Finding Your Funny


Book Description

Finding Your Funny is the new book by award-winning comedian, comedy coach and filmmaker Don Barnhart that explores the Art, Science and Business of Stand Up Comedy. With a humorous and heartfelt forward by Comedy Legend George Wallace, Finding Your Funny goes beyond Barnhart's own journey and shares the brutal, often overlooked experience and advice of other comedians, entertainers, managers, agents and bookers. The book includes a no holds barred assessment about what clubs, venues and agents are really looking for as well as many of the things you need to do and avoid if you're looking into making comedy a career. With over 25 yeas of road experience as a comedian, comedy coach and booker, Don Barnhart's book offers great for the open mic comic, professional comedian and comedy fan. It includes personal tragedies, anecdotes and stories one can only get from living a life on the road. Barnhart, who founded The Las Vegas Comedy Institute where he teaches stand up, improv and comedy writing was inspired to write the book after the success of the documentary on his stand up comedy class, Finding The Funny directed by John Bizarre. "The book, Finding Your Funny began as an outline for my comedy class," said Barnhart in a recent phone interview where was performing overseas for the troops with his Battle Comics World Tour. Some of the topics covered in Finding Your Funny are: Can You Teach Funny?, The 'High' Cost of Fame, Getting Booked, Hurdles and Pitfalls, The Truth About Managers, Agents and Other Oddities, The Joke Police and When To Throw In The Towel. Barnhart added, "I tried to answer all the questions I wish I had when I was first starting out. I wanted to give a variety of opinions as there is no one, hard set rule but there are some guidelines to success."




Funny: The Book


Book Description

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.




The Humor Code


Book Description

Part road-trip comedy and part social science experiment, a scientist and a journalist travel the globe to discover the secret behind what makes things funny, questioning countless experts, including Louis C.K., along the way.




You're Funny!


Book Description

'You're Funny ' is the next best thing to being in a comedy writing class. It covers the different ways to earn a living as a comedy writer, including writing sitcoms, jokes for late night talk shows, parody, stand up, and screenwriting.




One-third Nerd


Book Description

Ten-year-old Liam and his two younger sisters, precocious third-grader Dakota and second-grader Izzy, who has Down syndrome, face the possibility of losing their beloved dog, Cupcake, who keeps urinating on their apartment's carpet in this funny, fast-paced, and heartfelt story from the Newbery Honor-winning author of the Al Capone series. Illustrations.




Humor That Works


Book Description

The author presents a collection of ways to reap the proven human and corporate benefits of humor at work, organized by core business skill and founded on his own work as a business speaker and coach with the consulting company, Humor That Works.




How to Be Funny


Book Description

An invaluable guide on how to "lighten up" from a distinguished pro who has provided laughs for JAY LENO, BILLY CRYSTAL, STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS, BRAD GARRETT, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, AND MANY MORE. Who hasn't wished for the perfect withering comeback line, a clever tension-breaking quip, or a winning flirtatious remark? Being funny is hard work and not everyone is a natural. How to Be Funny is a witty guide that teaches readers precisely how to be funnier in everyday life. It's a must-read for anyone who has to speak in public, be engaging and funny at work or at play, or who hopes to one day go out on a date. Jon Macks, a comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, Hollywood Squares, and the nation's top comedians, politicians, and corporate leaders, knows his funny business. Here he demystifies the process of making people laugh, breaks down the basic building blocks and types of humor -- which include self-deprecation, misdirection, deadpan delivery, sarcasm, and "the reverse" -- and reveals the best approaches to use in common situations. How to Be Funny features helpful (and hilarious) tips and anecdotes from the comic legends Mack's worked with -- including Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, Gilbert Gottfried, Billy Crystal, Rita Rudner, Dave Barry, and Carrie Fisher -- in his eleven years as one of the nation's top television writers. Whether the goal is to give a memorable public address or deliver a killer line with friends, How to Be Funny is a charming, instructive, and practical read.




Life, Funny Side Up


Book Description

My name is Tim Clark, and I'm 46 years old. By today's standard, middle aged I suppose, and being in the middle is something I've grown very used to over all of my years. I was the middle kid in my family, medium-sized, and of average intelligence. By all accounts, by any standard one could measure by, I'm the personification of the average Joe. The short stories in this book are all true and told to the best of my recollection. One hundred percent of the characters were created by God himself and presented here for your enjoyment. My hope is that you enjoy reading them but not because of the things that have happened to me, but that they may help you recall the stories of your own life and that you'll come to the same conclusion that I have. If your looking for something truly extraordinary in your life, keep in mind that the bathroom mirror is only a few steps away and keep in mind also that you'd look silly with a shaved head and a tattoo. Give this book a read and have a few laughs at my expense. I promise I won't get mad.




Find Your Funny


Book Description

A humor survival guide for ages 12 and up. This fun guide will help you develop a robust sense of humor and empower yourself with the positivity of humor. Make this survival guide your new BFF and start enjoying the many physical, psychological, and emotional benefits of laughter. Written by a comedy writer and a psychotherapist.




How to Be Funny


Book Description

No one knows more about comedy than Steve Allen. For more than five decades as a writer, performer, and keen observer of the social scene, he has looked into every aspect of who''s funny, what''s funny, and why. Allen shares his discoveries in How to Be Funny, the book designed to help everyone develop their special talent for funniness.Now reissued in paperback, How to Be Funny covers all the basics, including joke telling, ad-libbing, writing humorously, performing comedy, emceeing, and much more. Allen takes you inside the world of comedy, from the early writings of Mark Twain, to the more contemporary work of Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Maher. Allen even provides homework assignments for the budding comic!Yet How to Be Funny is far more than just a book for aspiring comedians it will help anyone who wants to be a more amusing conversationalist, a more effective public speaker, and everyone who just wants to be the life of the party.