Performing Arts

Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.

A cutting satire of race relations in the age of Trump and Black Lives Matter from the hugely popular comedian—one of ""The Original Kings of Comedy""—and author of the New York Times bestseller Black Man, White House. ""White people are always giving out ‘helpful’ advice, such as...

Richard Pryor journeys from his childhood in a family that worked in whore-houses and bars, through to his years in Hollywood - the money, the women, the drugs - and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

The greats of comedy, when they were young and struggling, performing their great early routines.

The film, television, and comedy legend tells the hilarious and moving story of how tough love, and a sense of humor made him the man he is today By the tender age of five, Bernie Mac had found his calling: making others laugh. He has since become the star and cocreator of Fox’s hit sitcom The...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today From the creator of Elle’s “Eric Reads the News,” a heartfelt and hilarious memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding unexpected hope, and experiencing every awkward...

Comedian Trevor Noah offers listeners a glimpse into his childhood during apartheid in South Africa in this award-winning memoir.

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.

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY FEATURED ON CBS SUNDAY MORNING From longtime New York Times and Vanity Fair writer David Margolick comes the first definitive biography of Sid Caesar: founding father of television comedy and icon to generations of Americans...

Join professional comedy writer Joel Morris on a hilarious journey into the hidden world of shared laughter, where he reveals the mechanisms that make jokes work and what comedy can teach us about ourselves....

Steve Martin's riveting, mega-bestselling, beloved, and highly acclaimed memoir of a life, a vocation, and an era—named one of the ten best nonfiction titles of the year by Time and Entertainment Weekly. In the mid-seventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the...

In this side-splitting memoir, the former Saturday Night Live star recounts the hilarious adventures and unexpected joy of dating and becoming a mother when she least expected it-at the age of forty-four. Anyone who saw an episode of Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006 knows Rachel Dratch...

The first book in twenty-five years from “one of our great comic minds” (The Washington Post) features Seinfeld’s best work across five decades in comedy. Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub “Catch a Rising Star” as a twenty-one-year-old college student in...

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...

“The finest, most moving and powerful memoir I have ever read.”—MAYIM BIALIK Rising young comedian Moshe Kasher is lucky to be alive. He started using drugs when he was just 12. At that point, he had already been in psychoanlysis for 8 years. By the time he was 15, he had been in and out...

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.

The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual is a comprehensive guide to the UCB style of long form comedy improvisation....

“Short’s endearing memoir is, of course, funny, but it’s also a rare thing: the tale of a genuine human being who’s thrived on planet Hollywood.” — Washington Post In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from...

The woman behind the icon known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story filled with intimate bombshells—told by the bombshell herself. On Good Friday in 1953, at only 18 months old, 25 miles from the nearest hospital in Manhattan, Kansas...

If it can happen in show business, it’s happened to Jon Cryer. Now he’s opening up for the first time and sharing his behind-the-scenes stories in a warmly endearing, sharply observed, and frankly funny look at life in Hollywood. In 1986, Jon Cryer won over America as Molly Ringwald’s...

“A close look at how show business power corrupts . . . The dishiest read of the year.” – Janet Maslin, “Ten Favorite Books of the Year,” New York Times “Here’s Johnny!” Probably everyone in America knows the phrase, whether they watched every episode of The Tonight Show or none...

Why is every film or tv programme a sequel or a remake? Why are people so f***ing hung up about swearing? Why do the asterisks in that sentence make it okay? These and many other questions trouble David Mitchell. Join him on a tour of the absurdities of modern life....

The thinking person's comic who uses words as weapons, George Carlin shares all-new, cutting-edge opinion and observational humor in this best seller...

James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales raucously and revealingly take the SNL story up to the present, adding a constellation of iconic new stars, surprises, and controversies....

From the bestselling author of Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy, the definitive biography of John Candy—a heartwarming portrait of one of comedy's most beloved and enduring stars.

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....

“Writing this funny requires immense talent.” —AV Club H. Jon Benjamin—the lead voice behind Archer and Bob's Burgers—helps us all feel a little better about our own failures by sharing his own in a hilarious memoir-ish chronicle of failure. Most people would consider H. Jon Benjamin a...

Brought to you by Penguin. THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Packed with hard-won wisdoms and gentle truths, this is Miranda’s honest exploration of the lessons she has learned on her journey from illness to recovery. Hello to you, I am with news. I have a new book: I Haven’t Been Entirely...

Jennifer Saunders' comic creations have brought joy to millions. From Comic Strip to Comic Relief, from Bolly-swilling Edina in Ab Fab to her takes on Madonna or Mamma Mia, her characters are household names. But it's Jennifer herself who has a place in all our hearts. This is her funny, moving...

From actor, comedian, writer, and host of the hit history podcast SNAFU, Ed Helms brings you an absurdly entertaining look at history’s biggest blunders. History contains a plethora of insane screwups—otherwise known as SNAFUs. Coined during World War I, SNAFU is an acronym that stands for...

A must-listen, live-recorded audiobook for newcomers and die-hard Sedaris fans alike, packed with the acclaimed humorist’s signature wit and social commentary. Bestselling essayist David Sedaris likes to test out his new material on nationwide reading tours to get the rhythm and phrasing...

One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, a new hot springs was discovered in Luview, Maine. When two lonely hearts went for a swim in the waters, they fell instantly in love. Awwwww, right? But this isn’t a story about magic. It’s a story about business. The business of love. Because local logger Abram Luview, who found his bride that day, didn’t just see stars in his beloved’s eyes. He saw dollar signs, too. Over the years, Abram helped to turn Luview, Maine into Love You, Maine: where every day is Valentine’s Day.

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.

Harmony in Humour is a funny, honest, and deeply human reflection on adulthood, faith, culture, parenting, and the quiet mental battles we all face. With sharp wit and heartfelt insight, Conrad Santa Jr. turns everyday chaos into stories that heal, challenge, and remind us we're not broken, we're human. This isn't a traditional self-help book filled with clichés or formulas. It's a conversation, raw, real, and unexpectedly freeing.

Ever wish socializing came with subtitles and an undo button? This social skills book is the next best thing. If you’ve ever tried to charm someone with a joke that fell flat, stared at a one-word reply like it was a riddle, or blanked mid-intro—you’re not alone. This is a social anxiety book that gets it. The Awkward Person’s Guide to Social Skills is a refreshingly honest, funny, and helpful guide for anyone who feels like they missed the memo on human interaction.

I get snowed in with my brother’s best friend, a hockey star I’m supposed to fix, not fall for. After a viral on-ice fight, Andy Coleman needs damage control. Fast. He’s the Milwaukee Blizzard’s hot-headed star, all scoring goals and shutting people out. So the team sends me. His publicist. His captain’s little sister. The last woman he wants telling him how to live his life. Then an injury sidelines him. Suddenly I’m managing more than his image. Between rehab sessions and charity skates, I see the man behind the headlines, the one who laughs with kids, rescues me in a blizzard...

Rosie's working day is about to get seriously strange!... Rosie (AKA Alison) works at a high-class escort agency as a receptionist. When her boss asks her to be the special birthday present for his favourite nephew, she can't help but agree. The boss is the boss after all. However an evening of surprises, unexpected parents and even the odd spider awaits her. By the end of the night, will she have fulfilled her mission or is her potential pay-rise nothing but a distant dream? Perfect for fans of off-beat romance!

He kept the ship shipshape. They kept their eyes on the screen. For sixteen years, Max has been the Janitor of the Vigilant, a high-class starship where status is measured in digital footprints. Max doesn’t tweet, he doesn’t click, and he definitely doesn't "surf"—he simply knows every bolt and bulkhead of the ship he calls home. When a new, tech-obsessed Captain decides Max’s digital illiteracy is a fatal flaw, Max is cast out into the space docks with nothing but his severance and his dignity. But in a universe where everyone is too busy "clicking and surfing" to look out the ...

Storytelling has long been a staple of the outdoor literature, though in recent years these stories seem fewer and harder to find. Some of these accounts were tales of peril, while others were relatable bits of comedy about the missteps we all make in the outdoors. In the spirit of keeping that tradition alive, Jim Mize has followed up with his own tales of misadventure and mirth, bringing us characters like Beanpole and Grumpy. If these tales have a touch of credibility, it’s because many of these events happened to Jim or people he knew. But he prefers to share them through his ...

Roddy returns to his childhood family home on the Isle of Wight to attempt to restart his life after a disasterous breakup and hopefully also create a new business. His main priority though is to help his daughter Polly financially so that she can get through her finals at uni. However things aren’t as they first appear on the island. The love, romance and happiness that he seeks are interfered with when he encounters lies, deceit, drug smuggling and threats. Still emotionally scarred, somehow, someway, Roddy has to cope with all of this while attempting to hold it all together. Full of ...

Helene Bockhorst probiert es aus – und wagt den Spagat zwischen Humor und Tiefgang. In ihrer Genre-sprengenden One-Woman-Freakshow führt sie sich selber vor. Hereinspaziert, Manege frei – nehmen Sie Platz im erquickendsten Wechselbad, seit es Gefühle gibt! Nur hier sehen Sie die stärkste Frau der Welt, die Frau mit dem Unterleib und den Drahtseilakt der deutschen Comedy. Sie balanciert auf der feinen Linie zwischen Fremdscham und Erleuchtung.