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Lies my mother told me : tall tales from a short woman / by Rivers, Melissa,1969-author.;
"If you think Joan Rivers said funny, outrageous, and ridiculous things ONSTAGE, wait 'til you read the funny, outrageous, and ridiculous things she said OFFSTAGE ... things that will make you laugh out loud ... and keep Melissa in therapy for the foreseeable future"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Anecdotes.; Humor.; Personal narratives.; Rivers, Joan; Rivers, Melissa, 1969-; American wit and humor.; Comedians; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Stop me if you've heard this one : a novel / by Arnett, Kristen,author.;
"Cherry Hendricks might be down on her luck, but she can write the book on what makes something funny: she's a professional clown who creates raucous, zany fun at gigs all over Orlando. Between her clowning and her shifts at an aquarium store for extra cash, she's always hustling. Not to mention balancing her judgmental mother, her messy love life, and her equally messy community of fellow performers. Things start looking up when Cherry meets Margot the Magnificent-a much older lesbian magician-who seems to have worked out the lines between art, business, and life, and has a slick, successful career to prove it. With Margot's mentorship and industry connections, Cherry is sure to take her art to the next level. Plus, Margot is sexy as hell. It's not long before Cherry must decide how much she's willing to risk for Margot and for her own explosive new act-and what kind of clown she wants to be under her suit"--
Subjects: Lesbian fiction.; Queer fiction.; Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Clowns; Interpersonal relations; Lesbians; Woman-woman relationships; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In on the joke : the original queens of standup comedy / by Levy, Shawn,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Today, women are ascendant in standup comedy, even preeminent. They make headlines, fill arenas, spawn blockbuster movies. But before Amy Schumer slayed, Tiffany Haddish killed, and Ali Wong drew roars, the very idea of a female comedian seemed, to most of America, like a punchline. And it took a special sort of woman-indeed, a parade of them-to break and remake the mold. In on the Joke is the story of a group of unforgettable women who knocked down the doors of standup comedy so other women could get a shot. It spans decades, from Moms Mabley's rise in Black vaudeville between the World Wars, to the roadhouse ribaldry of Belle Barth and Rusty Warren in the '50s and '60s, to Elaine May's co-invention of improv comedy, to Joan Rivers' and Phyllis Diller's ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom. These women refused to be defined by type and tradition, facing down indifference, puzzlement, nay-saying, and unvarnished hostility. They were discouraged by agents, managers, audiences, critics, fellow performers-even their families. And yet they persevered against the tired notion that women couldn't be funny, making space not only for themselves but for the women who followed them. Meticulously researched and irresistibly drawn, Shawn Levy's group portrait forms a new pantheon of comedy excellence. In on the Joke shows how women broke into the boys' club, offered new ideas of womanhood, and had some laughs along the way"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Stand-up comedy; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Yes please / by Poehler, Amy,1971-author.;
Subjects: Poehler, Amy, 1971-; Actors; Television actors and actresses; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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I curse you with joy / by Haddish, Tiffany,1979-author.;
"Readers last sat down with Tiffany in her bestselling debut The Last Black Unicorn. Since then, Haddish has catapulted to A-list fame as the breakout star of Girls Trip. She's walked the Oscars red carpet, released a hit stand-up special with Netflix, and made history as the first Black female comedian to host Saturday Night Live and Shark Week ... [This autobiography-in-essays] celebrates all the lessons she learned along the way-the joy and the pain. Tiffany reckons with the legacy of her childhood trauma, the challenges of being a Black woman in the entertainment industry, and her bittersweet reunion with her estranged father after twenty years apart"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Essays.; Personal narratives.; Haddish, Tiffany, 1979-; Haddish, Tiffany, 1979-; Actresses; African American actresses; African American women comedians; Comedians; Motion picture actors and actresses; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Hello, Molly! : a memoir / by Shannon, Molly,1964-author.; Wilsey, Sean,author.;
"At age four, Molly Shannon's world was shattered when she lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident with her father at the wheel. Held together by her tender and complicated relationship with her grieving father, Molly and her sister Mary were raised in a permissive household where Molly's gift for improvising and role-playing blossomed alongside the fearlessness that would lead her to become a celebrated actress. From there, Molly ventured into the wider world of New York and Los Angeles show business, where she created her own opportunities and developed her daring and empathetic comedy. Filled with behind-the-scenes stories involving everyone from Whitney Houston to Adam Sandler to Monica Lewinsky, many told for the first time here, Hello, Molly! spans Molly's time on Saturday Night Live, where she starred alongside Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Tracy Morgan, and Jimmy Fallon, among many others. At the same time, it explores with humor and candor her struggle to come to terms with the legacy of her father, a man who was left with the impossible task of raising his kids alone after the loss of her mother, and yet still managed to foster Molly's gifts and drive ... Hello, Molly!, written with Sean Wilsey, sheds new and revelatory light on the life and work of one of our most talented and free-spirited performers"--Dust jacket flap.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Shannon, Molly, 1964-; Actresses; Comedians; Television actors and actresses; Women comedians; Women television personalities;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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What will people think? : a novel / by Hamdan, Sara,author.;
Mia Almas has a secret. By day, she works at a respectable job as a media fact checker -- a position her conservative, Arab grandparents approve of -- and, by night, she takes to the stages of New York City comedy clubs. She holds herself back in a lot of ways, especially in the romance department, but being on stage lights her up and makes being a wallflower the rest of the time more bearable. That is, until Phaedra, her stylish and bold new neighbor, inspires Mia to take a few risks. As Mia pursues a forbidden romance with her boss, her standup gets better and bolder, leading to a surprise spotlight that exposes her secret gig. Horrified and worried that her rebellious act could mean big consequences for her reserved Palestinian-American family, Mia frantically dives into damage control. But all of her efforts to pull back from the spotlight expose a family scandal from the 1940s that could change everything ... Equal parts funny and tender, What Will People Think? is a heart-bursting exploration of what it means to discover and embrace the hidden parts of yourself, and how love in all forms can make you whole.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Family secrets; Immigrant families; Man-woman relationships; Palestinian Arabs; Stand-up comedy; Women comedians;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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I'm laughing because I'm crying : a memoir / by Mayer, Youngmi,author.;
""Do you know what happens if you laugh while crying? Hair grows out of your butthole." So went the saying Youngmi Mayer's mother would recite-a saying Youngmi didn't take to but lived through in every situation: laughing and crying at a funeral, laughing and crying at her family's traumatic history, even laughing and crying as her mother berated her for taking too long to put her socks back on. And it is with her mother's words and Youngmi's brash wit and irreverence that takes readers through I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying and into the complexities of her identity as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. It takes us through an adolescence where she has to parent her own parents: a mother who married her husband because he looked like Jesus and also The Bee Gees (all of them). And, she takes us through a century of colonialism and war in Korea and how that has shaped her family and now, a hundred years later, still affects her in New York City as a queer single mom, all the while interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality. And she may make you cry, but most of all, she wants you to laugh. Because one cannot exist without the other. And like a yin and yang, this duality is reflected in this whip-smart, heart-wrenching, and disarmingly funny memoir. So, here it is. She hopes it makes you laugh while crying. And she hopes it makes you grow hair out of your butthole"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Mayer, Youngmi; Mayer, Youngmi.; Comedians; Korean Americans; Multiracial people; Multiracial people; Podcasters; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Miss May does not exist : the life and work of Elaine May, Hollywood's hidden genius / by Courogen, Carrie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Miss May Does Not Exist, by Carrie Courogen is the riveting biography of comedian, director, actor and writer Elaine May, one of America's greatest comic geniuses. May began her career as one-half of the legendary comedy team known as Nichols and May, the duo that revolutionized the comedy sketch. After performing their Broadway smash An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Elaine set out on her own. She toiled unsuccessfully on Broadway for a while, but then headed to Hollywood where she became the director of A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the legendary Ishtar. She was hired as a script doctor on countless films like Heaven Can Wait, Reds, Tootsie, and The Birdcage. In 2019, she returned to Broadway where she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in The Waverly Gallery. Besides her considerable talent, May is well known for her reclusiveness. On one of the albums she made with Mike Nichols, her bio is this: "Miss May does not exist." Until now. Carrie Courogen has uncovered the Elaine May who does exist. Conducting countless interviews, she has filled in the blanks May has forcibly kept blank for years, creating a fascinating portrait of the way women were mistreated and held back in Hollywood. Miss May Does Not Exist is a remarkable love story about a prickly genius who was never easy to work with, not always easy to love and frequently often punished for those things, despite revolutionizing the way we think about comedy, acting, and what a film or play can be"--
Subjects: Biographies.; May, Elaine, 1932-; Women comedians; Women motion picture producers and directors; Women screenwriters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Grand : a memoir / by Schaefer, Sara Carole,1978-author.;
"When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can't escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it's revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is drilled into Sara and it becomes the perfect framework on which to build her anxiety and increasingly-obsessive thoughts. The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her younger sister. The only problem is she's terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life. Heartfelt, candid, and witty, Grand is a story about family, identity, and struggling to make something of yourself. Sara deconstructs her struggles with anxiety and depression, what it means to be a good person, and the radically discordant stories we tell ourselves and share with the world"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Schaefer, Sara Carole, 1978-; Schaefer, Sara Carole, 1978-; Shaffer family; Comedians; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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