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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;

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;

Quietly hostile : essays / by Irby, Samantha,author.;
"Beloved writer Samantha Irby has returned to the printed page for her much-anticipated, sidesplitting fourth book following her 2020 breakout, Wow, no thank you, a Vintage Books Original. The success of Irby's career has taken her to new heights. She fields calls with job offers from Hollywood and walks the red carpet with the iconic ladies of Sex and the City. Finally, she has made it. But, behind all that new-found glam, Irby is just trying to keep her life together as she always had. Her teeth are poisoning her from inside her mouth, and her diarrhea is back. She gets turned away from a restaurant for wearing ugly clothes, she goes to therapy and tries out Lexapro, gets healed with Reiki, explores the power of crystals, and becomes addicted to QVC. Making light of herself as she takes us on an outrageously funny tour of all the details that make up a true portrait of her life, Irby is once again the relatable, uproarious tonic we all need"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Essays.; Personal narratives.; Irby, Samantha.; African American comedians; African American women authors; American wit and humor.; Authors, American; Bloggers; Comedians;

Sure, I'll join your cult : a memoir of mental illness and the quest to belong anywhere / by Bamford, Maria,1970-author.;
"From "weird, scary, ingenious" (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems--from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Suzuki violin training, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs. Maria Bamford is a comedian's comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it. In Bamford's signature voice, Sure, I'll Join Your Cult, brings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between. Singular and inimitable, Bamford's memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she's invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following)"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Bamford, Maria, 1970-; Comedians; Mentally ill;

So anyway / by Cleese, John,author.;
Subjects: Cleese, John.; Monty Python (Comedy troupe); Actors; Comedians;

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;

I can't make this up : life lessons / by Hart, Kevin,1979-author.; Strauss, Neil,author.;
Subjects: Biographies.; Hart, Kevin, 1979-; Comedians; Motion picture actors and actresses;

Ali's well that ends well : tales of desperation and a little inspiration / by Wentworth, Alexandra,author.;
Like many, Ali Wentworth spent the pandemic seesawing between highs, lows, and baking an unnecessary amount of chocolate cake. Between binging every tv show in existence to conquering TikTok to becoming a (semi) empty-nester, Ali experienced her share of turmoil (including an early case of Covid), but she also grew a little, learned a lot, and found comfort in some unexpected people and places.
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Wentworth, Alexandra.; Comedians; Television actors and actresses; Women;

My lucky life in and out of show business [sound recording] / by Van Dyke, Dick.; Reiner, Carl,1922-;
Read by the author ; foreword written and read by Carl Reiner.
Subjects: Van Dyke, Dick.; Audiobooks.; Comedians; Television actors and actresses;
© p2011., Random House Audio,

John Candy : a life in comedy / by Myers, Paul,1960-author.; Aykroyd, Dan,writer of foreword.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From his humble beginnings in sketch comedy with the Toronto branch of Second City, to his rise to fame in SCTV and Hollywood film classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck, John Candy captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humour, emotional warmth, and gift for improvisation. Now, for the first time since Candy's tragic death, bestselling biographer Paul Myers tells the full story of the man behind the laughs. Drawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with many of Candy's closest friends and colleagues, including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Steve Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, and many more, John Candy: A Life in Comedy celebrates the comedian's unparalleled talent, infectious charm, and generosity of spirit. Through ups and downs, successes and failures, and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt, Candy faced the world with a big smile and a warm demeanour that earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Candy, John.; Comedians; Motion picture actors and actresses;

Results 71 to 80 of 205 | « previous |