Comedy Development

Digging deep into her strengths, her failures and her losses, Jann Arden brings us an inspiring account of how she has surprised herself, in her fifties, by at last becoming completely her own person. Like many women, it took Jann a long time to realize that trying to be pleasing and likeable and beautiful in the eyes of others was a loser's game. Letting it rip, and damning the consequences, is not only liberating, it's a hell of a lot of fun: "Being the age I am—that so many women are—is just the best time of my life."

Approaching his 30th birthday, Sopan Deb had found comfort in his day job as a writer for the New York Times and a comedian. But his stage material highlighting his South Asian culture only masked the insecurities borne from his family history. Sure, Deb knew the facts: His parents, both Indian, separately immigrated to North America in the 1960s and 1970s. They were brought together in a volatile and ultimately doomed arranged marriage and raised a family in New Jersey before his father returned to India alone. But Deb had never learned who his parents were as individuals.

Dave Barry exposes natural childbirth for what it is: a pop phenomenon of the 1960's that, along with paisley bell-bottoms and creative sideburns, deserves a rest. His new book gives parents-to-be the hard facts they need. He examines the new federal law requiring prospective fathers to free themselves from their self-made macho prison - to laugh, cry, love and just generally behave like certified wimps.

Every manager learns from the same source: Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook. This valuable management handbook teaches new managers how to transform themselves from bitter and bewildered "little people" into fully functioning, paradigm-spewing management zombies.

Matteson Perry is a Nice Guy. He remembers birthdays, politely averts his eyes on the subway, and enjoys backgammon. A serial monogamist, he's never asked a stranger out. But when the girl he thought might be The One dumps him, he decides to turn his life around. He comes up with The Plan: 1. Be single for a year. 2. Date a lot of women. 3. Hurt no one's feelings. He's not out to get revenge or to become a pickup artist; he just wants to disrupt his pattern, have some fun, and discover who he is.

Pitch, Sketch, Launch extracts the techniques used to create today’s most beloved comedy shows and applies them to revitalizing software development. It shines a spotlight on the sketch comedy world’s ethos of feedback-driven product deliveries and its playful search for original solutions. Insightful interviews, best practices, and case studies demonstrate how creating comedy applies to designing top-tier software.

Jodie Jackson is leaving her London life, her career and her husband behind. She'd like a chance to turn back the clocks, but she'll settle for some peace and quiet on her brother Bill's houseboat. But from the moment Jodie steps aboard her new home, it's clear she'll struggle to keep herself to herself. If it isn't Marilyn, who cleans for Bill and is under strict instructions to look after Jodie, then it's Ned, the noisy sculptor on the next-door houseboat. Ned's wood carving is hard on the ears, but it's made up for by the fact that he's rather easy on the eyes.

Discover the six plot points at the heart of every romantic comedy. Learn to use the simple framework of great movies to make your unique romcom leap off the page. From the author of The Screenplay Outline Workbook, this concise-but-powerful guide demystifies 3-act structure and equips writers with an essential tool for crafting powerful stories. Screenplay consultant and screenwriting teacher Naomi Beaty has spent over a decade helping countless writers turn their movie ideas into great screenplays, and in Romcom Structure Made Easy she distills key lessons into concrete guidance you can ...

Based on the column of the same name that appeared in The Toast, Hey Ladies! is a laugh-out-loud listen that follows a fictitious group of eight 20- and-30-something female friends for one year of holidays, summer house rentals, dates, brunches, breakups, and, of course, the planning of a disastrous wedding. This instantly relatable story is told entirely through emails, texts, DMs, and every other form of communication known to man.

After becoming trapped in present-day Bath due to a mishap with her time-traveling charm, Jane Austen is safe and sound back in the 1800s thanks to Rose Wallace’s help. Now, Rose is ready to focus on her fledgling romance with dreamy Dr. Aiden Trevellyan. But when Jane reappears in the present, it looks like Rose and Aiden have no choice but to follow her back to 1813....

“This book is hilarious and poignant at once. It’s sexy without being explicit, and very thought-provoking. You’ll never look at life and parenthood the same way again after you read it.” Wild-hearted, confirmed bachelorette Hope Clayton is the business expert fixing companies to save them from bankruptcy—yet she’s been unable to fix her own sentimental life. When her job sends her temporarily to Orlando, Florida, she decides to stop chasing love and just have some fun. What can go wrong in the state of sunshine and the city of theme parks? A blink later, a war has erupted ...

This smart and witty collection of opinions, observations, and anecdotes covers a broad range of personal topics. Kathie Lee Gifford's stories are often funny, sometimes heartfelt, and always compelling - think Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck meets Carol Burnett.

No subject is off-limits: talking to her kids about sex, being married to Frank Gifford, embarrassing professional gaffes, run-ins with celebrities (of which there are many), the harsh and funny realities of aging.

A newborn set of twins, a new apartment, and the ensuing chaos are keeping Ben and Kirsty on their toes, but their challenges don't stop there. Kirsty is an exhausted new mother, and Ben isn't faring much better. On top of that, their communication skills could be better compared to a comedy of errors or a Greek tragedy. The last thing Kirsty needs is for their zany extended family to bring their own issues into the mix, but the problems just keep on coming. It’s just as well that love will always find a way.

This lighthearted month-by-month instruction manual on the care and nurture of a pregnant wife - the main role of expectant dads - will handle all the important milestones and topics: what not to say during the three phases of labor, what to buy, how many and when, maintaining work-life balance, and maintaining work-life-wife balance.

Both a hysterical tell-all memoir of the author's stumbles and triumphs in becoming mindfully masculine, as well as a practical drivers manual for navigating the twists and turns of mature manhood, Mindful Masculinity is a joy to read or to listen to. Scott Grace, once a prolific recording artist and stand-up comedian who opened for Robin Williams and many other legends, brings his comic touch to a very serious subject.

Today's parents are navigating a new frontier in child-rearing: raising "digital natives" in a world where "screen time" is ever-present. It's a journey strewn with questions, doubts, and persistent pings. But fear not. Parenting Unplugged turns these challenges into opportunities for humor, wisdom, and a screen savvy family life.

Two real estate agents. One deal. Manhattan isn't big enough for the both of them. Scarlett is working her curvy derriere off to be one of Manhattan’s top-selling real estate agents, and she’s about to land a huge client that could make her managing partner of the agency—and generate enough commission to buy the brownstone her foster parents told her she’d never have. Except the developer didn’t mention he wanted two agents, and the second choice is Jack Shane—infuriating, smug, gorgeous… and working for a rival agency that’s trying to poach her clients. With millions up for...

It's not just hems that are frayed in Applewell... Gracie rescues old clothes and cast-offs from Applewell's charity shop, making them into cute and fresh outfits, which she then sells in her little shop. Turning a profit is hard at the best of times, let alone when new arrival Lucas appears... After running away from the village in his teens, Lucas has finally returned to an uncomfortable amount of fanfare and gossip. His job requires him to streamline homeless charity, UnderCover, and his plans to do so risk putting Gracie out of business.

Então, você vai ser pai. Você sabe que precisa comprar uma casa maior. Tem que ter mais espaço pra criança. Tem que ter mais um quarto no apartamento. Tem que ter um berço novo, não pode ser aquele que a vizinha se dispôs a emprestar. Então você sabe que tem que trocar de carro, com seis airbags, no mínimo, ar-condicionado de fábrica. O que o humorista Marcos Piangers descobriu ao ser pai jovem é que essas preocupações não fazem diferença nenhuma.

Women love men with a sense of humor. The life of the party is the man who cracks the right word in the right moment. The problem is: Where are the good lines when you need them? They are here. The best one-liners to show off in public and in private. All the one-liners are related to sex, women, love, and relationships. Take the lines you'll need to become the life of the party. Dating will never be the same.