5 books like Dumb Jokes for Smart Folks

By Jessica Delfino,

Here are 5 books that Dumb Jokes for Smart Folks fans have personally recommended if you like Dumb Jokes for Smart Folks. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Untrue Stories of Fiction

Bob Eckstein Author Of The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-Ish in This Current Sh*tstorm

From my list on make you laugh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love comedy and have made it my living my whole life as a columnist and writer for every major humor site and publication including MAD, SPY, American Bystander, Playboy, McSweeney’s, The Village Voice and worked with the funniest humorists in the world. My cartoons have appeared around the world as well as The New Yorker. I’ve appeared in over 100 TV and radio appearances speaking on the subject of humor.

Bob's book list on make you laugh

Bob Eckstein Why did Bob love this book?

This is the guy who wrote Deeper Thoughts and some of the best sketches on Saturday Night Live. He is a regular in The New Yorker and American Bystander and one of our generation’s finest humorists. This collection I feel is his best yet. I read a passage before I go to sleep to deal with this crazy world.

Book cover of The # * % < ! + & Year in Review

Bob Eckstein Author Of The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-Ish in This Current Sh*tstorm

From my list on make you laugh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love comedy and have made it my living my whole life as a columnist and writer for every major humor site and publication including MAD, SPY, American Bystander, Playboy, McSweeney’s, The Village Voice and worked with the funniest humorists in the world. My cartoons have appeared around the world as well as The New Yorker. I’ve appeared in over 100 TV and radio appearances speaking on the subject of humor.

Bob's book list on make you laugh

Bob Eckstein Why did Bob love this book?

Possibly the most underrated cartoonist in the world. Everyone knows his work from Seinfeld and The Simpsons––I’m not overstating this is a comic genius. This book attempts to make sense out of this disastrous period in our history through his unique drawings and visual puns. This book is a Master Class in modern editorial cartooning.  

By Ron Hauge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The # * % < ! + & Year in Review as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2020 was hard. 2020 hindsight is easy!

We don't have to tell you what it was like. You were there. The pandemic, unemployment, civil unrest. Trump. More Trump. Maybe a little laughter could help. What have you got to lose?!

From Emmy® Award winner Ron Hauge (The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Ren & Stimpy Show, In Living Color) comes 'The # * % < ! + & Year In Review', a retrospective collection of single-panel, full-color cartoons selected from his popular Instagram account. The year 2020 will not soon be forgotten, but perhaps we can gain a little perspective with these…


Book cover of Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers

Bob Eckstein Author Of The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-Ish in This Current Sh*tstorm

From my list on make you laugh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love comedy and have made it my living my whole life as a columnist and writer for every major humor site and publication including MAD, SPY, American Bystander, Playboy, McSweeney’s, The Village Voice and worked with the funniest humorists in the world. My cartoons have appeared around the world as well as The New Yorker. I’ve appeared in over 100 TV and radio appearances speaking on the subject of humor.

Bob's book list on make you laugh

Bob Eckstein Why did Bob love this book?

Mike Sacks is an authority on comedy and scholar who created two volumes which are a Comedy Bible for any humorist, interviewing the funniest people from the last fifty years. This is a must-read for any comedy geek. The other volume is And Here’s the Kicker. But wait, that’s all, as they say. Sacks has also become the king of kitsch producing a series of books mocking pop culture (Slouchers, Passable In Pink, Randy! and Stinker Lets Loose!)

By Mike Sacks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Poking a Dead Frog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR

Amy Poehler, Mel Brooks, Adam McKay, George Saunders, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, and many more take us deep inside the mysterious world of comedy in this fascinating, laugh-out-loud-funny book. Packed with behind-the-scenes stories-from a day in the writers' room at The Onion to why a sketch does or doesn't make it onto Saturday Night Live to how the BBC nearly erased the entire first season of Monty Python's Flying Circus-Poking a Dead Frog is a must-read for comedy buffs, writers and pop culture junkies alike.


Book cover of This Is a Book

Bob Eckstein Author Of The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-Ish in This Current Sh*tstorm

From my list on make you laugh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love comedy and have made it my living my whole life as a columnist and writer for every major humor site and publication including MAD, SPY, American Bystander, Playboy, McSweeney’s, The Village Voice and worked with the funniest humorists in the world. My cartoons have appeared around the world as well as The New Yorker. I’ve appeared in over 100 TV and radio appearances speaking on the subject of humor.

Bob's book list on make you laugh

Bob Eckstein Why did Bob love this book?

I think this is the stand-up’s best material, a combination of his short stories and drawings. Unlike most humor books this is a generous amount here but never boring or repetitive. I don’t know how this book didn’t receive more recognition than it did. There is very little else out there at this level of quality. I literally, pun intended, read this book at least three times.

By Demetri Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Is a Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Demetri Martin is a Very Important Award-Winning Comedian, so spends a lot of his time time travelling around, with a notebook, filling it with jokes and incredibly long palindromes (over 500-words long, in fact). The very best of those are collected here, from his acclaimed comic drawings and the world's worst comeback lines, to brilliant charts and graphs (Incidence of Lung Cancer in Dragons, a Sad Clown/Happy Clown venn diagram) and a bittersweet ghost love story. Add in hilarious pieces on The Deleted Scene from A Christmas Carol, A Cappella Group Freak Accidents and Frustrating Uses of Etc., and This…


Book cover of You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

Ginny Hogan Author Of I'm More Dateable Than a Plate of Refried Beans: And Other Romantic Observations

From my list on humor to make you laugh out loud.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a humor writer and stand-up comedian. I spend much of my time trying to get my comedy into the shortest form possible so it can “go viral,” but I’d rather work on projects that have space to breathe, like books. I don’t think enough people appreciate how funny books can be. Often, humor seems like the purview of more visual mediums. However, while books are quieter than TV shows and live performances, they have just as much capacity for humor. When a book truly makes me laugh out loud, I want to tell everyone. And the following five books do.

Ginny's book list on humor to make you laugh out loud

Ginny Hogan Why did Ginny love this book?

This book covers a serious subject matter with levity and warmth. Ruffin and Lamar take the reader on a tour of racist incidents in their lives. While the severity is clear, it’s also clear they want the reader to learn. I found the book eye-opening and insightful, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

By Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND INDIE NEXT PICK*

Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences of racism.

Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal." But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you'll never believe…


2 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in racism, Harriet Tubman, and Nebraska?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about racism, Harriet Tubman, and Nebraska.

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