “house metaphysician” for Saturday Night Live—influenced improvisational theater's greatest comedic talents. His students went on to found the Groundlings in Los Angeles, the Upright Citizens Brigade in both New York and Los Angeles, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. But this Pied Piper of improv has gone largely unrecognized outside the close-knit comedy community. Del was never one to let the truth of his life stand in the way of a good story—and yet the truth is even more fascinating than the fiction. In his early years, he traveled the country with Dr. Dracula's Den of Living Nightmares, knew L. Ron Hubbard before Scientology, and appeared in The Blob. Del cavorted with the Merry Pranksters, used aversion therapy to recover from alcoholism, and kicked a cocaine habit with the help of a coven of witches. And when he was dying, Del bequeathed his postmortem skull to the Goodman Theatre for use in its productions of Hamlet—a final legend that lives on, long beyond the death of the father of long-form improvisation.

The Funniest Guy in the Room: The Standup Comedy of Jesus of Nazareth

The Funniest Guy in the Room: The Standup Comedy of Jesus of Nazareth
Author: Steve Case
Publisher: Apocryphile Press
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2015-11-02
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9781940671802

Okay...so...we're going to send 13 guys on a three year journey to heal the sick and feed the hungry. One guy has a messiah complex. Another wanting to overthrow the government. One just questions everything anybody says. It will be a bunch of blue collar workers and on IRS agent. In any other book it would sound like another Hangover sequel. We call it the gospels. So many wonderful stories that have survived all these centuries and yet they seem devoid of humor. We're talking about 13 guys on a road trip. You can't tell me a contest didn't "break" out at least one time. The Funniest Guy in the Room takes old jokes and even older pictures and supposes what probably happened if we were willing to admit it. Jesus was the son of the being who created laughter in the first place. He understood joy better than any other human being who walked the face of this earth. Why is he so often portrayed as the morose teacher you hoped you didn't get in high school. It was the theologian GK Chesterton who said, "It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it. This book, puts it to the test." "Nearly made me blow goat's milk through my nose." -St Francis of Assisi "I demand space for rebuttal." -Satan (King of the Underworld and DMV offices.) "Yeah....yeah...he really wasn't all that funny." -Burt Christ (Brother) "Floral colors and lighter fabrics can bring the Spring to any room." -Tony Deangelo, Interior Motives (HG Network)

Comedy for Animators

Comedy for Animators
Author: Jonathan Lyons
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2015-11-19
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1317679555

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve: What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of those who have used their bodies to make others laugh. Drawing from traditions such as commedia dell’arte, pantomime, Vaudeville, the circus, and silent and modern film, animators will learn not only to create funny characters, but also how to execute gags, create a comic climate, and use environment as a character. Whether you’re creating a comic villain or a bumbling sidekick, this is the one and only guide you need to get your audience laughing! Explanation of comedic archetypes and devices will both inspire and inform your creative choices Exploration of various modes of storytelling allows you to give the right context for your story and characters Tips for creating worlds, scenarios, and casts for your characters to flourish in Companion website includes example videos and further resources to expand your skillset--check it out at www.comedyforanimators.com! Jonathan Lyons delivers simple, fun, illustrated lessons that teach readers to apply the principles of history’s greatest physical comedians to their animated characters. This isn’t stand-up comedy—it’s the falling down and jumping around sort!

Funny!

Funny!
Author:
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2015-12-15
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1452147647

From Toy Story to The Good Dinosaur, some of the most iconic and hilarious moments in Pixar's films were first conceived by the artists featured in this book. But there are hundreds of gags that don't make it past the cutting room floor, like Frozone cooling some beers with his breath and Sadness wearing mom jeans. Funny! explores this material in depth, showcasing classic moments from all of Pixar's films to date, plus never-before-published illustrations and doodles from the Pixar archives. With an introduction by veteran story man Jason Katz, this book is a must-have for any Pixar fan. Copyright ©2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Decorating a Room of One's Own

Decorating a Room of One's Own
Author: Susan Harlan
Publisher: ABRAMS
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1683353420

What would Little Women be without the charms of the March family’s cozy New England home? Or Wuthering Heights without the ghost-infested Wuthering Heights? Getting lost in the setting of a good book can be half the pleasure of reading, and Decorating a Room of One’s Own brings literary backdrops to the foreground in this wryly affectionate satire of interior design reporting. English professor and humorist Susan Harlan spoofs decorating culture by reimagining its subject as famous fictional homes and “interviews” the residents who reveal their true tastes: Lady Macbeth’s favorite room in the castle, or the design inspiration behind Jay Gatsby’s McMansion of unfulfilled dreams. Featuring 30 entries of notable dwellings, sidebars such as “Setting Up an Ideal Governess’s Room,” and four-color spot illustrations throughout, Decorating a Room of One’s Own is the ideal book for readers who appreciate fine literature and a good end table.

A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces
Author: John Kennedy Toole
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0802197620

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).

Improv Nation

Improv Nation
Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 485
Release: 2017
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0544557204

A sweeping yet intimate--and often hilarious--history of a uniquely American art form that has never been more popular

The Book of Witty One-Liners

The Book of Witty One-Liners
Author: Manhardeep Singh
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre:
ISBN:

Would you like to be the smartest person in the room? These 1000 one-liners will make you the wittiest one people have ever met. The Book of Witty One-liners can: * Help you break the ice in any situation * Make you look the sharpest * Project you as the funniest * Attract people through your continuous one-liners * Give you a happy time reading them The Book of Witty One-liners is the p(h)unniest, wittiest, and the most hilarious compilation of one-liners that is sure to get your gut-busting. If you like to laugh your way to hilarity, have endless one-liners up your sleeve, then you'll love Manhardeep Singh's one-liners book. Buy The Book of Witty One-liners and have a hearty laugh!

Pranklopedia

Pranklopedia
Author: Julie Winterbottom
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2013-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0761167560

Collects practical jokes of different difficulties, from sabotaging a victim's drink to short-sheeting a bed to fake lottery cards.