What's So Funny?

My Hilarious Life

By: Tim Conway, Jane Scovell, Carol Burnett - foreword

Narrated by: Tim Conway, Carol Burnett, Dick Hill, Jane Scovell

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Six-time Emmy Award-winning funnyman Tim Conway, best known for his characters on The Carol Burnett Show, offers a straight-shooting and hilarious memoir about his life on stage and off as an actor and comedian. In television history, few entertainers have captured as many hearts and made as many people laugh as Tim Conway.

There's nothing in the world that Tim Conway would rather do than entertain - and in his first-ever memoir, What's So Funny?, that's exactly what he does. From his pranks in small Ohio classrooms to his performances on national television and movies, Tim has been cracking people up for more than seventy years. Long regarded as one of the funniest comedians around, Tim also boasts an inspiring rags-to-riches story.

What's So Funny? captures Tim's journey from life as an only child raised by loving but outrageous parents in small-town Ohio during the Great Depression, to his tour of duty in the Army - which would become training for his later role in McHale's Navy - to his ascent as a national star and household name. By tracing his early path, this audiobook reveals the origins of many of Tim's unforgettable characters - from Mr. Tudball and the Oldest Man to Mickey Hart to everyone's favorite, Dorf.

What's So Funny? shares the hilarious accounts of the glory days of The Carol Burnett Show and his famous partnerships with entertainment greats like Harvey Korman, Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Vicki Lawrence, Bob Newhart, and of course, Carol Burnett. As a bonus, listeners will enjoy never-before-shared stories of hilarious behind-the-scenes antics on McHale's Navy and The Carol Burnett Show.

©2013 Tim Conway (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Interesting and listenable but not terribly funny

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes but not as in depth as I would have liked

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

More behind the scenes or stories about the shows he was involved in. a bit shallow.I was taken aback by his opening where he stated that he was bored reading it. Not a great way to start a book.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I was expecting it to have been narrated by the author. It took a while to get used to the narrator but he gave it a good shot

I thought it would be funnier

That's not fair of me to say it should be funnier. After all a few parts of this book had me doubled over with laughter. And I got to see him perform with Harvey Korman a few years before Korman died. But I thought this would be funnier because I'm such a big fan. The book is really narrated by Dick Hill and I guess he does a good job and his voice is similar to Tim Conway's. But after listening to Billy Crystal read his book, the bar is set kind of high.
Also, if you don't already know that Tim Conway was not a regular on the Carol Burnett show from the beginning, you will hear it a few times in this book. So color me disappointed just a bit.

When Did Jack Reacher work with Carol Burnett?

First things first... if you like show business memoirs, this is a fine one. It gives you some insight into the creation of a wonderful comic genius, Tim Conway, and is loaded with funny anecdotes. This is a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
BUT... Tim Conway does not narrate this book. After a warm and generous forward by Carol Burnett, Mr. Conway does a minute or two of introduction, explaining that he read the book once and does not intend to read it again. At that point, the narration is turned over to Dick Hill.
DICK HILL!!! The man who reads all those hard boiled detective novels. The voice of Harry Bosch and Jack Reacher. Hill is easily among the best narrators on Audible, but it was jarring, to say the least, to hear Jack Reacher telling stories about his wonderful years working with Carol Burnett. You kept waiting for him to narrate how he beat up the entire cast of McHale's Navy!
Sorry, Mr. Hill, but you've got a typecasting problem.
That aside, if you've loved Tim Conway's work on television and in movies, you'll enjoy this book.

Inside Story

What made the experience of listening to What's So Funny? the most enjoyable?

I liked both the two introductions and the main narrative.

What was one of the most memorable moments of What's So Funny??

Inside Tim Conway's mind.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No but I could have.

Any additional comments?

If you are somewhat nostalgic about your own youth and your remembrances of good, funny TV you will will enjoy this book. Not rocket science. Just good, clean fun.

A wonderful listen

An absolute joy to listen to the hilarious Tim tell his life story. I enjoyed every second of the entire book. He is so very very talented.

Just what you would expect from Tim

Would you listen to What's So Funny? again? Why?

I would listen to this again. It is a great story of a great comedian who is loved by many.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked that he read the story himself, which added to the experience. The inflections and tones and every aspect is exactly as he would have said it (because he did).

Comedy at it Finest!

We laughed and laughed at this wonderful warm and clean story of a very funny man!

Hilarious!

Tim Conway is a funny, funny guy! It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down!

Delightful!

This was great. So many memoirs are boring and self promoting, but Tim's was laugh out loud funny. What a guy. :)

Laughter is a Gift

There is plenty of worry and tension and fear in this world. When someone funny comes along and gives me the "gift" of laughter, I am grateful to that person. Tim Conway has given me something to laugh at time and time again. When his autobiography appeared as a daily special, I bought it without hesitation.

After reading his life story, I'm not sure why he is so funny. It occured to me that his childhood might have produced a very different personality in another person. Luckily for me, and all those who enjoy the humor of Tim Conway, he turned out funny.

i found the story of his life to be very interesting. I knew nothing of his background before reading this book. It seemed to me there was a good balance in his story. I never got bored with any part of it. I found the stories about Harvey Korman to be especially surprising and interesting.

Tim Conway does not narrate the book and I thought that might be a problem. However, after a few minutes I got used to narrator Dick Hill and enjoyed his work.