Pretty/Funny

Pretty/Funny
Author: Linda Mizejewski
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2014-03-07
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0292756933

“A totally engaging read [and] a fascinating look at the diversity and range of female comics . . . by an author who herself obviously has a sense of humor.” —Joanna E. Rapf, coeditor of The Blackwell Companion to Film Comedy Women in comedy have traditionally been pegged as either “pretty” or “funny.” Attractive actresses with good comic timing such as Katherine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, and Julia Roberts have always gotten plum roles as the heroines of romantic comedies and television sitcoms. But fewer women who write and perform their own comedy have become stars—and often they’ve been successful because they were willing to be funny-looking, from Fanny Brice and Phyllis Diller to Lily Tomlin and Carol Burnett. Pretty/Funny focuses on Kathy Griffin, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, and Ellen DeGeneres, the groundbreaking women comics who flout the pretty-versus-funny dynamic by targeting glamour, postfeminist girliness, the Hollywood A-list, and feminine whiteness with their wit and biting satire. Linda Mizejewski demonstrates that while these comics don’t all identify as feminists or take politically correct positions, their work on gender, sexuality, and race has a political impact. The first major study of women and humor in twenty years, Pretty/Funny makes a convincing case that women’s comedy has become a prime site for feminism to speak, talk back, and be contested in the twenty-first century.

Pretty Funny for a Girl

Pretty Funny for a Girl
Author: Rebecca Elliott
Publisher: Holiday House
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1682632687

Fourteen-year-old Haylah dreams of being a stand-up star, but when her friends thrust her into the spotlight, she's not confident a plus-sized girl like her belongs onstage. Haylah Swinton is pretty confident she's mastered making light of every situation―from her mom's ugh boyfriend to classmates making unsolicited remarks on her figure. She logs all her best jokes in the hopes of one day busting out a fabulous set that will keep everybody laughing with her and not at her. After botching an open mic night, Haylah learns that her longtime crush, the impossibly cool Leo, is also into comedy. And when Leo provides her an opportunity to live vicariously by ghostwriting his sets for an upcoming festival, Haylah jumps at the chance. What a great way to get her material out there without totally bombing herself! But are Leo's intentions in Haylah's best interests? Despite warnings from her friends, Haylah's not ready to listen―and she might just be digging herself deeper toward heartbreak. If Haylah's ever going to take center stage, first she'll need to find the confidence to put herself out there and strut like the comedy queen she truly is. This contemporary YA rom-com stars a strong, memorable heroine and features a story full of heart, humor, and relatable themes of body image, dreams, and self-esteem.

Lou Out of Luck

Lou Out of Luck
Author: Nat Luurtsema
Publisher:
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-06
Genre: Families
ISBN: 9781406366563

Poverty sucks. Dad's timing the family's showers and refusing to turn on the heating. Mum has arranged for Lou to get lifts to school with Drippy Dermot and his eccentric mother in the Van of Doom. And lentils seem to feature in every single meal. Lou is still coming down from her brief moment of TV super-stardom and getting to grips with the fact that - hold the news - she has a boyfriend, but with both parents out of work, life isn't all plain sailing. Throw in Hannah's obsession with the school prom, Dads strange shed activity and Lav s brief flirtation with a modelling career, and suddenly training a dance troupe to swim underwater seems like a walk in the park.

What's So Funny?

What's So Funny?
Author: Tim Conway
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2013-10-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1476726515

Six-time Emmy Award-winning funny man Tim Conway—best known for his roles on The Carol Burnett Show—offers a straight-shooting and hilarious memoir about his life on stage and off as an actor and comedian. In television history, few entertainers have captured as many hearts and made as many people laugh as Tim Conway. What’s So Funny? follows Tim’s journey from life as an only child raised by loving but outrageous parents, to his tour of duty in the army, to his ascent as a national star. Conway’s often-improvised humor, razor-sharp timing, and hilarious characters have made him one of the funniest and most authentic performers to grace the stage and studio. As Carol Burnett, who also provides an intimate foreword to the book, has said, “there’s no one funnier” than Tim Conway. What’s So Funny? shares hilarious accounts and never-before-shared stories of behind-the-scenes antics on McHale’s Navy and The Carol Burnett Show as well as his famous partnerships with entertainment greats like Harvey Korman, Don Knotts, and Dick Van Dyke; and his friendships with stars like Betty White and Bob Newhart. Filled with warmth, humor, and heart, What’s So Funny will delight and inspire fans everywhere.

To Siri with Love

To Siri with Love
Author: Judith Newman
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2017-08-22
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0062413643

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 From the author of the viral New York Times op-ed column "To Siri with Love" comes a collection of touching, hilarious, and illuminating stories about life with a thirteen-year-old boy with autism that hold insights and revelations for us all. When Judith Newman shared the story of how Apple’s electronic personal assistant, Siri, helped Gus, her son who has autism, she received widespread media attention and an outpouring of affection from readers around the world. Basking in the afterglow of media attention, Gus told anyone who would listen, "I’m a movie star." Judith’s story of her son and his bond with Siri was an unusual tribute to technology. While many worry that our electronic gadgets are dumbing us down, she revealed how they can give voice to others, including children with autism like Gus—a boy who has trouble looking people in the eye, hops when he’s happy, and connects with inanimate objects on an empathetic level. To Siri with Love is a collection of funny, poignant, and uplifting stories about living with an extraordinary child who has helped a parent see and experience the world differently. From the charming (Gus weeping with sympathy over the buses that would lie unused while the bus drivers were on strike) to the painful (paying $22,000 for a behaviorist in Manhattan to teach Gus to use a urinal) to the humorous (Gus’s insistence on getting naked during all meals, whether at home or not, because he does not want to get his clothes dirty) to the profound (how an automated "assistant" helped a boy learn how to communicate with the rest of the world), the stories in To Siri with Love open our eyes to the magic and challenges of a life beyond the ordinary.

Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten!

Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten!
Author: Hyewon Yum
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 45
Release: 2012-07-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0374350043

A five-year-old boy, ready and eager on his first day at "the big kids' school," must calm his very worried mother.

Pretty Funny Tea Cosies

Pretty Funny Tea Cosies
Author: Loani Prior
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 174343782X

Loani Prior, tea cosy knitter extraordinaire, is back with more of her fabulously outrageous creations. Pretty Funny Tea Cosies contains 25 knitted cosies and pretty things, with the focus on the pretty: flowers, leaves, fruit, loopy stitches and beautifully knitted and woven fabric. Including basic stitches, techniques and patterns, Pretty Funny Tea Cosies is a must-have for knitters and crafters and anyone who has ever wanted to have a Tibetan Tea Warrior tea cosy.

Funny Thing about Minnesota...

Funny Thing about Minnesota...
Author: Patrick Strait
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781681341866

An insiders' look at the land of 10,000 laughs--how Minneapolis became a hotspot for comedy. It is a lively look back at the wild '80s scene and the creative legacy it wrought.

Funny: The Book

Funny: The Book
Author: David Misch
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2012-04-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1557839662

Funny: The Book is an entertaining look at the art of comedy, from its historical roots to the latest scientific findings, with diversions into the worlds of movies (Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers), television (The Office), prose (Woody Allen, Robert Benchley), theater (The Front Page), jokes and stand-up comedy (Richard Pryor, Steve Martin), as well as personal reminiscences from the author's experiences on such TV programs as Mork and Mindy. With allusions to the not-always-funny Carl Jung, George Orwell, and Arthur Koestler, Funny: The Book explores the evolution, theories, principles, and practice of comedy, as well as the psychological, philosophical, and even theological underpinnings of humor, coming to the conclusion that (Spoiler Alert!) Comedy is God.