In the mid-70s, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. Born Standing Up is, in his own words, the story of "why I did stand-up and why I walked away". At age 10 Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory. Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline, and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times: the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late 60s, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the 70s. Read more

Highest-rated new book of 2016 by Audible customers Winner: Audible's Best of 2016 - Celebrity MemoirsIn this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical. Noah’s virtuoso embodiment of all the characters from his childhood, and his ability to perform accents and dialects effortlessly in English, Xhosa, and Zulu, garnered the Audie Award for Best Male Narrator in 2018. Nevertheless, Noah’s devoted and uncompromising mother—as voiced by her son—steals the show. Read more

#6 IN THE AMAZON KINDLE STORE#1 IN COMEDYThat marriage pact I made with my grumpy, off-limits best friend. That was totally a joke...Right?It was a heat-of-the-moment agreement scribbled onto the back of a crinkled gas station receipt nine years ago."If neither of us are married by age 30, we'll marry each other."Haha! So funny!Cash moved to a city 500 miles away. Building his billion-dollar empire. Making a name for himself.Me? I stayed in our gossipy hometown. Working a simple job. Living a simple life.And we never discussed the marriage pact again.But I just turned the big three-oh.And Cash showed up at my door, in the middle of a freaking rainstorm.Tall, muscled and soaking wet.With a birthday cake in his hand and a daring smirk that says he means business.Holy plot twist! Didn't see that coming!Now the small town rumor mill is in overdrive.Cash is dissolving my defences with those sexy half-smiles he saves just for me.And my brain is exploding with what ifs...What if we give this a shot?What if we're crazy enough to try?What if we're good together?We've always been 'just friends'. We're experts at playing it safe.But his skin on my skin leaves me reeling. His oh-so-fiery kisses melt my excuses.I know our decade-plus friendship is on the line. But I'm aching to see Cash's wild side.The Wild Side is a steamy, laugh-out-loud, friends-to-lovers small town romance. It is set in small town Iowa and is book one in the Wild Westbrooks Series. Read more

Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL". (Sunday Telegraph).Before Liz Lemon, before Weekend Update, before Sarah Palin, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: A recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon - from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: You're no one until someone calls you bossy.Includes special, never-before-solicited opinions on breastfeeding, princesses, Photoshop, the electoral process, and Italian rum cake! Read more

Disclaimer: Please note that this book contains profanity. While it’s meant for entertainment, it may not be suitable for all audiences!Navigating the workplace can be a minefield of unspoken frustrations, unsolicited advice, and moments when you want to scream—but can’t. How to Say Things I Can’t Say Out Loud At Work is your essential guide to translating those raw, unfiltered thoughts into polished, professional language.This book offers a collection of witty “translations” that help you express yourself without burning bridges unnecessarily!Whether it’s dealing with a clueless coworker, managing unreasonable demands, or simply trying to keep your sanity intact, this book provides the tools you need to communicate effectively — and hopefully keep your job. Read more

From the razor-sharp mind of award-winning comedian Iliza Shlesinger, a collection of hilarious and insightful essays about the exasperating issues of everyday life  Foreword by Margaret Cho  “Vibrant and entertaining, relatable and poignant, and above all, it’s funny.” —Los Angeles Times  “Iliza is exceptionally funny. If this book doesn’t make you laugh, it means you can’t read. In which case, disregard.” —Jimmy Kimmel  “A book for everyone wrestling with what it means to show up for ourselves and the world today. I love Iliza, and I love her advice.” —New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Serle  All Things Aside is a punchy, honest, incisive book that shares a view of the world through the eyes of the inimitable Iliza Shlesinger. From the macro to micro, Shlesinger tackles it all with her no-bullshit comedic style.   Throughout the book, Shlesinger dives from one subject into the next, making her hilarious asides the meat of her stories, much like she does in her stand-up comedy. Topics range from dissecting social expectations to the notion that products marketed specifically to women are scams, and all manner of things in between. She even dares to ask herself the all-important question that every woman is forced to consider at some point: Am I actually an annoying person? Shlesinger also shares intimate moments, including a devastating miscarriage, which she manages to navigate not only with grace but somehow with side-splitting humor.  All Things Aside offers unexpected insights, much-needed truths, and tons and tons of laughs. Read more

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This program includes a prologue and epilogue read by the author.From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff comes the definitive audiobook biography of Robin Williams - a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers. From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations - all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed. But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’ comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in Good Will Hunting he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent. Itzkoff also shows how 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. Read more

Don’t tell lies. Otherwise, you might end up stuck in Hawaii, pretending to be in love with your best friend just to save face at your little sister’s wedding.I’m nearly thirty and forever alone.But my little sister is getting married to the man of my parents’ dreams … and my love life—or lack thereof—is back in the spotlight.When I blurted out that I was bringing a boyfriend to the wedding, I was just as surprised as my family was.Enter Blaze—my NHL star best friend—who reluctantly agrees to help me save face.Now, we’re in Hawaii, pretending to be the perfect couple.But the more time we spend together, the harder it is to deny the chemistry between us.And the feelings for him that I buried in college are quickly bubbling to the surface.Suddenly, every touch, every laugh, every dance, feels like it could be something more.Something … real.I thought this fake relationship would be easy. But now, the stakes are higher than ever.Because if I let myself fall for him, there’s no going back.The Love Trick is a closed-door, friends to lovers, fake dating hockey romcom. It's the second standalone novel in Kristine W. Joy's Glacier Hockey Series. Read more

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From the Foreward:“Party of One is more than just another reflective rambling from another comedian. It's a brutal, coming-of-rage memoir that takes you through Landau's youth around the Motor City. His difficult family dynamic; his struggles with addiction; his desire to be accepted, forgiven, and not forgotten. He's done a hell of a lot of living for a guy this young and Landau knows how lucky he was to come out the other side. And that journey purged not only a brilliant stand-up but a prolific author granting us a window into his past that will connect all the dots from teen addict to sober warrior to successful comedian.”— Brad Garrett, Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, and author Read more

I spent the night with a hot, grumpy stranger in an airport hotel.No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was just sleeping. And… maybe a little cuddling.Long story short, I embarrassed the heck out of myself. But at least I never have to see him again.Except the universe is clearly out to get me, because Monday morning, I arrive at my new job and who’s the first person I see?Hot stranger himself: Liam Donovan.AKA my new boss.AKA Annie, you are so freaking screwed.While the HR rulebook doesn’t explicitly say you can’t share a bed with your boss, I can read between the lines. And I need this job.Which is why I have to pretend that night never happened. Luckily for me, sexy as Liam—excuse me, Mr. Donovan—is, he’s surly, rude and totally not my type.Or so I keep telling myself.Because I’m starting to think there’s a warm, gooey cinnamon roll with extra frosting lurking beneath that impressive, muscular form.I promised I’d never choose between my career and love.But when a scandal threatens to break, that promise could prove impossible to keep…So That Happened is a laugh-out-loud funny, swoony, closed door romantic comedy. Expect some mild language and suggestive jokes coupled with tons of chemistry and tension, but no explicit scenes. Read more

When two Texas farmers unearth a thousand-year-old flying saucer, their simple country life takes an intergalactic turn for the absurd. Donny, a die-hard UFO conspiracy buff, finally gets his “I told you so” moment – dragging his sarcastic and skeptical friend Pablo into the most chaotic, side-splitting space adventure of the century.Before they can say “We come in peace,” the two are hurtling through the cosmos, dodging trigger-happy lizard people, getting seduced by a telepathic blue alien, suffering abuse from their ship’s snarky AI, and discovering that not only is Bigfoot real – he’s also the galaxy’s worst prison warden. Oh, and they might be humanity’s only hope against total annihilation. No pressure.A fast-paced, irreverent, and wildly entertaining sci-fi comedy, UFO Farmers is perfect for fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf, Resident Alien, Futurama, and The Orville.UAPs, UFOs, non-human intelligence, ancient aliens and conspiracy theories are hilariously sent-up as this book tackles life’s biggest questions – Are we alone? Who’s really in charge? Why do tacos taste different in zero gravity? – and answers them with gut-busting hilarity.If you like your space adventures ridiculous, action-packed, and a little bit inappropriate – congratulations, you’ve found your next favorite book.Warning: Reading UFO Farmers may cause sudden bursts of laughter, loss of faith in government cover-ups, and an uncontrollable urge to scan the night sky for "drones" and “weather balloons.” Read more

The bad boy of professional fencing meets Hollywood’s favorite good girl in this sexy sports romance set against the backdrop of a high-stakes blockbuster.DANTE HASTINGSYou might have heard of me.I was the defending Olympic champion—until I used my fist instead of my sabre during a match. Needless to say, I was suspended. Which means no competing for a year…and cleaning up my image.So, instead of continuing to dominate the fencing world, I’m working on a film that’s poised to be next year’s blockbuster action flick.The upside? Working with Reese Sinclair, my celebrity crush whose poster was on my wall growing up. Spending time with her will help wash the tabloids of my suspension and convince the league that I’m reformed.But America’s sweetheart is nothing like I imagined. She’s stubborn, ambitious, and struggling to prove herself in a role that no one thinks she can handle. Still, her determination runs red-hot, and I can’t help but admire her.When our late-night training sessions turn into something more, I start to realize that I’m outmaneuvered by feelings I never saw coming.REESE SINCLAIRThe girl next door. The best friend. The love-struck heroine.I’ve played them all.But with thirty creeping closer, I need to prove to myself that I can be more than Hollywood’s darling. And this movie is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for, the project I can use to break out of my typecasting.The problem? I’m not cut out for action-packed stunt work.Enter: Dante Hastings. He’s hedonistic, insufferable, infuriatingly gorgeous—and my last shot at making this career move work.I should stay away. His reputation alone could sink mine. But the more time we spend together, the more I see past all his tabloid exploits and rule-breaking. He knows what it means to fight for something.But a leading lady doesn’t simper over her co-workers, right?Yet as much as I try to resist, part of me wants to let Dante put the sin in Sinclair.On Guard is the secondbook in The Hastings series, a collection of interconnected standalone sports romances about the Hastings siblings, scions of sports royalty. Read more

She has one rule: never fall for her brother's best friend. He has one goal: to prove that love is worth the penalty.I’m a former hockey hype girl, aka a puck bunny. After a big win, I fell for the center who happened to be one of my brother’s best friends. Swept into celebrating, twenty-four hours later, we were in Las Vegas getting married. I didn’t want what happened in Vegas to stay in Vegas. I thought I had my happily ever after.Two weeks later, he ditched me. Was it love or did my brain temporarily break?Thankfully, I have a new brain. A mom brain. Because nine months later, I have a baby girl...and an ex-husband who wants nothing to do with us, resulting in me moving back to my hometown—Hockey Town.Rumors circulate about my fall from grace. When did this cheerleader become a homebody?When my brother’s other best friend gets traded to our hockey team and gives me a You’ve grown up look, my inner alarm rings. Except he needs my help with a social media makeover...and maybe I could use his. Not to exact revenge on my ex. My brother took care of that.I was in love with love, but we broke up. But I might have a crush. One the size of a jellybean. He listens instead of giving advice and is helpful without me having to ask. Will my relationship with romance be restored, this time, with my brother’s (other) best friend?Tropes include:•Single mom•Brother’s best friend•Cinnamon roll•He falls first•Slow burn•Easter•Forced proximityThis is a clean, sweet, closed door hockey romcom with lots of sweet kisses and a happily ever after. Lace up your skates and get ready to laugh, swoon, and have all the swoopy heart flutters! Read more

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author comes a brand new sizzling summer read that will have you laughing, swooning . . . and sweating. Scottie Price just started a new job and it's a real sausage fest. She's the only woman on a team filled with Brads and Chads. Expecting a bachelor pad atmosphere, she is quickly corrected when she finds out everyone is happily married. In an effort to impress her boss, Scottie mentions her nonexistent husband in a company meeting. But eagle-eyed Chad points out her lack of wedding ring. Panicked, Scottie creates a story about her unhappy marriage. Unfortunately for Scottie, her boss has a solution—a one-on-one session with the best marriage counselor in the Northeast, who happens to be her boss’s husband. With no way out of her lie, Scottie agrees to see him. Frantic, she calls in help from her best friend who sets her up with his brother, an improv-obsessed millionaire. Enter Wilder Wells. More than happy to take on the job, he teaches Scottie the main rule of improv: always say yes. But the rule backfires during the session when Wilder signs them up for an eight-day summer marriage camp with all of Scottie’s co-workers where she’ll have to share a cabin with her way-too-handsome fake husband. Read more

This is a dual POV, kisses only, sports romance and the third standalone in the Accidentally In Sports Series.A Brooding Hockey Player. A Gorgeous Movie Star. And One Very Public Break-up.AvaDuncan James has always been the one person I couldn’t hide from.He saw me. The real me I hid from everyone.Ten years later, that hasn’t changed, but Duncan has.The younger brother of my best friend is all grown up. And way too attractive for his own good, and mine.With a crazy ex, I have a favor to ask: Pretend to be my boyfriend.DuncanThe moment I laid eyes on Ava Norris, I knew she was my person.Now she’s asking the impossible: pretend I’m in love with her.One problem: I’m pretty sure I still am.Fake dating never goes well in the movies. And if the ‘fake’ kisses are any indication, my heart’s about to be broken a second time.Unless I can figure out a way to make her mine for real.This is a sweet, kisses only, fake dating, off-limits, slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, he falls first, brother's best friend, age gap, all sizzle no spice romance with a happily ever after. Let yourself get swept up with Duncan and Ava. I hope you fall in love with the two of them and are left wanting more of the Accidentally In Sports Series! This book is a standalone but is interconnected with Accidentally In Love With My Best Friend’s Brother and Accidentally Falling For My Fake Wife. Read more

From a host of The Daily Show and stand-up comic, Michael Kosta, comes a wildly funny and insightful memoir about his unlikely journey from professional tennis player (#864 in the world) to professional comedian (there’s no ranking system in comedy but he’s probably . . . top 50?).Before Michael Kosta was performing stand-up comedy specials and hosting The Daily Show, he was a professional tennis “star,” reaching the lofty heights of the #864 ranked men’s singles player in the world. Stop laughing. That’s better than your world ranking. As a tennis pro, Kosta traveled across the globe, competing in such exotic locales as the Netherlands, Tokyo, and even rural Illinois before deciding to put down his racket and pursue a more stable and predictable career: comedy.In a completely unexpected and wild journey through the backwaters of professional tennis, Kosta shows the unlikely ways life on the court prepared him for life in front of a microphone. Like comedy, tennis is brutally competitive, and most people lose at it. Unlike comedy, no one in tennis puts a gun on the table as they count out your earnings in twenty-dollar bills at the end of the night.And then there are the things that have more to do with what happens to you—and what you end up learning—as part of growing up. Topics include: how to properly discard an unwanted European hard-boiled egg, giving CPR to your dead grandpa, cringe-worthy “sex” in the Red Light District, crying so hard in a car that strangers call the cops, and also happy things like what it feels like when your dreams come true.From misadventures in tennis to the humbling setbacks of comedy, Lucky Loser is a heart-filled story of making your own luck, the universal experience of failure, and the many ways in which we all inevitably lose on the way to success. Read more

The New Comedy Bible is a step-by-step, no excuses manual for writing, performing, and launching your career as a stand-up comic. Written by Judy Carter, the author of The Comedy Bible (2001), which was called by The Washington Post and Forbes as a “Comedy Essential.” This new book, penned in classic Carter’s style -- part career coach and part comedy dominatrix -- has 100% new content where you will:Partake in 48 new exercises to turn your problems into punchlinesCreate 60 minutes of new materialDiscover your authentic comedy personaConquer stage fright and slay hecklersPush part procrastination and get bookedWhether you’re a beginner just starting out or a pro looking to create new material for your next Netflix Comedy Special, Carter’s proven methods are legendary among today’s top performers. Alumni of her workshops include: Seth Rogan, Hannah Gadsby, Sherri Sheppard, and Maz Jobrani among others. As Lily Tomlin says, "Judy Carter helps others find their authentic persona and communicate in a way that makes audiences laugh." Interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, she said, “Judy Carter can show you how to make your sense of humor pay off.”The exercises in this book will get you off the couch and onto the stage, helping you develop the skills necessary to envision, and achieve, a successful career in comedy. Read more

Alice Humphries is a small-town Jersey lawyer, and she knows what she’s doing. Kind of. And hell—even if she doesn’t, she and her best friend Don can normally figure it out. They are recent law school grads who’ve opened up their own practice, and they’ll take just about any case they can get to keep the electricity on and buy donuts on Fridays. But when they’re assigned to a high-profile murder through the Public Defender’s Office, they find themselves in over their heads.The victim: a well-known divorce attorney found shot to death in his office. Their client: his blond, botoxed, and bitchy wife. Alice and Don have to get her out of jail, keep her out of jail, and figure out what the hell they’re doing in the process. And meanwhile, they still have two other clients to contend with: a 23 year-old hot-blooded drama queen who pelts her on-again-off-again older lover with snowballs and erects giant snow penises on the hood of his car, and a brash-mouthed Texas pageant mom who assaults a fellow contestant with a giant cupcake and stuffs her four-year old’s bra for the win. And then there’s sexy Assistant Prosecutor/enemy of the defense, Jake Harris. Alice can’t figure out whether she wants to strangle him or make out with him, but the feeling is definitely mutual. Seriously, Murder? is the first installment in a laugh-out-loud romcom murder mystery series that will keep you wanting more! Don and Alice are at the heart of this story, and they just might save the day (if they don't kill each other, first). Read more