The most recommended stand-up comedy books

I love this book because I can’t recall the last time I laughed so much while reading. As Leslie would say, “This b*tch is crazy!” Leslie’s wild stories about how she navigated her way into standup comedy made me throw my head back and howl with laughter.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed her narration style. She didn’t seem to be reading at all, rather than just following the general topics of the chapters. I don’t think that reading a paper book of Leslie’s story would have been as entertaining. Her magnetic personality shined, and I felt like I was just hanging out with her while she riffed about her life, telling hilarious story after story while I moved about my day.  

It is part memoir, part commentary on the art of stand-up comedy, offering insight into Stewart Lee’s career as a comedian, his relationship with the industry, and his personal development as a performer. The title refers to his “escape” from the confines of mainstream comedy and a comedic style he no longer found fulfilling. It also alludes to the gaggle of bible-thumpers who managed to cancel his multi-award-winning show, Jerry Springer: The Opera.

The book is structured around transcripts of Lee’s live performances, annotated with his reflections on each routine. He occasionally and hilariously rips into his own flaws and shortcomings as a stand-up comedian, all while delving deep into the craft of comedy—why certain jokes work, how audiences respond, and the importance of timing, structure, and pacing. The book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the intellectual and emotional processes that go into creating a comedy show.

Stewart Lee… show more.

I was drawn to this book because I had always loved Dave Allen's humour.  

Through Ms. Soutar's book I learned of his early life in Ireland and how his attendance at strict Catholic schools run by nuns helped to shape his later stand-up comedy routines. Not everybody enjoys Dave's kind of irreverent humour, but for me he was a comedy legend.

Such a compelling, well-crafted mystery! I had no idea how the various deaths, disappearances, and inexplicably eerie occurrences all fit together and I didn't want to put down the book until I'd found out.

Breathe Like a Bear is part of a series of seven books called Mindfulness Moments for Kids. I absolutely love this book as a way to immediately have real and effective tools to calm your toddler. The exercises in this book are simple, quick, and effective. Breathe Like a Bear is also illustrated so beautifully with vibrant colors to really keep young kids really engaged in the process. If you are looking to go further than identifying feelings and want to move into practices and tools to help regulate your child’s emotions, this is an excellent option. 

If I didn’t already own a paddle board, I would have to acquire one, having picked up this book. Jo has explored the rivers, lakes, lochs, canals, harbors, coasts, and beaches of England, Scotland, and Wales and discovered ideal waterways for paddleboarding.

The photographs are tempting enough, but her sheer delight at the places she describes so beautifully drove me to make a list of places to visit on my motorbike. 

Full disclosure: I know Chip Chinery. We both grew up in Cincinnati and we both got our “start” doing stand-up comedy as teenagers at a tiny, hole-in-the-wall comedy club named d.w. eye at the onset of the burgeoning 80’s comedy club boom.

What separates Chip’s memoir from other comedy biographies is the almost obsessive level of detail he provides in recounting his experiences as a young, Candide-like stand-up comic “finding himself” on the difficult and lonely midwestern comedy circuit road. (And yes, familiar comedy faces start to pop up regularly.) While dense with detail, this endearing memoir provides a hilarious, unflinching look at the realities of pursuing stand-up comedy far from home. For any aspiring comic, it's a must-read.

As someone of mixed heritage interested in how race, culture, and history intersect differently for different groups of people, I was immediately hooked by Cathy Park Hong’s book. Her examination of the Korean-American experience and all of the privileges and disadvantages of her race and position in society resonated hugely with me. 

But, almost more importantly, I found her essays thought-provoking, funny and wide-ranging. Stand-up comedy? Check. The 1992 LA riots? Check. The Beatles? Check. I’ve reread it multiple times and have recommended it to everyone I know.

Totally compelling plot and characters....This book was riveting and laugh out loud!

This is a masterclass in satirical writing but also just in novel writing. Coe manages to combine a gripping narrative and murder mystery with a scathing indictment of Great Britain in the 80s, when venal wealth was king and the country lost its soul. This was one of those books where I felt like I learned so much, about British culture, politics, corruption, and a 1961 comedy horror movie that shares its name with the book title, but I didn’t notice it because I was having such a good time. There are so many layers to the plot – and inventive dimensions to the way the story is told - and it’s one of my favorite books of all time.