Comedy Development

Executives from The Second City—the world’s premier comedy theater and school of improvisation—reveal improvisational techniques that can help any organization develop innovators, encourage adaptable leaders, and build transformational businesses. For more than fifty years, The Second City...

Master the Art of Improv: Unleash Your Creativity, Build Confidence, and Transform Your Skills! Does performing in front of others make you nervous, yet you dream of becoming a skilled improviser full of creativity and confidence? Searching for dynamic activities to energize participants of all skill levels? New to improv and need a welcoming guide to get started? If any of these resonate, The Complete Improv Playbook is your comprehensive guide to unlocking creativity and confidence with over 70 games and techniques for every skill level.

New York Times bestselling author Ali Wentworth offers a comedic look at family, friendship, and lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic in her new collection of laugh-out-loud comic vignettes. Like many, Ali Wentworth spent the pandemic seesawing between highs, lows, and baking an...

What if your soulmate died…and then came back to help you find love again? Alison and Bhima found true, once-in-a-lifetime love for the first time in their 50’s. It was the kind of love that changes everything. Then he died. Six weeks later, Bhima appeared at Alison’s kitchen table, as charming as ever, with one clear purpose: to help her find love again. It's imaginary of course. Or is it?

Overachieving parents want you to believe the harder you work, the better your kid will turn out. The truth is most kids end up remarkably unremarkable no matter what you do. Amateur parenting expert James Breakwell will teach you to stop worrying and embrace your child's destiny as devastatingly average. To get there, you'll have to overcome your kid, other parents, and yourself, all of whom will push you to do more than is absolutely necessary. Honestly, by reading this far, you're already trying too hard. But don't stop now. You're exactly the kind of person who needs this book.

In Such a Pretty Fat, Jen Lancaster learned how to come to terms with her body. In My Fair Lazy, she expanded her mind. Now the New York Times bestselling author gives herself—and her generation—a kick in the X, by facing her greatest challenge to date: acting her age. Jen is finally ready...

Opposites attract in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about a free-spirited lawyer who is determined to find the perfect match for the grumpy bachelor at her cousin's wedding. After a devastating break-up, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again...

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick and one of Read With Jenna's Most Anticipated Books of 2022 ""I laughed and shook my head in recognition as the three Wise women crashed through love relationships, terrible advice, and delightful moments of connection. The Wise Women is a smart and tender novel...

Coming from one empathetic parent to another, the tips in this book are real, clever, honest, and designed to make life with a terrible two- or three-year-old a little bit more manageable. Hilarious, helpful, and handy, this book will be appreciated by any parent who has asked: "Why didn't anybody warn me that unconditional love would be so much work?"

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Thank you for the perfect blend of nostalgia-drenched humor, wit, and heartbreak, Nora.” — Mandy Moore Joining the ranks of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Carry On, Warrior, a fierce, hysterically funny memoir that reminds us that comedy equals tragedy plus...

“Darkly, deeply funny, and acclaimed abroad, this biting satire” (Booklist) follows an over-educated, under-employed man as he struggles to complete his novel and get his life together over the course of one scorching Swedish summer. Convinced of his own moral and intellectual superiority...

Look, maybe you're a nice girl, but we're guessing you're more like us or you probably wouldn't have downloaded this audiobook. But being nice is just not the way to get what you want. And this audiobook is about getting what you want. Not in a finding happiness, giving back to the world, being grateful for what you have sort of way. But in a ruling your world, being the most desired, powerful badass in the room way, so you can come out on top of any situation: guys, career, friends, enemies, whatever.

Il y a un truc qui s'appelle l'étincelle. Sa prodigieuse faculté, c'est de te tomber dessus sans crier gare. L'étincelle, c'est ce moment fugace et indescriptible où tu comprends, subitement, que tu dois faire quelque chose pour changer le film de ta vie. Là, dans le flou de la flamme, tu le pressens : la production compte sur toi et le premier rôle ne va pas t'échapper. Cet instant où la petite mèche s'allume est immensément précieux, mais personne ne peut le fabriquer.

The Hunted series continues as Special Agent Sam Turner discovers that protecting the FBI's star witness is more difficult than he thought! Bakery owner Elizabeth Hamilton's quiet life is filled with sweet treats, good friends, and a loving family. But all of that is about to turn sour when an...

Dans cet ouvrage sérieux et très drôle à la fois, le conférencier Scott Berkun vous dit tout sur la prise de parole en public. Il livre ses conseils, les techniques que n'importe qui peut également mettre à profit, enseignants, étudiants lors d'exposés, et même toute personne qui s'exprime en espérant être écoutée. Fort de son expérience — quinze années de prise de parole devant des foules de toutes tailles — l'auteur raconte tout, ses propres succès, ses moments embarrassants, ses échecs, les erreurs à ne pas commettre, le trac, le public parfois indifférent, qu'il faut séduire, flatter, amuser.

Want to make a living by making people laugh? The comedy industry is bursting with opportunities—find out how to claim your place in the spotlight with 10 Steps to Be a Working Comedian. Comedy is a business, and there’s work waiting for anyone funny enough to take the stage. Greg Dean, the renowned Professor of Stand-Up Comedy, shows you how to turn your passion for laughs into a lucrative career, from one-nighters to week-long gigs. This book reveals how to build a show to get work, secure it, and what it takes to thrive in an ever-expanding industry.

I'm going to be totally honest. This is not the kind of audiobook that can help you. It's not a "how-to," a "when-to," or a "what-to-expect." It's not even endorsed by anyone remotely connected to the medical profession. (Although a cousin of mine who sells carpeting to doctors'...

As inequality, inflation, and overwhelming corporate power threaten democracy, a rising-star economist asks what it would mean to create an anti-fascist economics that guarantees dignity for all. On the night of President Trump's second presidential victory, economist Isabella Weber tweeted...

The four co-creators of The Try Guys, one of the Internet’s most popular and viral sensations, deliver their first book—an inspirational self-improvement guide that teaches you that the path to success is littered with humiliating detours, embarrassing offenses, and unexpected failures. Best...

It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why are they smiling, what made them sad?