Biography Humor

Lee Evans is one of the best-loved comedians in the country; a Hollywood star able to sell out arenas in the blink of eye. But he was not always such a roaring success. Read unabridged by the man himself, the audiobook edition of The Life of Lee is an utterly hilarious and very moving autobiography, charting his ups and downs on the way to the top.

So you thought adulthood would mean a high-flying career and a luxury lifestyle but instead have ended up with a Lycra-based wardrobe and a deep fear of what lies at the bottom of the ball-pit in soft play? Join comedian Sophie McCartney as she voyages deep into the uncharted territories of mating, birthing, feral offspring, mums overdoing it at the watering hole and the perilous viper’s nest of the school WhatsApp group.

Just how do you become a barrister? And why do only one per cent of those who study law succeed in joining this mysteriously opaque profession? If it’s such a great occupation, how come you work 100-hour weeks for less than minimum wage? And why might a practising barrister come to feel the need to reveal the lies, secrets, failures and crises at the heart of this world of wigs and gowns? Nothing but the Truth charts an outsider’s progress down the winding path towards practising at the Bar,

Like millions of others, Louis’ plans were mothballed by the onset of COVID. Unable to escape to the porn sets, prisons and maximum-security psychiatric units that are his usual journalistic beat, he began reporting on a location even more full of pitfalls and hostile objects of inquiry: his own home during a pandemic. Theroux the Keyhole is an honest, hilarious and ultimately heartwarming diary of the weirdness of family life in COVID World.

Known for her sharp, witty and surreal view on everyday life, Lucy shares the unpredictable craziness of being a mum in this brilliant and laugh-out-loud 'mumoir'. Mums everywhere will recognise the madness of it all. Like when Lucy was hospitalised during her third trimester with chest pains but it turned out to be a burrito. Or when she was so tired at the park she forgot her own child's name.

Adam Hills was a quiet primary school kid with a prosthetic foot, who did all his homework and only spoke when spoken to. His dad sparked in him a love of comedy, and together they'd spend hours watching and listening to the greats like Peter Sellers and Mel Brooks. So, when it was Adam's turn to speak, he made sure he was funny.

A voice is calling across the land, "Bombardier Milligan." "Bombadier Milligan is dead," I replied in a disguised voice. The voice replied, "Then he's going to miss his breakfast." The fourth volume of Spike Milligan's legendary account of his time in the army during World War Two begins as he and his regiment land in sunny Italy in 1943 ("The ship touched the beach very gently, so gently I suspect it's not insured").

Have you ever been curious what happens when you take a leap of faith into entrepreneurship? Unfulfilled in her corporate job, and frustrated with dating app options, I Failed, is a humorous recounting of Whitney Linscott’s attempt to launch a dating app. This book pulls the curtain back on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur and has more twists, turns, and hair raising scares than a roller coaster at a carnival that was assembled by a drunk orangutan.

Comic glow and self-mockery. Addiction and depression. Dave Itzkoff draws a lively portrait of Robin Williams. It's a fresh and original look at the actor whose work touched millions of people around the world.

Was Cleopatra the last Egyptian pharaoh? Can you really make diamonds out of tequila? Is the platypus actually poisonous? Think you can spot the fake? Get your bullsh*t radar warmed up, because each entry in Spot the Bullsh*t hides one well-crafted fib among a pair of unbelievable truths. And it’s up to you to figure out what’s fascinating and what’s full of sh*t in science, history, pop culture and more.

Wild and Crazy Guys is the larger-than-life story of the much-loved Hollywood comedy stars that ruled the 1980s. As well as delving behind the scenes of classic movies such as Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and dozens more, it chronicles the off-screen, larger-than-life antics of Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Candy et al. It’s got drugs, sex, punch-ups, webbed toes and Bill Murray being pushed into a swimming pool by Hunter S Thompson, while tied to a lawn chair.

When the legendary comedian Barry Cryer died in January 2022, there was a vast outpouring of grief, appreciation and anecdotes – from the general public and fellow comics alike. Now, his son, Bob, is doing what Barry’s humility did not allow: revealing the story of the man behind the jokes. This book is an ode to both Barry’s incredible life and to the lessons he so generously imparted on the art of comedy during his sixty-year career.

This Is Just My Face is the whirlwind tour of Gabourey Sidibe’s life so far. In it, we meet her polygamous father, her gifted mother who fed the family by busking on the subway and the psychic who told her she’d one day be ‘famous like Oprah’. Gabby shows us round the Harlem studio apartment where she grew up, relives the debilitating depression that hit her at college and reminisces about her first ever job as a phone sex 'talker' (less creepy than you’d think).

Robin by Dave Itzkoff shows how Robin Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.

Grow Damn It! is a captivating work by Cheryl Oreglia, who uses uncommon honesty and arresting humor to draw you into her cantankerous life, forty-year marriage, and revolving empty nest. She claims the space between past and future is where our potential is created or destroyed. If you don't like where your life is going, dig deeper, and write a new story. By weeding out the things that clutter her life, she invites you into a refreshing space with some of her most popular posts from her beloved blog Living in the Gap.

Norman Wisdom's early years could easily have come straight from the pages of a Dickens novel. Left by their frightened mother and ill-treated by a brutal father, Norman and his brother were forced to fend for themselves, sleeping rough in London and stealing food to survive. This is a rags to riches tale of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for over five decades.

Brit Happens chronicles Mullinger’s lifetime of adventures, from his beginnings as a shy and nervous kid collecting comedy records at the neighborhood video store, to rising through the ranks of GQ magazine and meeting his personal idols Jerry Seinfeld and Paul McCartney, to imagining the possibility of another life in Canada. From the highs and lows of London to beginning anew in New Brunswick, Brit Happens tells gut-busting stories of success and failure and the unpredictable grind of stand-up comedy.

Надежду Лохвицкую (1872–1952), известную всем под псевдонимом Тэффи, современники называли "королевой юмора". Ею восхищались от Николая II до Ленина, а ее веселые ироничные рассказы и фельетоны с остроумными наблюдениями над жизнью и нотками грусти очень высоко ценили. Пережив три революции, две мировые войны, оказавшись в 1920-е годы в эмиграции, она сохранила в "короткой прозе" непосредственность, легкость и умение посмеяться над обычными бытовыми ситуациями, а в свои мемуары привнесла философский характер. В русском Париже Тэффи была одним из любимых писателей.

¿De veras que todo pasa? ¡Pues Siiiiií! Es la respuesta del aclamado actor y comediante Carlos Merced ante todo lo que le ha pasado en su vida. Dramaturgo y libretista al fin, te invita a conversar con él como si estuvieran disfrutando un café, porque se debe a su público.

The first book in 25 years from Jerry Seinfeld features his best work across five decades in comedy. Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub “Catch a Rising Star” as a 21-year-old student in autumn of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything. For this book, Jerry Seinfeld has selected his favourite material, organised decade by decade.