As a stand-up comedian myself, I find a lot of so-called funny books to be hugely disappointing. In these days of authors wanting their amazing works listed in every possible category on Amazon, you often find books in the humor sections which have severely mistaken âa somewhat light toneâ or âoccasional moments of levityâ for being actual comedies. And donât even get me started on the reams of literotica with covers featuring musclebound torsos that fill up any search for something supposedly funny. Kindly f*ck off, writers of the latest Billionaire Bad Boy Romanceâyou do not belong here. Instead, here are some books that will actually make you laugh.
I wrote
Sam, Jake and Dylan Want Money: A Badly Behaved Comedy
Written by legendary Saturday Night Live writer Jack Handey, this is a trippy book dense with hilarity, quite literally joke after joke, which still somehow flows into an actual story, albeit a weird one. Iâd suggest that you only need to read the first sentence of the blurb to know if itâs for you or not. "Are you a fan of books in which famous tourist destinations are repurposed as unlivable hellholes for no particular reason? Read on!"
The legendary Deep Thoughts and New Yorker humorist Jack Handey is back with his very first novel-a hilarious, absurd, far-flung adventure tale.
The Stench of Honolulu
Are you a fan of books in which famous tourist destinations are repurposed as unlivable hellholes for no particular reason? Read on!
Jack Handey's exotic tale is full of laugh-out-loud twists and unforgettable characters whose names escape me right now. A reliably unreliable narrator and his friend, who is some other guy, need to get out of town. They have a taste for adventure, so they pay a visit to a relic of bygoneâŚ
If youâve ever read the viral email correspondence by the unhinged (or perhaps, remarkably sane?) author David Thorne, of cult website 27B/6, about how he tried to pay a phone bill with a picture of a spider, youâll know what youâre in for. Whether you have or not, this is a complete collection of Thorneâs hilarious email exchanges, which has on occasion reduced me to laughter almost painfulâI do not recommend reading in public, unless you want everyone giving you crazy looks.
Every existing, deleted, viral, popular & unpopular email correspondence ever posted on 27B/6 in one massive volume. That's right, even the one about ordering concrete from a florist that no-one liked.
"That's a fat book. Shipping will be expensive." Gary the accountant
"My 11-year-old thinks you're hilarious. He has autism." Michelle Thompson
When King Priam's pregnant daughter was fleeing the sack of Troy, Stan was there. When Jesus of Nazareth was beaten and crucified, Stan was there - one crossover. Heâs been a Hittite warrior, a Silk Road mercenary, a reluctant rebel in the Peasantâs Revolt of 1381, and an information peddlerâŚ
This fantastical story stars Elvis Presley and a time travelling Brussels sproutâneed I say more?âfrom one of the most celebrated humorist authors going. The good news is, if you like it, thereâs more in the series, then heaps of other crazy books by Rankin to devour.
Theological warfare. Elvis on an epic time-travel journey - the Presliad. Buddhavision - a network bigger than God (and more powerful, too). Nasty nuclear leftovers. Naughty sex habits. Dalai Dan (the 153rd reincarnation of the Lama of that ilk) and Barry, the talkative Time Sprout. Even with all this excitement, you wouldn't think a backwater planet like Earth makes much of a splash in the galatic pond.
But the soap opera called The Earthers is making big video bucks in the intergalactic ratings race. And alien TV execs know exactly whatâŚ
A classic on the absurdity of war which remains relevant to this day. It also has a really interesting and unique structureâno spoilers, but itâs not exactly linearâwhich I think of more like a complex painting, each chapter filling in a bit more of the canvas, until by the end you feel like you have the complete picture. Plus, very funny, of course.
Explosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel's strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller's classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage.
Set in the closing months of World War II, this is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. His real problem is not the enemy - it is his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. If Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from theâŚ
A hundred years in the future, in a world where technologically enhanced bodies are valued above organic ones, Complete Life Management (CLM) is selling perfection in the form of the latest and greatest bionic model, the Apogee. As an elite runner and inadvertent spokesperson for the humanism movement, NYPD DetectiveâŚ
A collection of American humorist Dave Barryâs newspaper columns, which Iâm often re-reading and laughing a great deal. Definitely âof itâs timeâ in parts (aka a bit dated), but it also contains plenty of general observations about life, family, and defending your home against tornados. A good one for the loo, as shaking with laughter might help you âmove things alongâ.
What Dave Barry did for the menâs movement in his Complete Guide to Guys and for foreign relations when he did Japan he now does for . . . everything in America. The rapacious observer of Tupperware ladies and leisure concept salesmen sounds off on:
FootballâFootball is more than just a game. It is a potential opportunity to see a live person lying on the ground with a bone sticking out of his leg, while the fans, to show their appreciation, perform âthe wave.â
When a failed writer, a part-time redhead and a violent jerk all live together in the worst apartment block in the known universe, what desperate degeneracy will result? Will they be able to make a buck selling illegal seafood to children in the park? Or solve the problem of their broken air con by blowing up the very sun itself? Or avoid their spineless waft of a landlord, to whom theyâve never paid a shred of rent? Or what?
Find out the answers to these, and other dumb questions you would have never thought to ask, in this stupid collection of unnecessary tales.