The Funny Thing Is...

By: Ellen DeGeneres

Narrated by: Ellen DeGeneres

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Ellen DeGeneres published her first book of comic essays, the #1 best selling My Point...and I Do Have One, way back in 1996. Not one to rest on her laurels, the witty star of stage and screen has since dedicated her life to writing a hilarious new book. That book is this audiobook.

After years of painstaking, round-the-clock research, surviving on a mere twenty minutes of sleep a night, and collaborating with lexicographers, plumbers, and mathematicians, DeGeneres has crafted a work that is both easy on the ears and very funny. Along with her trademark ramblings, The Funny Thing Is...contains hundreds of succinct insights into her psyche, and offers innovative features including: more than 50,000 simple, short words arranged in sentences that form paragraphs; thousands of observations on everyday life, from terrible fashion trends to how to handle seating arrangements for a Sunday brunch with Paula Abdul, Diane Sawyer and Eminem; all twenty-six letters of the alphabet read aloud.

Sure to make you laugh, The Funny Thing Is... is Ellen in top form.

©2003 Crazy Monkey, Inc. (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. Audioworks Is An Imprint Of Simon & Schuster, Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"Her off-kilter observations are guaranteed to have listeners in stitches." (AudioFile)
"The laid-back, observational comedienne's stream-of-conscience musings gain additional zest from her wry and adroit delivery....Degeneres is a delight." (Publishers Weekly)

Perfect if you want something funny and clean!

I love Ellen and this book is a riot! She is so funny without using expletives or being nasty. Very refreshing.

The funny thing is...I enjoyed it.

Just as another reviewer noted, this book started out strong, then faded off near the end. The last chapter or so did not fulfil the promise of the earlier chapters.

It may have been a rehash of older material - I can't comment on that for certain - but there were parts where I did laugh, and laugh loudly. Good comedy can be enjoyed on repeat visits.

I was especially glad, however, that I chose the audio version of this book over the print edition. The author (naturally) had just the right pace, inflection, and tone to enhance the story. I don't know if my own reading would have had the same comic delivery and timing.

Ths book is not great literature, but was a worthy listen during my commute. It didn't require much concentration, but provided a welcome change from the talk radio guys.

...it's not that funny...

What did you like best about The Funny Thing Is...? What did you like least?

Several sections are directly from her stand-up show... And while funny, her timing is MUCH better when she is not reading. Not going to lie, was a little disappointed with this one.

Beyond hilarious at pointing out ridiculous things we say and do but never question why!

Ellen’s humor is brilliant! The best message I got is how Ellen points out so many ridiculous things we say and do but never question why. And how we make blanket statements “I hate cats” based on one experience that deprived us of perhaps at some point in life finding out there’s nothing about cats to hate. And the word hate, that is the same word that drives the emotion of terrorists, just as one example. Those are some pretty strong emotions to use frivolously, (imho). But don’t take my word for it, if you like Ellen, you’ll love this. (once again imho)

not worth it

The book is all over the place and I lost interest very quickly. I like Ellen but this book just sucks.

So Disappointed

She is so funny as a stand up comedian and on
her talk show but this book was not good at all..
sorry if you're a huge fan, maybe you will get it but
I sure didn't...Forced myself to get through to the end because I already paid for it..I still love her though..hopefully her second book is better

Ellen needs an audience

Ellen is far funnier when she's delivering her standup routines in public than when reading her book aloud to an empty room. Like many performers, she has more energy and better timing when she has an audience. Quite a few of the chapters in this book are also standup routines I remember. The audiobook falls flat to me. Read it yourself and imagine her delivery, or just catch her on TV.

Still an Ellen Fan

But what a waste of money. It would be more satisfying to dine on cotton candy alone for a month. Too bad.

not worth the 3 hours time

I was looking forward to this book because I think Ellen is really funny but this was just lame. It rambled and just wasn't funny. I listened to the whole book but wish I had not spent the 3 hours it took.

Was all over the place

Normally I'm a fan of Ellen but I just didn't get it. I tried listening all the way through but I fell asleep like three time, so I never got through it... Don't waist your credit on this book!