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In this great philosophical essay, Henri Bergson explores why people laugh and what laughter means. Written at the turn of the twentieth century, Laughter explores what it is in language that makes a joke funny and what it is in us that makes us laugh.One of the functions of humor, according to Bergson, is to help us retain our humanity during an age of mechanization. Like other philosophers, novelists, poets, and humorists of his era, Bergson was concerned with the duality of man and machine. His belief in life as a vital impulse, indefinable by reason alone, informs his perception of comedy as the relief we experience upon distancing ourselves from the mechanistic and materialistic. «A situation is always comic,» Bergson notes, «if it participates simultaneously in two series of events which are absolutely independent of each other, and if it can be interpreted in two quite different meanings.» The philosopher's thought-provoking insights (e.g., «It seems that laughter needs an echo. Our laughter is always the laughter of a group.») keep this work ever-relevant as a thesis on the principles of humor.

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"It's no disgrace to be poor," observed Sholom Aleichem, «but it's no great honor, either.» «Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city,» remarked George Burns, while Marc Chagall noted that «Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers and never succeeding.» These and many more classic examples of Jewish wit and wisdom — sometimes hilarious, frequently profound, almost always incisive — enliven the pages of this entertaining and practical little volume.Some 500 aphorisms include observations and remarks from statesmen, writers, artist, philosophers, jurists, musicians, and celebrities — from the prophets of the Old Testament, the Talmud, and Maimonides to Joey Adams, Barbra Streisand, and Woody Allen. Here also are memorable quotes from Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Fanny Brice, Heinrich Heine, Sam Goldwyn, Golda Meir, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, Herman Mankiewicz, Albert Einstein, and many others.Arranged alphabetically by author, these thought-provoking pronouncements will not only serve as a handy resource for speech writers and public speakers but will also amuse and inspire all readers.

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"The editors have performed a task for addicts will be grateful. There is nothing for the faithful to do but to sit down and fall to the banquet." — The New York TimesThis is the largest collection of Lewis Carroll's verse ever compiled. It contains almost every poem that Carroll ever wrote. It includes every prose appearing in his books published during his life, privately printed poems, ephemera, poems from manuscripts found among his papers, and from «The Rectory Magazine,» Collingwood's «Lewis Carroll Picture Book,» «Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll,» and rare 19th century periodicals. This is the only place of publication for much of this verse.This volume contains 150 different poems, offering perhaps the finest whimsy ever written. There are parodies, burlesques, riddles, whimsies, ballads, songs (one with Carroll's own music), extravaganzas, acrostics, and other types, including several of his serious poems. Many poems are annotated to explain contemporary allusions, and this edition retains 130 original illustrations by Tenniel, Frost, Holiday, Furniss, and Carroll himself.

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Linda Bowles employs caustic satire skillfully to advocate a return to the principles of common sense and human decency. The fable takes place in 2046 when political correctness has developed a chokehold on all American institutions. The Constitution-determined to be hopelessly outdated&ndash;has been banished to a museum. Fulfilling quotas of racial, gender, sexual-preference, and assorted other categories is the primordial function of every aspect of public policy. Religion is virtually outlawed. The Democrat and Republican parties have converged into one self-perpetuating organization&ndash;the Demopubs, and all that made America great is abased, ridiculed, or obliterated. So removed from rectitude has the nation become that God appears to the President with a warning to get back on the right track.<br><br>Those who seek out symbolism will find many characters named after Biblical players. The President&#39;s name is Moses Jones, the first lady is Sheba, and the vice-president who faces a few figurative giants is given the first name of David. No allegorical appellation is as humorously utilized as Judith Ischcarot who serves as a de facto atheism czar in the cabinet.<br><br>Much of this short work is risibly sapient, but late in chapter eight, it takes a major detour into stirring eloquence. When President Moses Jones addresses his cabinet and admits that he experienced a Theophany, his remarks are profound. Were this peroration a genuine speech delivered by a real president, it would take its place not too far beneath George Washington&#39;s farewell or the Gettysburg Address. The penetrating sinew is constant throughout the nearly two page soliloquy and is represented by lines like &quot;we decided sin and guilt are burdens we don&#39;t have to carry. In effect, the rules governing our behavior can be whatever we want them to be…In an environment permissive of uninhibited expression, we did not find the inherent wisdom within our souls; we found the inherent barbarism.&quot;<br><br>Although the parable takes place 40+ years in the future, most of it is applicable today. When President Jones declaims, &quot; we used to fight our demons…now we embrace them, &quot; his words ring as true in 2001 as the do in the era of Demopubs. Perhaps &quot;The Remnant&quot; can serve as a much needed wake-up call. It is far less drastic that a visit from above conveying divine displeasure.

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We women like to talk.<br><br>We talk to the tune of around 20,000 words per day, if current science is to be believed. We talk to commune with our girlfriends, sisters and mothers, we talk to issue directives to our kids and families, we talk to share our feelings (ad nauseum, if you ask our husbands and partners), we talk at work, we talk at play, sometimes we even talk in our sleep.<br><br>Words are kind of our thing. We should be word experts. So why is it that certain words send us over the edge?<br><br>The words that take others to their happy place often make us miserable. Words like &quot;vacation,&quot; &quot;dinner,&quot; and &quot;holidays&quot; can leave us breathing into a paper bag with our head between our knees. But it doesn&#39;t have to be that way. Join Mary Fran Bontempo and redefine the &quot;dirty words&quot; that make women cringe. You&#39;ll laugh, learn, make some changes and trim your &quot;dirty words&quot; list down to size!

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How to Write a Winning Humorous Speech, offers you an easy and fun way to write a funny and potential winning speech even though you have never written one before. In fact, it is the perfect guide for all new and seasoned toastmasters. It is written in a fun and enjoyable manner with lots of exercises to unleash the creative juice inside you and get the words and sentences out of your head and onto paper. <br><br>With this book, you will never complain that you have no ideas for a humorous speech topics and you can&acirc;t write a funny line. This book is a no nonsense guide that gives you the results you always wanted! Stop giving yourself the excuses and start writing your winning humorous speech now! Written by an experienced toastmaster and a humorous speech contest winner, this essential guide will teach you how to be funny even if you think you are not!STOP Worrying! This book will unclog your brain and unleash the funny juice inside and let your funny ideas and words flow like water!How to Write a Winning Humorous Speech is packed with everything you need to write a humorous speech to make your audience laugh. It covers:<br><br>How to find ideas for your speech topics<br>How to make anything funny using 12 humor techniques<br>How to self-edit your speech and give it the punch<br>How to rehearse, deliver, and win<br>Humorous speech checklist<br>Speech videos, sample speeches, and speech analysis<br><br>In fact, I should not call this a book. Indeed, this is a humorous speech workshop, If you watch all the videos recommended inside, it will take you 90 minutes or more. Best of all, you can even retake this course as many times as you want. You really can&acirc;t find this anywhere. Start learning now!

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This compendium is a highly opinionated, occasionally bogus representation of the most egregious modern examples of both common irritating folks and the rich and powerful who demean others while enriching themselves. It also includes real villains. <br><br>See if you can tell the difference. The subjects of this book barely scratch the surface of the total number of jerks worldwide. However, they are excellent examples of those who often wallow in a putrid pool of self-aggrandizement. This effort is offered in the same loathsome spirit by equal opportunity offenders and is intended to be all in fun, but not necessarily fun for all.<br><br>&quot;If you haven&#39;t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.&quot;<br>– Alice Roosevelt Longworth

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Downturn Abbey is an affectionate, unauthorized, book-length parody of the British TV drama, &quot;Downton Abbey,&quot; written by the author of the million-selling Barry Trotter series.

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What the HELL is the world coming to? Mayor Goodman has been assassinated. Contract killer Macheath has just married Pretty Polly Peachum and they plan to escape to a better world – but they aren’t going anywhere. Not if pickled pilchard tycoon Les Peachum and his wife have anything to do with it. See, they aren’t happy with their daughter marrying Macheath. Not one bit. Before the day is out Macheath will face the hangman’s noose and much more besides. All the while, the dogs are howling, the pier is creaking, the babes are crying, the concrete is cracking and the truth won’t stay hidden for much longer… Based on The Beggar’s Opera , John Gay’s classic musical satire, Kneehigh’s Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) is busting with wit, wonder and weirdness. An extraordinary cast of characters shoot, hoot and shimmy their way through this twisted morality tale of our times…one that is by turns shocking, hilarious, heartfelt and absurd.

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"In the most important theatrical book of this or any other decade, moderate twitter sensation @tips4actors (unrestrained by a 40-character limit) gives you all the advice you need to take your acting to the next level. How to upstage your fellow cast members; what to wear on the first day of rehearsals; and a guide to the finest places to poo in London's West End – it’s all in here! Who else would come up with such transformative advice as… ‘Never read the script. Would your character read the script? No, of course not. For them the script doesn’t exist.’ or… ‘When having sex with a casting director, show off your acting by faking orgasm.’? The answer is no one. Because no other writer is BRAVE enough to tell actors the truth."