A Load of Hooey

Author: Bob Odenkirk
Publisher: McSweeney's
ISBN: 1940450667
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 107

Book Description
Bob Odenkirk is a legend in the comedy-writing world, winning Emmys and acclaim for his work on Saturday Night Live, Mr. Show with Bob and David, and many other seminal TV shows. This book, his first, is a spleen-bruisingly funny omnibus that ranges from absurdist monologues (“Martin Luther King, Jr’s Worst Speech Ever”) to intentionally bad theater (“Hitler Dinner Party: A Play”); from avant-garde fiction (“Obituary for the Creator of Madlibs”) to free-verse poetry that's funnier and more powerful than the work of Calvin Trillin, Jewel, and Robert Louis Stevenson combined. Odenkirk's debut resembles nothing so much as a hilarious new sketch comedy show that’s exclusively available as a streaming video for your mind. As Odenkirk himself writes in “The Second Coming of Jesus and Lazarus,” it is a book “to be read aloud to yourself in the voice of Bob Newhart.”

Hollywood Said No!

Author: David Cross
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 1455526312
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
Mr. Show fans rejoice! After all these years, Bob and David are finally back together with a collection of hilarious, never-before-seen scripts, sketches, and ideas that may have just been too good for Hollywood. Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, creators of HBO's classic sketch comedy show Mr. Show, present to you this collection of never-before-seen scripts and ideas that Hollywood couldn't find the gumption to green-light. Simply put... Hollywood Said No! Since Mr. Show closed up shop, Bob and David have kept busy with many projects--acting in fun, successful, movies and TV shows, directing things, and complaining about stuff that didn't turn out well to anyone who would listen, and even alone, in silence, inside their own heads. Hollywood Said No! reveals the full-length, never-before-seen scripts for Bob and David Make a Movie (fleshed out with brand-new storyboards by acclaimed artist Mike Mitchell) and Hooray For America!: a satirical power-house indictment of all that you hold dear. This tome also includes a bonus section of orphaned sketch ideas from the Mr. Show days and beyond, suitable for performance by church groups that aren't all koo-koo about religion. What you are looking at online, and are about to buy, is chock-full of comic twists, turns, and maybe a few hard truths. We said "maybe," but what we mean was "probably not." Now, for the first time, take a peek at the scripts that didn't get the go-ahead and ponder a world we can only dream about...and beyond!

I Drink for a Reason

Author: David Cross
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0446550884
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Book Description
The star and creative force behind Mr. Show and Arrested Development pens his "first and final book, chronicling his meteoric rise and abysmal fall in the literary world." After a decade spent in isolation in the Ugandan jungles thinking about stuff, David Cross has written his first book. Known for roles on the small screen such as "never-nude" Tobias Funke on Arrested Development and the role of "David" in Mr. Show With Bob And David, as well as a hugely successful stand-up routine full of sharp-tongued rants and rages, Cross has carved out his place in American comedy. Whether deflating the pomposity of religious figures, calling out the pathetic symbiosis of pseudo-celebrity and its leaching fandom, or merely pushing the buttons of the way-too-easily offended P.C. left or the caustic, double-standard of the callous (but funnier) right, Cross has something to say about everyone, including his own ridiculous self. Now, for the first time, Cross is weaving his media mockery, celebrity denunciation, religious commentary and sheer madness into book form, revealing the true story behind his almost existential distaste of Jim Belushi ("The Belush"), disclosing the up-to-now unpublished minutes to a meeting of Fox television network executives, and offering up a brutally grotesque run-in with Bill O'Reilly. And as if this wasn't enough for your laughing pleasure in these troubled times, some of the pieces splinter off with additional material being created online in exclusive video and animated web content created solely for the book-a historical first (presumably)! With a mix of personal essays, satirical fiction posing as truth, advice for rich people, information from America's least favorite Rabbi and a top-ten list of top-ten lists, I Drink for a Reason is as unique as the comedian himself, and cannot be missed.

Everything Is Just Fine

Author: Brett Paesel
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 1538745631
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 437

Book Description
In this brilliant, laugh-out-loud satire, named one of Washington Independent Review of Books Favorite Books of 2019, image-conscious parents on a Beverly Hills junior soccer team struggle to keep up appearances as their private lives careen out of control. "You'll wince, laugh out loud, relate to, and relish this unsparing satirical send up."---Wednesday Martin, New York Times bestselling author Coach Randy is working mightily to keep it together, and not simply with his vaguely unhappy wife, distant child, and a new boss who's eliminating half the sales force. This season's soccer parents are a demanding bunch. Diane's wine-fueled group e-mails are almost unintelligible; team mom Jacqui's enthusiasm for the league verges on manic; a divorced couple can barely conceal their murderous rage at each other; and another mom is laser-focused on schooling everyone on what constitutes a healthy snack option. All the secrets and lies bubbling below the surface of their membrane-thin civility threaten to combust when Alejandro, a young, foreign assistant coach refuses to play by the Beverly Hills code, which is to mind your own business and don't look too deeply into anyone's soul. Especially your own. Brett Paesel brings hilarity and huge heart to a world that looks enviable and shiny on the outside but is, in truth, filled with aching for connection on the inside. In the vein of Perotta and Semple, everyday life in Paesel's deft rendering is anything but.

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama

Author: Bob Odenkirk
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0399180524
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “essential” (Entertainment Weekly), “hilarious” (AV Club) memoir, the star of Mr. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul opens up about the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it’s like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at fifty. “I can’t think of another entertainer who has improbably morphed so many times, and all through real genius and determination.”—Conan O’Brien ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vulture, Newsweek Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations—with a side-trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him—it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing—eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David. In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad—a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis—it’s fun! Featuring humorous tangents, never-before-seen photos, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale told by a determined idiot.

That Time of Year

Author: Garrison Keillor
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1951627709
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Book Description
With the warmth and humor we've come to know, the creator and host of A Prairie Home Companion shares his own remarkable story. In That Time of Year, Garrison Keillor looks back on his life and recounts how a Brethren boy with writerly ambitions grew up in a small town on the Mississippi in the 1950s and, seeing three good friends die young, turned to comedy and radio. Through a series of unreasonable lucky breaks, he founded A Prairie Home Companion and put himself in line for a good life, including mistakes, regrets, and a few medical adventures. PHC lasted forty-two years, 1,557 shows, and enjoyed the freedom to do as it pleased for three or four million listeners every Saturday at 5 p.m. Central. He got to sing with Emmylou Harris and Renée Fleming and once sang two songs to the U.S. Supreme Court. He played a private eye and a cowboy, gave the news from his hometown, Lake Wobegon, and met Somali cabdrivers who’d learned English from listening to the show. He wrote bestselling novels, won a Grammy and a National Humanities Medal, and made a movie with Robert Altman with an alarming amount of improvisation. He says, “I was unemployable and managed to invent work for myself that I loved all my life, and on top of that I married well. That’s the secret, work and love. And I chose the right ancestors, impoverished Scots and Yorkshire farmers, good workers. I’m heading for eighty, and I still get up to write before dawn every day.”

Mr. Show

Author: Naomi Odenkirk
Publisher: Squaresville Productions
ISBN: 9780971359789
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
The ultimate insider's guide to one of the most daring, influential, and critically-acclaimed comedy shows on TV. From the first time it aired on late-night TV in 1995, Mr. Show began developing a cult-like following, which has only grown since the series' end. Born out of the experimental "alternative" comedy scene in L.A., Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, two of the boldest, most innovative comedy minds to emerge in years, created a veritable comedy haven "where ideas hang out...and do whatever!" and discovered a perfect use of their brilliantly bent talents. Though their road was long and unpaved, Bob and David never compromised their vision of the show, and, with the creative autonomy granted by HBO, the result was a comedy series that is fresh and sublimely funny. Written by Naomi Odenkirk, this book chronicles Bob and David's journey from before their first awkward meeting to the taping of their final episode. It is chock-full of archival photos and artifacts, and features original, never-before-seen material plus a complete episode guide, making it a rich, unique time-caplet of what may be the period's most important and influential comedy movement. Book jacket.

Big Machine

Author: Victor LaValle
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0385530412
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God. Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle’s fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

Secrets of Self Starters

Author: Julie Miller
Publisher: Book Pub Network
ISBN: 9781935359517
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
Learn from the wisdom of real people who discovered which trait and attitude-their gratitude-propelled them forward. Read about the self-starter working in the academic world who is well on her way to curing Alzheimer's, and the entrepreneur who rose to the top of her company by taking risks, and all the entrepreneurs who didn't let poverty or multiple setbacks or an inability to speak English stand in their way. Most of these 48 self-starters were not born with a silver spoon, so how did they get from there...to here? To achieving standout success in their chosen fields: The secrets lie in the nine key traits common to many self starters. Where do you excel? Which traits resonate with you? How can you get from where you are now...to the amazing place you want to be? Be the master of your journey. The only thing separating these successful self-starters from everyone else is that they took action. They got up, got going and got started with incredible results. You can too.

Oh Say Can You Say?

Author:
Publisher: Random House of Canada
ISBN: 9780394842554
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
A collection of nonsensical tongue twisters.