Biography Humor

From a childhood spent making smoke bombs, killing wasps and carving soap in '70s Kent, Harry Hill then found himself in charge of hundreds of sick people as a junior doctor. Out of his depth and terrified, he chucked it all in to pursue his dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. Battling his way through the '90s comedy circuit, he quickly rose to become a household name and one of the UK's most celebrated comics, almost making it to the top of the showbiz tree.

The stark and inhospitable high-elevation landscape of Nevada’s Great Basin Desert may not be an obvious (or easy) place to settle down, but for self-professed desert rat Michael Branch it’s home. Of course, living in such an unforgiving landscape gives one many things to rant about. Fortunately for us, Branch—humorist, environmentalist, and author of Raising Wild—is a prodigious ranter.

In Black Out Loud, Bennett chronicles the transformative history of Black comedy in America, drawing on research and interviews with the actors and executives behind some of the most impactful shows. This brilliant exploration traces the evolution of Black comics and provocateurs who reshaped the culture and ultimately became powerful agents of social change -- transforming the way America laughed along the way.

Dive headfirst into the urban symphony of "Smelling the Taste of Sound", a riveting memoir of a newly diagnosed, neurodivergent trainee lawyer. Her sensory issues are compounded by the sirens that punctuate the daily grind of a tough, inner-city law firm. Amidst encounters with eccentric characters and surreal personalities, our protagonist navigates the chaos and unorthodox office dynamics with comical observations and resilience.

Bestselling children's author Andy Stanton has made a career out of writing differently—from the unconventional ‘hero' of his bestselling Mr Gum series to his penchant for absurdist plots, his children's books are anything but formulaic. When a friend introduces him to ChatGPT, the new large language chatbot, Andy is as sceptical as he is curious. Can this jumble of algorithms really mimic the spontaneity of human thought? Could it one day replace human authors like him for good? And are we soon to be ruled over by despotic robot overlords.

For as long as Daisy May Cooper can remember, she's been fascinated with the unexplained. Ghosts, spirits, tea leaves, astrological charts, paranormal activity - you name it, she's been obsessed!

I Will Never Forget is the powerful true story of the author Elaine’s talented mother's extraordinary journey through Dementia. Through superb stories from Elaine’s childhood, including her controversial name, tales of smokin’ dragons, and the feisty teenage years, Betty Ward’s wonderful character is revealed. Over time, as their relationship evolves and a new paradigm is formed, her mother begins to exhibit goofy behaviors, uncharacteristic verbal assaults, and bizarre thinking.

Dion came up out of the Bronx in the 50s and tore through the music charts in a ferocious display of talent. He continued to make great music while slowly returning to his Catholic roots. His hard-won wisdom filters through his stories whether he's recalling how he went shopping with John Lennon and ended up on the cover of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band or what it was like to travel in the Jim Crow South with Sam Cooke.

At the start of 2021 Richard Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand-up tour titled Talking Cock and who regularly interrogates our attitudes towards masculinity, it was a diagnosis that came with additional layers of complexity. Mixing Rich's personal story alongside what defines masculinity and 'maleness' in society, Can I Have My Ball Back? is not your typical cancer memoir. Whether they're nuts, or bollocks, or gonads, or family jewels, Rich unpicks the tangle of emotions around his own testing times.

This fast-paced, high-energy collection of short works features today's most popular writers and illustrators on what it means to be a guy. Contributors include Chris Crutcher, Stephen King, Matt Groening, Daniel Pinkwater, Neil Gaiman, and many more.

John Byner is a man of many voices and characters, from impersonating the slow, rolling gait and speech of John Wayne, to lending his voice to The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons. His dead-on impersonations, as well as his unique talents as a character actor, have put him on the small screen in peoples' homes, the big screen in theaters, and no screen on Broadway. This memoir is the best and funniest moments of his life, career, and relationships with some of the biggest names in entertainment, both on and off the screen.

¿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.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Goodbye Soldier, written and read by Spike Milligan. "My name is Maria Antonoinetta Fontana, but everyone call me Toni." "I'm Spike, sometimes known as 'stop thief' or 'hey you.'" "Yeser, I know." The sixth volume of Spike Milligan's off-the-wall account of his part in World War Two sees our hero doing very little soldiering. Because it's 1946.....

Comedy, Tragedy, Therapy. Simon Amstell did his first stand-up gig at the age of 13. His parents had just divorced, and puberty was confusing. Trying to be funny solved everything. Read by Simon Amstell, and interspersed with footage from his stand-up tours, HELP is the hilarious and heartbreaking account of Simon's ongoing compulsion to reveal his entire self onstage. To tell the truth so it can't hurt him anymore. Loneliness, anxiety, depression - this book has it all. And more.

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.

Acclaimed biographer Jem Roberts narrates his brilliant new biography of the Beatles and their relationship with comedy. Includes a foreword written and narrated by Kevin Eldon, who also voices George Martin throughout the audiobook. Fab Fools is the full, hilarious story of how John, Paul, George, and Ringo laughed their way to the toppermost of the poppermost in their classic films, cartoons, and even pantomime, not to mention their experimentations with audio comedy through Sir George Martin's Parlophone comedy classics series.

The Moron at the End of This Book is an insightful, self-scrutinizing memoir about the highs and woes of a life, perhaps not well-lived, but, well, lived. With a collection of short stories and love letters to the living and the dead, author Andrew Couch calls upon nearly 40 years of impulsive actions, unusual friendships, odd jobs, and a careworn moral compass to deliver a mercifully one of a kind account of a man in search of approval from his child self.

This book contains numerous short stories as seen through the eyes of a dusty old baker. The stories are made up of observations, history, and imagination, as the author watches the world go by as he sits at the large table in the middle of his bakery.

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).

Las caídas, errores, fracasos y sacadas de chucha son parte de la vida, pero también los aciertos, las veces que nos levantamos y lo que aprendemos. Carmen Castillo (@carmentuitera) sabe mejor que nadie lo que significa superar la adversidad y conoce la fuerza que puede tener una frase. Con el humor y la franqueza que la caracterizan, en este libro realiza una radiografía de su vida, desde sus momentos más bajos hasta sus mayores (y a veces inesperados) logros. Empápate de los diez mandamientos del shine, donde Carmen explica cómo ve y vive la vida. Encontrarás distintas actividades y frases motivacionales a página completa, para que las pegues donde quieras.