-
September 21st, 2011Humor
Tags: Humor, Humour -
September 21st, 2011Books, Entertainment, Humor
Regina Barreca, Ph.D., in an article in Psychology Today, entitled “Snow White Doesn’t Live Here Anymore – Laughter, Pleasure, Malice, and the Pursuit of Adult Fun”, lists 30 books that she finds “very funny” . . . so funny that they make her laugh until her “mascara starts to run”.
Dr. Barreca says, “These are books to read over your first cup of coffee or just before you go to sleep. Remember: a day you’ve laughed is day you haven’t wasted–even if you didn’t get out of bed.”
Gina Barreca, Ph.D., is Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, author of It’s Not That I’m Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World (St. Martin’s Press), and has appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, CNN, Joy Behar, Dr. Phil, and Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics, popular culture, and humor.Here is her list:
1. Cold Comfort Farm
by Stella Gibbons2. Three Men in a Boat and Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
by Jerome K. Jerome3. But Enough About You and If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
by Cynthia Heimel4. The Sylvia Chronicles
by Nicole Hollander5. When Do They Serve the Wine?
by Liza Donnelly6. In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories
by Jean Shepard7. How I Got To Be Perfect
by Jean Kerr8. The World According to Dave Barry or anything else written
by Dave Barry9. Heartburn
by Nora Ephron10. Without Feathers
by Woody Allen11. The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
by Fay Weldon12. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
by Anita Loos13. The Complete Stories of Dorothy Parker
by Dorothy Parker14. With Malice Towards Some
by Margaret Halsey15. Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?
by Molly Ivins16. The Best of Robert Benchley or anything else written
by Robert Benchley17. How to Raise Your I.Q. By Eating Gifted Children
by Lewis Burke Frumkes18. Social Studies and Metropolitan Life
by Fran Lebowitz19. A Marriage Made in Heaven–or Too Tired for an Affair and
I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression
by Erma Bombeck20. City Boy
by Herman Wouk21. The Loved One
by Evelyn Waugh22. Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger23. Brain Droppings
by George Carlin24. Help! I’m a Prisoner in a Chinese Bakery! and
Whoever Owns His Own Home, Deserves It
by Alan King25. The Hypochondriac’s Guide To Life. And Death.
By Gene Weingarten26. The Queen and I
by Sue Townshend27. Not Waving, But Drowning and
A Good Time Was Had by All
by Stevie Smith28. Small World
by David Lodge29. The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
by Jane Wagner30. Is Sex Necessary?
by James Thurber and E.B. WhiteI must admit that I have not read all of these books . . . and although I agree that the Woody Allen, George Carlin and Robert Benchley books, among some others, are very funny, I can’t see myself laughing until my mascara runs whilst reading Catcher in the Rye.
Here are some books that I thought were truly funny:
These are just the ones that immediately came to mind . . . and, yes, I realize that they are not great examples of “literature”; however, they are truly funny!
It would be great if you would add a comment to this post and share with us the books that you think are very funny.
Tags: Books, Humor, Humour -
September 11th, 2011Humor
I love paraprosdokians.
What, you may ask, are paraprosdokians?
Here is the definition:
“Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising
or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a type of paraprosdokian.
Here are some of my favorites:
1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat
you with experience.2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.
3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak.4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a
fruit salad.8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to
tell you why it isn’t.9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is
research.
10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train
stops. On my desk, I have a work station.11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.
12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of
emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with
a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful
man is usually another woman.16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole
a bike and asked for forgiveness.18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to
skydive twice.19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they
can’t get away.21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit
the target.24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a
garage makes you a car.27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you
look forward to the trip.
28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they
were.29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and a
shot of tequila.30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department
usually uses water.
Tags: figure of speech, Humor, Humour, Language, paraprosdokians -
All good things must come to an end . . . and so my Canadian vacation has reached it’s conclusion.
My final vacation destination was Calgary, Alberta. During my visit there, I was honored to be the guest at the wedding of two wonderful young people.
It was, of course, the bride’s and groom’s (and their families’) big day . . . and I don’t want to take anything away from that . . .
HOWEVER, at the wedding reception, I had the opportunity to meet a big celebrity – an Internet phenom named Koi!
Above is a photo that I snapped of Koi being hugged by friend of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous). (By the way, Koi is not writhing in pain from the hug; he was playing a wicked air guitar at the time.)
So, how is it that Koi is a celebrity? Watch this clip from So Graham Norton and see if you can spot him. (Hint: He was much younger in this clip).
I’m sure you were able to pick him out. If not, here’s an even bigger hint:
(You can see the original photo at AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com)Well, I had a terrific time on my Canadian vacation . . . and now it’s back to work!
Tags: Awkward Family Photos, Canada, Celebrities, Humor, Humour -
August 22nd, 2011Humor
I’ve put together a collection of photos of things that [begin sarcasm] appear to be legitimate [end sarcasm].
Enjoy:
Tags: Humor, Humour -
May 30th, 2011Entertainment, Humor
As you will know, if you’ve read some of my previous posts, I am a huge fan of British comedies.
I had no idea of the number of incredible British comedies that I had yet to discover . . . until I got my subscription to Netflix. A whole new world was opened up to me!
My latest obsession is “Saxondale”.
Steve Coogan stars as Tommy Saxondale, a world-travelled ex-roadie with anger-management issues and a pest control business in Stevenage.
Tommy Saxondale
Tommy lives with his girlfriend Magz, proprietress of the anarchic T-shirt shop “Smash the System”, and regularly attends anger management sessions.
Magz
Tommy regards himself as a maverick and a free-thinker and takes every opportunity to impart his wisdom to his young assistant Raymond.
Raymond
And as well as Pharaoh ants, mice and occasionally moths, Tommy has to battle with snowboarders, pigeon-loving activists . . . and people who talk about property prices.
While Tommy enjoys talking about himself, training Raymond in the mysterious and deadly art of pest control, and sharing a few life lessons, Raymond has little choice but to listen. He lives in Tommy’s spare room and gets an uncomfortably close view of Tommy and Magz’s sparky relationship.
Tommy knows his own mind and isn’t afraid to speak it. Unfortunately, those around him don’t give him quite the level of respect he feels he deserves.
Vicky, the receptionist who hands out the jobs for Tommy’s Stealth Pest Control operation, takes ‘banter’ to the next level, knowing exactly how to provoke instant frustration.
Vicky
You can get a taste of Saxondale on YouTube. (Indeed, you can watch full episodes, usually divided into two or three parts). Here is Tommy at one of his anger management sessions:
Aside from YouTube, you can watch the series on Netflix, or buy the DVDs.
I highly recommend it.
Check out these related blogs
Tags: BBC, British comedy, Saxondale -
May 16th, 2011Entertainment, Humor
Although I am, perhaps, the greatest judge of comedy in the entire world, I don’t expect you to just take my word about such things as “Little Britain”, “Catherine Tate”, “Mitchell and Webb”, “The Ricky Gervais Show”, “Mrs. Brown’s Boys“, etc., etc.
I encourage you to go to Youtube, and take a look at some “snippets” from these shows.
Although you can find pretty much all the shows represented there, here are a few examples from “That Mitchell and Webb Look“:
Check out these related blogs
- Mrs Brown Gets A Bikini Wax. | StylingOnLine
- LATEST STAND-UP RICKY GERVAIS Hbo Special 15 November 2008 …
- The Ricky Gervais show series 2? | Get Tickets On Sale
- Ricky Gervais on being an athiest « Ben's Collection of Everything …
- Little Britain's Come Fly With Me 'too offensive' for regional …
- New shows opening this week: David Tennant, Catherine Tate, James …
- 10 handy jQuery mobile tips and snippets to get you started …
- Airdate: A Quiet Word With Catherine Tate :TV Tonight
- TrekToday » Blog Archive » Stewart And Corden Film Comedy Sketch
- The Ricky Gervais Show (2010) Season 1, 2
- This Catherine Trailer Has Snippets Of English Voice Acting …
- The Ricky Gervais Show is quite funny…. « Scout Network Blog
- Catherine Tate Meets Tony Blair – Superb! – James Woodcock
- That Difficult Want Entire world Peace | Personal Injury Lawyer …
- Ricky R. PaperPlanes Ft. Carlito On Da Mic – Zero Coro « DL4U …
- Orders For New NBC Comedy Series 'Bent' & 'BFFs' Are For 6 Eps …
- Fox To Schedule Midseason Comedy Block – Deadline.com
- 'Bridesmaids' Actress Pair Sell Comedy Pitch To Paramount …
- David Tennant & Catherine Tate Feature On This Weeks Graham Norton …
- Logan Ostrom & Ricky Lopez Split Edit | The Union
Tags: BBC Humor -
May 16th, 2011Humor
Yesterday, I posted about great BBC comedies . . . however, a great travesty was unintentionally committed.
I am quite embarrassed that I did not mention “That Mitchell and Webb Look“.
Without taking anything away from “The Catherine Tate Show“, I have to say that “That Michell and Webb Look” is somewhat (only somewhat) better.
I would rank “That Michell and Webb Look” second to “Little Britain“, with “The Catherine Tate Show” coming in a close third.
Sorry.
Check out these related blogs
- Marketing | Tech Widgets
- Amazon, PopCap Strike Deal | Xconomy
- Little Britain's Come Fly With Me 'too offensive' for regional …
- Airdate: A Quiet Word With Catherine Tate :TV Tonight
- The party – The Young Ones – BBC comedy | TV Series Blog Online
- The Office Exclusive: Ray Romano, James Spader, Catherine Tate in …
- What Are Interactive Apps and Widgets?
- The Catherine Tate Show-Derek Faye-Gay Men's Health Clinic | Tips …
- BBC America Launches Comedy Block – Deadline.com
- Giveaway: $150 in Amazon Gift Cards
- Alternative Energy – Michell Instruments Expands Manufacturing by …
- Amazon prepping dual-core 'Coyote' and quad-core 'Hollywood …
- The Catherine Tate Show: Bernie – Hypnosis | Understanding Mind …
- Amazon working up two Android tablets under “Coyote” and …
- Miami Food Trucks » Get To Know Michell Sanchez and Latin House Grill
- PopCap Launches First Android Games Exclusively on Amazon Appstore …
- DailyTipsPro.com – Dog Training Tips – The Catherine Tate Show …
- Osama Is Gone But Has Left Michell Obama And The World Stuttering …
- BBC instructs staff on how to go to the toilet – Telegraph Blogs
- BBC America Announces 'Ministry of Laughs' Comedy Block | BBC …
Tags: BBC Comedy, Humor, Humour -
May 15th, 2011Entertainment, Humor, Movies
Okay, no more Demetri Martin.
However, it you want to watch something even funnier than Demetri Martin . . .
Growing up in Canada, I was exposed to more British comedy that my American friends. We had Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Father Brown, Fawlty Towers, Mr. Bean, Keeping Up Appearances, Black Adder, etc., etc. More recently we’ve enjoyed Little Britain, Brilliant, The Ali G Show, The Office, and so on.
Some of you whom are not from Commonwealth countries may say, “Oh, I’ve seen Mr. Bean, Ali G., The Office, and others”. I’m sorry to say, however, that what you’ve probably seen are “dumbed down”, crappy U.S. versions, and movies that absolutely suck, and are geared towards 14-year-old American boys.
Trust me, if you want to see real BBC comedy at it’s funniest, you have to see the following recently new programmes (that’s how you spell “programs” in the UK):
- The Catherine Tate Show. This is almost as good as Little Britain, and that is a huge compliment! Episodes of this show can be seen if you have a Netflix subscription (and live in a country where you can get Netflix). If the Little Britain chaps got back together and added Catherine Tate to their show, it would be orgasmic!
- Mrs. Brown’s Boys. Hilarious! Make sure you watch the half-hour BBC version, rather than the original Irish TV/Movies. The production values, casting, makeup . . . everything is better.
- The Ricky Gervais Show. This was a podcast that was subsequently turned into an animated series. This is just three guys (Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington) sitting down and “talking”. You all know who Rick Gervais is. Stephen Merchant was co-writer and co-director of The Office, as well as other Ricky Gervais projects. (If you’re a real geek, you might know that Merchant voiced the character Wheatley in the brand-new video game Portal 2). The star of the show, however, is Pilkington who is a completely, unintentionally “mental”. Pilkington has become a big star – search Google and you’ll find almost 900 sites, including Pilkipedia, his own dedicated Wikipedia-type site.
You can watch The Ricky Gervais Show episodes on HBO GO (again, if you live in a country where you can get HBO GO.
If you can’t get (or don’t want to invest in) Netflix or HBO GO, you could try illegally downloading these shows from some site like Vuze (or any number of others); however, I certainly would not encourage that criminal behaviour (“behavior”, for those not in a Commonwealth country), particularly since it has been announced that thousands of illegal downloading “pirates” will be prosecuted in the coming months).
The other alternative is to purchase the videos at your local Best Buy (or similar), or order them from Amazon.com:
(I don’t recommend that you buy the Mrs. Brown’s videos from Amazon.com, because they are the original programs, not the better BBC series. Maybe someone in the UK could send them to you . . . you certainly don’t want to pirate them from Vuze.com or isohunt.com or some other scourge of the Internet!)
Anyway, I greatly digress . . . I would like to provide you with interesting full-length movies and documentaries, from time-to-time. Today, I offer a great documentary entitled Confessions of a Superhero. It is very interesting to see how other (strange) people live. It’s been suggested that I suffer from OCD; however, I don’t hoard a purported million dollars worth of Superman memorabilia in my crap-hole of a hovel, and then dress up like Superman every day and go down to Hollywood Blvd and stand in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, hoping to get buck or two from tourists who want their photo taken with me . . . nor do I claim to be the son of the famous late actress Sandy Dennis (which her family denies).
Enjoy Confessions of a Superhero:
Check out these related blogs
- Mrs Brown Gets A Bikini Wax. | StylingOnLine
- Mr Bean – DIY_Sock Eyed
- LATEST STAND-UP RICKY GERVAIS Hbo Special 15 November 2008 …
- Monty Python- Penguin on the Television | Los Angeles People
- Reviewers liken The Hotel to Fawlty Towers | Laughlines
- The Ricky Gervais Show S01-S02 DVDRip-HDTV XviD | IRFree.com
- The Ricky Gervais Show S01-S02 720p HDTV x264 | IRFree.com
- ali g harvard speach part 2 | Tell me about yourself answer
- Cameroon: CRTV to Launch New Programmes | Central African Studies
- Keeping up appearances
- The Best Bits of Mr. Bean | New DVD and Blu Rays
- Stevens Blog » Blog Archive » Watch Monty Python Holy Trinity …
- Gadget 411 News » Portal 2 for Xbox 360 Video Game Review
- Love/Hate TV Review: Cutting-Edge Irish Drama That Shows The True …
- Airdate: A Quiet Word With Catherine Tate :TV Tonight
- Lauren – French exam – The Catherine Tate Show – BBC comedy | TV …
- Disney XD Star Joins Campaign for L.A.?s Feral Cats | TV Series …
- Extreme Dodgeball All Star Match (Part 1) | TV Series Blog Online
- Twitter | Stephen Merchant
- Ali G interviews Noam Chomsky — South DaCola
Tags: Catherine Tate, Confessions of a Superhero, Karl Pilkington, Little Britain, Mrs. Brown's Boys, The Ricky Gervais Show -
May 11th, 2011Books, Entertainment, Humor
Due to overwhelming demand, I will do one more post concerning Demetri Martin. However, after this, you need to get out the credit card and buy your own dvds, cds, Netflix subscriptions, or whatever. There are such things as “fair comments” and “reviews”; however, there comes a time when one crosses the line into “copyright violation” and “plagiarism” and the like.
I love Demetri Martin’s humor and I consider this to be a review of his material . . . but enough is enough. If you enjoy the excerpts I have given you, I suggest (no, I insist) that you compensate Mr. Martin by purchasing some of his “stuff”.
Okay, that said, let’s start out with a couple of quotes:
Every cloud has a silver lining. Right. Okay. And, tell me again how a silver lining helps me?
“It is better to kill someone with kindness.” Indeed, it is. May I suggest showering them with gifts, very heavy gifts.
Now a diagram:
How about a crossword puzzle:
Here are the clues:
To see the solution, click HERE
And finally, a sort of “short story”:
Did you enjoy that? If so, buy some Demetri Martin stuff . . . you won’t regret it.
Check out these related blogs
- Conan 2011.05.09 Demetri Martin Kat Dennings HDTV XviD-sHoTV …
- Kindness: The Core of 12 Religions | Gail Lynne Goodwin's Blog
- Computer Network | Tech Widgets
- Beautiful widgets review (Android Application) demo on Nexus One …
- Music Ally | Blog Archive » Google and Amazon's cloud lockers may …
- Credit Cards gone wild! – UnRoadWarrior
- Credit Card Debt Management Can Prevent a Financial Crisis | Apply …
- Unbundled Mondays: My short story Aerophilia available as eBook at …
- That VideoGame Blog » Second LA Noire short story available now
- Apple Patents Detail Web Clip Widgets for iOS, iPad with Extra …
- $20 Chrome OS laptop student subscriptions expected today …
- Crossword puzzle | Play flash online games
- Citicards – Which Citi Credit Card To Get? 2011 May
- Green Building: From Geodesic Domes to Today's Demand for Energy …
- Amazon Cloud Player now plays friendly with iOS | BGR
- Don't Hesitate to Report a Credit Card as Stolen
- The Super-injuncted Crossword Puzzle.
- Labels playing the Apple card to force Amazon, Google into …
- How to Add WordPress Widgets to your Blog Sidebar | wordpress-theme
- Why the loss of 'World of Warcraft' subscriptions should not be news
Tags: Humor, Humour
Recent Comments