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.

From the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump to the tragic events of Ferguson and Charlottesville, the subject of race has come to the forefront of American consciousness. Legendary satirist D. L. Hughley offers his own cutting observations on this contentious issue that continues to traumatize the nation, a wound made more painful by the ongoing comments and actions of the 45th president. Hughley uses humor to draw attention to injustice, sardonically offering advice on a number of lessons, like "How to make cops feel more comfortable while they're handcuffing you".

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.

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 Bernie Mac Show; a stand-up legend; and a hit movie star in Head of State and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Now, this amazing comedian delves deep down inside to retell the poignant and hilarious story of his childhood and the people who helped shape him into the comedian - and the strong and self-reliant man - he is today.

R. Eric Thomas didn’t know he was different until the world told him so. Everywhere he went - whether it was his rich, mostly White, suburban high school, his conservative Black church, or his Ivy League college in a big city - he found himself on the outside looking in. In essays by turns hysterical and heartfelt, Thomas reexamines what it means to be an "other" through the lens of his own life experience.

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.

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....

From a massively successful stand-up comedian and co-host of chart-topping podcasts “2 Bears 1 Cave” and “Your Mom’s House,” hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more....

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....

Outsider. Misfit. Criminal. Convict. . . . Movie star. Family man. Comedy legend. Joey Diaz has been called every name in the book (and then some). Now, for the first time, he shares the story of his unlikely rise to fame in his own words—with no punches pulled....

Comedian Pierre Novellie was on stage when a heckler suggested he was autistic. Usually, this disruption would be water off a duck's back but two things made this heckler different: first, he was himself autistic. Second, he turned out to be absolutely right....

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....

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....

Decades ago, Paul Mooney set out not just make audiences laugh but to make them think. Black Is the New White is his blisteringly funny, no-holds-barred memoir of how he continues to succeed wildly at both....

A hilarious and biting memoir from the actor, comedian, and Saturday Night Live alumnus....

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress....

From comedienne Sarah Silverman comes a memoir that is at once shockingly personal, surprisingly poignant, and still pee-in-your-pants funny....

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?).

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 complete uncensored history of the award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as told by its correspondents, writers, and host....

Authors Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key build on the popularity of their 2022 Webby Award-winning podcast and delve deeper into the world of sketch, helped along with new essays created expressly for the book by comedy greats.

David Mitchell’s 2014 best seller Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse must really have made people think - because everything’s got worse....

From Naptown to Tinseltown - legendary stand-up comedian and actor Mike Epps finally tells all in this outrageous, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir....

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....

Millions of viewers know and love Bob Saget from his role as the sweetly neurotic father on the smash hit Full House, and as the charming wisecracking host of America's Funniest Home Videos....

Anyone who saw an episode of Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006 knows Rachel Dratch. She was hilarious! So what happened to her? Find out....

The legendary writer and performer of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame takes listeners on a grand tour of his ascent in the entertainment world John Cleese’s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations....

From 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show dominated the American consciousness. Henry Bushkin was Carson’s best friend and lawyer during that period, and his book is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why....

From breakout stand-up comedian Iliza Shlesinger comes a subversively funny collection of essays and observations on a confident woman's approach to friendship, singlehood, and relationships....

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.

Some vampires sparkle. Some brood. Bartholomew Black just wants to nap. He’s the oldest vampire in the world—grumpy, ancient, and occasionally forgetful. For centuries, he’s avoided the spotlight (and garlic) by hiding out in a castle with his overly chatty bat companion, Kevin. But when a mysterious visitor shatters his eternal snooze, Bartholomew is thrust back into a world of deadly secrets, creepy mirrors, undead politics, and one very sarcastic were-hamster. And that’s before the mimic shows up. Bite Me is a dark, dramatic, and wickedly funny adventure into the shadows of ...

In Which the Coffee is Black, the Rain is Eternal, and the Future is a Joke In the brooding city of Invercrane—where the buildings lean like they’re whispering secrets and the fog never quite clears its throat—a streetlamp flickered like it owed someone money. Somewhere, a crow laughed. Or choked. Hard to tell with crows. Three figures stood in a semi-circle outside a coffee shop called The Weird Brew. It was two hours past closing, and the neon sign buzzed like a drunk bee trying to remember its name. The windows were fogged, smeared with occult symbols traced in espresso foam and, ...

It always starts the same way: someone opens a cooler, someone else says “we should totally do it,” and then someone (usually me) gets peer-pressured out of her bra and into a suspiciously warm body of water while yelling “YOLO” with the misplaced confidence of a woman who clearly has not learned her lesson. Hi. I’m Kristin. And skinny dipping? It’s kind of my thing. Not intentionally. I didn’t set out to become the person who’s always half-naked in a lake at 1 a.m. with strangers, soggy tortilla chips, and one sandal. But life, like water, is slippery. And somehow, every ...

Here are some of the most convincing UFO accounts of all time. Some accounts contain dozens or hundreds of eye witnesses

Let me start by saying this: I didn’t grow up thinking, “You know what would make my adult life better? Fewer pants.” No. I grew up like most people—squirming into Spanx, fighting with underwire, and crying in Target dressing rooms under the soul-crushing glow of fluorescent lighting. Nudity was for showers and sex, and sometimes not even then. But one fine Tuesday afternoon, while trying to air out a rash (don’t ask), sipping wine from a coffee mug (don’t judge), and scrolling through the internet with a fan aimed directly at my crotch, I stumbled upon an article titled ...

Let me paint you a picture: it’s a Sunday morning. I’m standing in my kitchen, gloriously nude, coffee in one hand, half a cinnamon roll in the other, Fleetwood Mac humming softly through the Bluetooth speaker. The window’s open. My butt is catching just enough breeze to feel like a Disney princess who’s emotionally healed. I am at peace. Enter my then-boyfriend, Josh. Wearing flannel pajama pants like a man who’s not yet learned that crotch ventilation is self-care. He looks at me—bare, radiant, lightly glazed in cinnamon roll icing—and says: “Don’t you think you’re a ...

So, listen. I didn’t mean to end up naked in a yoga class. I mean, not at first. I had what you’d call a “pants-related epiphany” after splitting the inner seam of my leggings mid-warrior pose at a hot yoga class that smelled like armpits and lavender farts. I was trying to get my life together. You know the vibe. I had a crystal in my bra, a smoothie with kale and regret in the cupholder, and I was genuinely attempting to get my chakras lined up like ducks in a row. Then the pants gave out. Loudly. With witnesses. And right there, with my polka dot granny panties blinking in the ...

Let’s get one thing clear right out the gate: just because I’m standing here with my boobs flapping in the breeze like two proud, liberated breakfast pancakes does not mean I’m not running the damn show. That’s right. These jugs are out, these cheeks are exposed, and my leadership style is stronger than your Wi-Fi signal at a Starbucks. You might be thinking, “Wait—can you really lead, manage, inspire, and dominate while stark naked?” To which I say: bitch, watch me. This book isn’t about nudity for nudity’s sake. It’s about ownership. Confidence. Command. Boobs and ...

On the eve of Keith Jefferson’s retirement, Aliens invade the Earth with one demand, that they be worshipped. Keith worshipped no one. And having lost his pension and other financial instruments when the banks and other financial institutions exploiting the invasion kept everyone’s assets because they could, Keith vowed revenge and became a one-man resistance movement in a world that complacently accepted the alien leaders as, just some other people they didn’t vote for who now were in charge.

The village that Time ignored. A tale of swans, local myths, and mayhem. A year in the life of the not always sleepy Somerset village of Blackney Foloren. Separated from the outside world by the infamous Somerset Levels, Blackney is a place which the modern world has overlooked for centuries, where the inhabitants conduct themselves to their entire satisfaction but not a great deal usually happens. However, they are about to have their feathers seriously ruffled, as this tale takes flight with several rather peculiar goings on. As with any small village, there is a pub, a shop, a church, a ...

Following the break from the first half of their support group session, Chicago WereWolves & WifWolves, Male & Female Lycanthropes continue their meeting to support one another and share life hacks. Among them are: How to end school bullying with five simple words, “Don’t Make Me Eat You.”. What happens when WereGirls Go Wild abroad? How to adjust to Moon Lag, a condition in which your body suddenly starts TranZing at the time of the full moon in the place of your birth rather than the one you’ve just arrived in. WereWolf friendly clothing that expands to Were proportions and then ...

Y’all, let me just start by saying this book should probably come with a warning label like a gas station burrito: “May cause unexpected tingling and a strong desire to take your pants off.” My name is Kristin. I’m a 37-year-old woman with a solid B-cup chest, a lifetime of questionable decisions, and a deep love for two things: carbs and being naked. I didn’t choose the nude life—okay yes I did—but let’s not pretend this journey was glamorous or well-thought-out. I didn’t wake up one day and say, “You know what would make laundry easier? NEVER HAVING TO WEAR PANTS AGAIN...

My left butt cheek is still mad at me. You know how some people have elegant stories about self-discovery? Like they found themselves while hiking the Alps, drinking herbal tea brewed by a monk, and journaling about gratitude in a linen robe? Yeah. That’s not this book. I found myself ass-first in a bush, screaming “WHY IS THIS SO SPIKY?!” while naked, holding a soggy banana, and trying to practice “mindful breathing” like some kind of deranged, bare-skinned woodland goblin. Hi. I’m Kristin. And I didn’t mean to become the kind of person who regularly gets tangled in shrubbery...

Look, I didn’t wake up one morning and decide, “You know what would make me feel really in control of my life? Taking off my bra in front of strangers.” That would be weird. Even for me. And I once tried to make banana bread in the nude and accidentally sat on a hot oven mitt, so my threshold for “weird” is alarmingly high. But here we are. I’m Kristin. I’m a loud, semi-responsible, mid-to-late-thirties lady who has gone through more phases than Susan has gone through boyfriends she met at Whole Foods. I’ve been a try-hard corporate chick with power blazers and stress-...

So let’s just address the obvious: stretching while naked is not for the faint of heart. Or the stiff of hamstring. I thought it would be this graceful, sensual, self-loving experience. Wake up, sip a latte, roll out my yoga mat, and gently greet the day with some bendy body positivity. What actually happened was that I pulled a butt muscle I didn’t know existed, my dog Moose barked like I was being murdered, and I kicked a lit candle clear across the room. I ended up in a semi-lunging panic, naked, trying to put out a smoking bath mat with a rolled-up Pilates ball. Welcome to my world....

In Chicago, WereWolves & WifWolves (Male & Female) Lycanthropes meet weekly to support one another and share life hacks, like making pregnancy delivery easy following the 39-month WifWolf pregnancy; WereParenting with fun videos like, "You Bit Johnny. Now He's A WereWolf Too"; Eating CSI, Crime Scene Investigation, responsibly, "It's Not A Good Meal If You Get Caught"; Flavors & Locations: Some people taste like where they're from, in Belgium, people taste like chocolate, in St. Louis, the second fattest city in the U.S., you have pigs in a blanket that taste like BBQ; the merits of human ...

When nudist and reluctant adult Kristin opens her door to a surprise naked visitor, she expects confusion. What she doesn’t expect is Kyle—a tall, overly chill stranger with a suspiciously symmetrical butt, a ferret in a hoodie, and absolutely no plans to leave. Claiming a case of mistaken identity and a nudist Craigslist post gone wrong, Kyle makes himself (and his emotional-support ferret, Muffin) right at home in Kristin’s unclothed, caffeine-fueled life. As Kyle slowly invades every corner of her peaceful nude routine, chaos unfolds: Susan starts a group chat conspiracy, Janessa ...

He was her best friend. Now he might be the one who ruins her wedding. Maya and Patrick were childhood friends who couldn’t have been more different—she was the focused bookworm, he was the golden boy everyone loved. But behind closed doors, their connection was undeniable. Years later, fate brings them back to their hometown just in time for Maya’s wedding. Patrick expects to feel happy for her… but all he feels is wrong. Because what if the person she’s about to marry isn't the one? And what if the one she’s meant to be with has been right there all along? A sweet, funny, and ...

Why didn't the broke yogini scrounge for investors at her high school reunion? Because change comes from within. Spare change isn't going to cut it. Thirty-seven-year-old Nicole Dudek needs beaucoup bucks and she needs them now but hitting up her former classmates to pay her rent under the guise of 'investing' in her yoga studio is wrong on too many levels. Between that and the pair of kooks she sold a dress to off CraigsList (her BFF's. Shh, she hasn't mentioned it yet.), Nic is up to her eyeballs in debt and weirdos. The bizarre incidents keep piling up and interest in Nic's yoga studio ...