listen up for laughs
to keep from crying
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if the rolling ladder is a weekly ritual that brings you amusement or adds a new book to your nightstand then please!
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I opt for listening to books over reading them1 when they are a) non-fiction b) particularly educational or c) particularly amusing. I rarely listen to fiction, unless I’ve read it before, because I find I can’t imagine the story play out as well if I’m listening instead of reading. But for non-fiction titles where I’m learning about all the shady finances that got us into this mess or how the subjugation of women became gospel truth or the harrowing first person account of sexual assault and its aftermath, or learning what its like to be a sociopath or a laughing as a comedian recounts their exploits, I’ll opt for the audio version and usually listen when I’m taking a walk or doing invisible labor.
Audiobooks are especially useful for roadtrips as they are so long that you don’t need to constantly search for a new playlist or podcast to queue up. Today’s books are all comedic and narrated by their very funny authors so should set you up nicely if you’ve got some travel or a really big load of laundry coming up. Each of these books deal with movies in some way but don’t worry if you’ve not seen the works they are commenting on. In some cases I actively advise against it. I chose these specifically in their audio format because it highlights their content to its fullest; each audio experience brings something to the listener that a book just cannot do.2
If you’re new to the audio book game, know that you’ve got many options not just Audible!3 With Spotify premium you get 15 hours a month, Libro is the indie equivalent to Audible and don’t forget your local library that probably uses the Libby app!
If you too need the healing power of laughter during the current shit show we’re living in, listen to one of these.
JOYFUL RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAUMA by Paul Scheer
My favorite, tune-in-every-single-week podcast is How Did This Get Made?, a comedy show that brutally mocks bad movies. When I worked at a cookbook store, I’d often have to unpack and inspect hundreds of books for events or do some menial data entry so this show was my constant companion4 as they’ve been doing it for like 12 years. The show is hosted by actors/comedians Jason Mantzoukas5, June Diane Raphael and her husband Paul Scheer. Over the years a sad yet hilarious running joke has been that Paul had a pretty messed up childhood. Offhand anecdotes will often destabilize the hosts and guests with their bizarre, tragi-comedy6 and realizing the ‘not normal’ nature of his formative years eventually led Paul to write this memoir.
Divided into "‘Part 1: Old Testament” and “Part 2: New Testament” Paul recounts his intense and lonely childhood with an abusive stepfather, career shenanigans and Blockbuster Video cons, autograph collecting obsession, rage issues, the discovery of lactose intolerance at the worst possible time and place7 and a roller coaster of a proposal story. The special draw of the audio version lies in Paul’s earnest delivery which is sweetly goofy even as he takes us through the highs and lows of truly upsetting traumas, silly escapades and romantic declarations. Another audio bonus is the inclusion of clips from the HDTGM? podcast as Paul offhandedly recounts the time that he “frenched his mom” or his “experience as a Milk Attendant” or when his mom told him to buy an engagement ring for his sixth grade girlfriend. These incidents (and their nonchalant delivery) never fail to stun his co-hosts and the live audience forcing them to ask MANY clarifying questions. This audiobook will be especially enjoyable for fans of the podcast but really for anyone who enjoys funny personal memoirs about emotionally hefty topics with a happy ending.
“I didn’t need a girlfriend when I had Blockbuster.”
SHIT, ACTUALLY by Lindy West
Dedicated to “Dr. Richard Kimble, who didn’t kill his wife, not that I care” , this book is a series of essays by Lindy West as she critiques ‘classic’ cinema.8 West is unapologetically opinionated and her irreverent, brash and crude humor is gleefully snarky, lovingly judgy and intensely conversational. The inspiration for this book comes from her viral Jezebel review of Love, Actually which was a huge HELL YES from me back in the day. Also, she needed a reprieve from the ‘bone deep vulnerability” of Shrill and the ‘ cavewoman scream” of The Witches are Coming.9
I Rewatched Love Actually and Am Here to Ruin It for All of You
The grief-stricken Liam Neeson calls up Emma Thompson, who I guess is just some woman he knows (relationship NEVER EXPLAINED), to talk about how sad he is. Emma Thompson is Love Actually’s resident female-personality-haver, which means that she’s totally nice and bland 95% of the time and then every once in a while she’ll say something horribly caustic and inappropriate and out of character. You know, like normal regular human woman who is not robot!
West’s critiques are mostly silly, but sometimes actually quite valid and her methodology is rigorous. She chose movies that:
1) were a cultural phenomenon that took over earth
or
2) one I’m personally obsessed with
or
3) seemed like someone should talk about this
Lots of things are missing. Don’t think about it too hard.
The thesis for this work is laid out quite frankly in the first chapter titled “The Fugitive is the only Good Movie” which explains that West will be rating each film on a scale of 10 DVDs of The Fugitive. The Fugitive itself, naturally, earns 13/10 DVDs of The Fugitive. I recently rewatched this masterpiece on a plane and completely agree with her assessment.
This feels like watching a goodbad movie with a hilarious friend that won’t shut up but you aren’t mad about it and is bursting with quotes, references, allusions and condemnations. Basically anything that amused her in the moment and cool if it entertains you too but if not, whatever.10 Quick moments of personal history are mentioned but this is mostly stream of consciousness as she takes us through each film and her thoughts as it plays out. It can feel like a lot of energy, especially listening to her mock serious enthusiastic delivery, but its format is perfect as a dip in/dip out as needed situation.
West asks if cinematic gems like these still hold up:11
Forest Gump
The Notebook
Face/Off12
Top Gun
Titanic
The Rock
Twilight
Speed
Garden State
and more!
Did you know I do more than read and tell you what to read? I also edit podcasts AND fiction. If you’ve got an audio project that needs a skilled ear or a fiction manuscript that needs a judgy13 eye, send me a message!
AYOADE ON TOP by Richard Ayoade
unfortunately the audio version of this is only available on audible :(
Written and narrated by another crush of mine, in Ayoade on Top Richard Ayoade takes readers/listeners on "A voyage (through a film) in a book (about a journey)”. This entire book is a treatise on the 2003 Gwyneth Paltrow film View from the Top, an incomprehensible mess of a movie that Ayoade delves into with meticulous care and attention.
In his own words:
Ayoade has a very particular cadence and delivery style14 so you must actually listen to this one, don’t bother to simply read it. His voice is crucial to the full experience. He is excessively verbose and crafts intricate, gaudy sentences stuffed with dry sarcasm, mock seriousness and droll anecdotes as he takes us through the minutiae of this ‘film’. I couldn’t get enough of it.
I'll never forget the day in June, or maybe it was March, in either 2013 or 2014, when I opened up my laptop, attached the external DVD player with a (male to male) USB cable to the 'puter port, swabbed the screen with a lemon-fresh (and moist!) towelette, removed a shop-bought DVD from its slightly chipped Amaray case, checked for marks and scuffs that may have resulted from in-transit disc slippage, attended to said marks and scuffs with a sober squirt of CleanSafe fluid and the use of my (somewhat careworn!) rotating microfibre cleaning cloth, placed the DVD in the external (top-loading) disc drive, waited for the DVD icon to appear on the desktop, pulled up an open-source, cross-platform media player like VLC or RealPlayer, dragged the icon across and, with the carelessness of young middle age, double-tapped the trackpad.
This is a scholarly exploration and in-depth examination of a movie that no one, probably not even the cast and crew, remembers and his absurdity goes ‘over the edge’15 in delightful detail. There were a few instances where I had painful, teary laughter as he explored and skewered topics such as:
60s airline adverts
a deep dive into Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing
some light biblical exegesis
Christmases in Ipswich
numerous philosophical quandaries
and of course all of the ‘symbolism’ and ‘artistry’ that went into making View from the Top the masterpiece that he claims it to be. It ends with a list of further suggested viewing of other airplane based films and while I truly have no idea why this was imagined, written, recorded and distributed I’m very grateful that it was. More niche weirdness in media please!
When I was six, I didn't even know it was possible to be anywhere else. All I did was stay in the car. My parents were always in the car, going to places, getting out of the car at those places and asking me to stay in the car until they got back from those places. But they needn't have asked. Where else would I go? It never occurred to me to leave the car. The only reason I wasn't still in bed was because I was told it was time to get out of bed and get in the car. As an only child, I never learned to conspire, no one showed me how to rebel. I simply did not know how to transgress. I did everything 1 was told. My first words were, 'Will that be all for today?'
have you listened to any of these?
what humorous audio books have you enjoyed lately? do you listen to these on roadtrips? do you take roadtrips?
DISCUSS!
obviously this still counts as consuming the book’s content. i never understand when people say they don’t ‘count’ audiobooks.
i’m sorry paperbacks. you know i still love you best
except actually for one of these books, you really only have audible as an option. #breakingmyownrules
hopefully my backroom cackling didn’t cost us business…
my crush
some highlights here and here
disney world!
from the toil and trouble shelf
same, lindy. same
at the beginning of the pandemic my friends who lived with another couple decided to record a podcast called “Does This Hold Up?” which I edited and which never reached anyone else’s ears. I re-listened to all four episodes of it recently and regret to say that the podcast itself did not hold up.
chapter titled “Big Boy Freaky Friday”
but helpful! see my testimonials at the bottom of this page
see Travel Man for more!
this is what my mom says to me (complete with hand motion) when I mention ‘the patriarchy’ more than once in a conversation
I forgot about Richard Oyade’s book! I’ll have to give that a read (/listen).
Oh my gosh, the timing of this post is like you're actually psychic! Adding so many to my TBR list.