Mr. Funny Pants

De: Michael Showalter

Narrado por: Michael Showalter

The writer and star of The State, Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, and Michael & Michael Have Issues brings listeners his uniquely absurd humor in his hilarious first audiobook.

I was at my wit's end. I'd had enough of this job, this life, and my relationship had broken up. Should I eat chocolate, or go to India, or fall in love? Then I had a revelation: Why not do all three, in that order? And so it was that I embarked on a journey that was segmented into three parts and was then made into a major motion picture. Later, I woke up on an airplane with a hole in my face and a really bad hangover. I was ushered brusquely off the plane by my parents who took me to a rehab where I tested positive for coke, classic coke, special k (the drug), Special K (the cereal), mushrooms, pepperoni, and Restless Leg Syndrome. It was there that I first began painting with my feet.

But rewind...the year was 1914. I was just a young German soldier serving in the trenches while simultaneously trying to destroy an evil ring with some help from an elf, a troll, and a giant sorcerer, all while cooking every recipe out of a Julia Child cookbook. What I'm trying to say is that there was a secret code hidden in a painting and I was looking for it with this girl who had a tattoo of a dragon! Let me clarify, it was the 1930s and a bunch of us were migrating out of Oklahoma, and I was this teenage wizard/CIA operative, okay? And, um then I floated off into the meta-verse as a ball of invisible energy that had no outer edge...

Ugh, okay. None of this is true. I'm just kind of a normal guy from New Jersey who moved to New York, got into comedy, wrote this book about trying to write this book, and then moved to Alaska, became the mayor of a small town, spent $30,000 on underwear, and now I'm going to rule the world!

©2011 Michael Showalter (P)2011 Hachette

Classic

I tried reading the book, but couldn't get through it. Lends itself much more to an audiobook. Classic Michael Showalter - super silly, random, and a fun listen.

funny at times

I am a writer and that is why I purchased "Mr. Funny Pants." It is supposed to be a guide for writing humor (I think).

It is very funny at times. I found myself laughing out loud at a few sections.

However, I don't know that I got many useful take-aways for my own writing.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

Must be listened to!

I'm not saying the print version wouldn't be funny, but Showalter's delivery is exquisite. I really did laugh out loud in public, and when I wasn't laughing, I was walking around smiling, snorting, and hooting. A clever, literate, and oh so funny look at everything from publishing to being dumped to restless leg syndrome.

Pure Nonsense.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I've always been a Michael Showalter fan. He's very talented, smart, and funny. Those qualities do not come out in this book. While you can expect a little nonsense in his work, this was all nonsense. Well, I actually didn't finish it. So the first half of his book is pretty much all nonsense. Some of it is pretty funny, but since it's all nonsense, I became desensitized to the inherent funniness of nonsense, and had to sit through long periods of boring nonsense before some of it was funny enough to keep me waiting through the less funny stuff. Like if all you ever ate was really good omelets, they become the baseline, and an awesome omelet has to come along for you to be interested in omelets again. You will find this book funny and tolerable if you thought the show Stella was not nonsensical enough, OR if you're a 15 year old suburban nerd who just started smoking marijuana.

All that said, ONLY Showalter could narrate this book effectively and he does a perfect job of speaking his own written nonsense.

One of My All-Time Favorite Humor Books

Brilliant. Strange. Hilarious. Twisted. What more could you possibly want in a humor book? And nobody else could narrate this audiobook -- the author knows exactly how to emphasize and pace his quirky meanderings for the greatest possible humorous impact. Step into this guy's world for a few days - you may not want to live there, but he makes it an awful lot of fun to visit. One of my favorite audio experiences of the year.

Ramblings of a lunatic

If you are a patient person you will find this book funny, as it relies on you to understand the author as a person of little coherence and tact.
M. Showalter lowers his brain output filters and lets fly with a seemingly unedited wall of text/words - the humour comes from the sheer unprofessionalism of the book.
I found it much more funny than stressful, although i can clearly see how others have a different opinion.
This is surely a hate it or love it book.

Great Book

Very funny. Loved the Canadian Edition... Its Aboot time an American author acknowledged us. My nephew has Asperger's Syndrome so I loved the part aboot that. Told my nephew about it and he thought it was really funny. Great read. Laughed all the way through. I've bought a print copy for my husband and he loves it too!

Six hours of verbal diahrrhea.

Wow, about the best I can say about this book is "it is tedious." I rarely start an audiobook without finishing it. This one is a rare exception, I just can't bring myself to listen to the whole thing. Absolutely the worst book I've purchased on Audible (and there are some GREAT ones). If this audiobook was on the 99 cent rack, I couldn't bring myself to purchase it. Yes, there is a chuckle or two, but after the first 10 minutes it was more like a chore than entertainment.