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)

starts out hilarious

...but sadly, peters out towards the end. I have always been a fan of Ellen's stand-up, and in the first part of the book I was laughing out loud. (good thing I was at home listening to this, or I'm sure I would have gotten some funny looks for my unexplained bursts of spontaneous laughter..) It loses 'funny' when she tries to slip in some 'political agenda' material, ie: advocating for gay rights, same-sex marriage, blah-blah-blah. I could give two-hoots about these issues, truly, and they have no place in a work of comedy, unless you are making fun of them. That's the place of comedy. Good comedy advocates nothing and can make you laugh about anything. Also her depiction of God as a black woman is so clich?. It's been done. That whole God-as-a-woman thing lost it's 'funny' a long time ago.
I'm not sure this was worth the money I paid for it, but I at least really enjoyed the first part, and will probably listen to it again.

Excellent

I'm not an Ellen fan at all, but I got a sample of it on my MP3 player, and I listened to it, it was the most hysterical thing i've heard in a long time, I bought the audiobook and it is so much fun to listen to when I need a kick. This book is a great buy, if you have a sense of humor.

Pure Ellen

This book was funny. If you want some VERY light listening about nothing that will make you laugh, this is for you. If you are looking for insights into the working of the world and politics and religion, look else where. Ellen is her typical rambling self in this book, which is narrated by herself. She does however provide some real "Hmmmm..." moments. But she just talks a lot of funny nothing. Very amising book for the train after a hard day at work.

Ellen is Funny as Ever!

What made the experience of listening to The Funny Thing Is... the most enjoyable?

Fun read for a road trip! Listened on the way to Oregon form Los Angeles, made the late night driving fun, most definetly kept me awake, laughing.

What about Ellen Degeneres???s performance did you like?

Ellen's short story telling is light and entertaining

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me laugh, hysterically

The Funny Thing Is...

I've admired Ellen for 15 or more years, and when I found out that I could download her books on Audible.com I was ELATED!!!!!!!! I have watched her show since it's inception, and she BRIGHTENS my day every single day!!!!!
She is SO GENEROUS AND LOVES TO HELP THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED!!!! My biggest DREAM is to meet her and maybe tell her my situation.
I am Disabled and totaled my car on December 2, 2015. Since then, I've not been able to continue my volunteer work teaching people how to read and write, and to ring the bell for the Salvation Army during their Red Kettle Campaign. I've been volunteering for 3 years and I feel so lost, and with being on Disabled, I only make 911.00 a month and that just barely pays my bills!!!!
If this review makes it to Ellen's desk, I hope she will understand my situation and send me tickets to her show. I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH AND ADMIRE EVERYTHING SHE DOES!!!!!!
HER AUDIO BOOKS ARE hilarious and thought provocative.
I try to be Kind to everyone as she says at the end of every show.

sadly disappointed

i love listening to ellen. i loved her stand-up specials and i like her style. unfortunately this book is too sarcastic and pointless. i think it tried to be funny instead of have something substantial to say. i couldn't get past the "jokes" that didn't make the "advice" clear. i got more helpful advice from her actual stand-ups. i love ellen, but i don't love this book, sorry.

My mother's last book.

I bought this book for my mother as her last book she read before she died. So I read and listen to it and enjoyed it greatly...

Ellen is funny!

Whatever you're doing, she forces you to laugh out loud.
She wound up naked in three skits, and I still can't get that out of my mind ... and I don't want to.

👍👍❤️👍

Best part of this book is Ellen's reading of it. This book is very funny indeed.

If you like Ellen's standup...

Where does The Funny Thing Is... rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

"The Funny Thing Is..." ranks right up there with all of the audiobooks I have listened to. The only drawback, I wished it was material I hadn't seen before. A few of the chapters were word for word the same as a few stand up routines. I guess I don't mind the really funny stuff...which is pretty much the entire book. Never mind, I take it all back.

What other book might you compare The Funny Thing Is... to and why?

Tina Fey's Bossypants. Same humor all around.

Which scene was your favorite?

The Things That Are Bothering Me Today (or something to that effect)....very funny and you are thinking..."Me too!!!" the whole time.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh out loud in the middle of dehydrating slides at work just to have co-scientists look at me probably asking "what the heck is so funny about dehydrating slides?"