Failure isn't always funny ...

Any additional comments?

I took a chance on this one because of some of the positive reviews posted here that said they had used tactics from this book to some success (& because it was 50% off at the time). Even at 50% off, it wasn't worth it. In fact, I regret the time invested more than the money.

I was nervous right from the start when the author began by trying to explain the importance of humour and the effect it has on us: in the first place, I wouldn't have bought a book on "Laugh Tactics" if I didn't already have an appreciation for the importance and power of humour. But much worse was that his introduction was vapid, general, lacking any novel insight, and not substantiated in any way: "laughter is maybe the strongest human emotion" (I'm don't think laughter *is* an emotion, and although I'm not totally clear on what it would mean to quantify emotions in this way, it seems neither true nor relevant - we can appreciate the value of humour without reifying it).

But I stuck with it!
He wouldn't be the first author to be tempted into making absurd grandiose and unsupported generalizations after investing a lot of time writing on a specific subject.

It seems as though he sees humour as a means to being valued / loved / appreciated / admired / proving his intelligence / showing off etc, i.e. he sees it primarily as means to achieving egocentric ends - not as a way of creating laughter and joy with others, or sharing difficulties and frustrations in a light-hearted way that brings you closer to others.

For me, humour is not a way of impressing others, it's a way of connecting - and although he touches on this tangentially, the underlying message seems to be about building oneself up and proving how clever / smart / different one is (which is a great way of alienating others).

I can only imagine this book being useful to someone who is truly clueless about the very basics of interacting with others (& even then, I'm not sure it would *help* them). It might help a robot, but unless you only respond to every comment and question 100% literally and are not the *least* bit playful in your interactions with others, don't expect to discover any pearls of wisdom here:

e.g. "Is it raining?", "Just enough to ruin your hairdo." ... yup, that's the level you can hope to aspire to with his "expert interpersonal guidance."

If this seems a bit harsh, I think it scares me to imagine people buying into his statements whole-heartedly, trying his ideas out and not even realizing that they weren't succeeding. Throughout most of the book, all I could think was "boy, someone who acted like this would be unbearable to be around and impossible to connect with." But others here seemed to have found some useful ideas.

Personally, I think you'd learn (and enjoy yourself) more from listening to one of the comedy channels on Audible.

32 people found this helpful

Painful

The performance was good but the material was weak and not useful. It’s like a disinterested 8’th grader did a book report by reading the Cliff’s notes. I won’t be getting a Patrick King book again.

3 people found this helpful

lots of good simple ideas

the first part of the book was a little slow, and I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth buying. But near the middle and the end he goes through a lot of different drills and ideas and examples of specific ways to be funny

3 people found this helpful

Good practical advice in the second half

in the first half of the book it's all theory and seems confusing, but the second half has a whole bunch of practical teachings
i would recommend listening to it twice. By the second time, you will understand part 1 better

1 person found this helpful

Updated version

this was an extended version of the authors original book entitled laugh tactics. It was still a good read but not quite what I expected as my intent was for this to be a more in-depth breakdown of the entire strategy of it.

1 person found this helpful

Good content. needs better delivery & summaries

The content seems good and I noticed some of the tactics in social interaction between myself and my friends. As a book, I think it would be great since you can easily flip around to recap the pointers but for an audiobook, it def needs chapter summaries to help remember. Definitely gonna need a lot of practice, which is gonna require lots of daily socializing...which isn't what the book focused on. Also, I agree with the other review that the narrator intonation and delivery could've been better and more extreme, like the book talks about. I still wanna review it. but think it'd be better in book form. Also, I felt like he switched up the examples way too often rather than sticking with the same one to clearly see the difference between techniques

2 people found this helpful

Awesomely true

For years I've been talked to about being more professional in the workplace. This book proves that humor and inappropriate comments can make you a rockstar sales person. I have shared a copy with my boss to prove him wrong. Thanks for the good read. And I hate reading.

2 people found this helpful

Short and simple

I bought this book because I wanted to be more social and approachable around others. Ive learned a lot and im applying it. Also, my main intent was to be able to talk to girls. I feel like I'm able to be more friendly around my family and friends. I really appreciate the knowledge in this book. I just wished the chapters were labeled so that I could reference back to the things I want to relearn. For example I wanted to go back and find out the authors favorite comedian. I had to rehear unwanted sections and im still trying to find it as of right now.
Now...I've to to reread the whole book just to find out the authors favorite comedian that he mentioned in one of the chapters! At least I've earned my first badge for rehearing a book twice. lol

not that great

the foundations are decent, but this guy's not funny, neither are his examples. If you're using Amy Schumer as an example of a comedian, um, yeah, I don't think I have to elaborate

good overview

decently done. perfect for the beginner, but lacking for someone looking for depth and formulaic structure