The Best Books Authored By a Comedian (or About Comedy) in 2022!
The Best Books Authored By a Comedian (or About Comedy) in 2022!
Comedy books are incredibly underrated. Memoirs and comedic essays can be a lot like reading a podcast- sharing intimate personal moments, personal stories and insights. Or it can read like stand up, making some books feel just like a comedy special. Here are ten of our favorite books in comedy this year. We love each and every one of them.
Honorable mentions go out some fun celebrity memoirs that are comedy adjacent, like Steve Martin, Number One is Walking, and Andrew McCarthy’s Brat, Steve O’s Hard Kick in the Nuts, and of course, Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. Also in television comedy, “The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There” by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. And Janette McCurdy’s tell-all, I’m Glad My Mom is Dead. In the world of fiction, fans of the movie Election will definitely want to read the brand new follow up from the author of the original book the movie was adapted from. Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrota is not only the funniest follow up fiction book this year, it’s also being made into a movie. And the perfect holiday giftbook for any podcast fans Also great gift book ideas, Judd Apatow’s follow up to Sick in the Head, Sicker in the Head, and Jerry Seinfeld’s book version of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
So let’s look back at our past winners. In 2014, you voted Joan Rivers ,”Diary of a Mad Diva” as the best book authored by a comedian and in 2015 Colin Quinn’s “The Coloring Book” grabbed top honors. Doug Stanhope won the prize in 2016 for “Digging Up Mother: A Love Story” and pulled a repeat win in 2017 for “This is Not Fame. ” In 2018 you gave Jim Florentine the best book of the year award for “Everybody is Awful (Except You)”. In 2019, Judd Apatow’s loving tribute to Garry Shandling, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Book” took the prize. And in 2021 year, Colin Quinn returned to the best of the year list with “Overstated.” Last year, the king of the comedy book was Tom Scharpling and his fantastic memoir, “It Never Ends.”
And now it’s time to name the twelve best books, all must reads, that came out in 2022.
Don’t forget you can also voteVote for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Comedy Special of the Year!
COMING SOON: Comedian of the Year! Comedy Album of the Year!
BOB ODENKIRK: COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY DRAMA. Bob covers the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it’s like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at 50. From the comedy clubs of Chicago to a critically acclaimed dramatic career with some interesting side trips, Bob shares it all. But we love CCCD for its stories about Bob’s chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close, working his way into the hallowed halls of Saturday Night Live, writing for The Ben Stiller Show, and of course, Mr. Show with Bob and David. The Breaking Bad stories are great too, keep reading. It’s a genuine page turner.
MAEVE HIGGINS: TELL EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN I LOVE THEM. Maeve is a critically lauded Irish comedian and actor and producer living in New York City. She is sweet and salty, but her essays can be piercing. Maeve Higgins is one of our best developing comedic essayists, and probably the most underrated writing today. “Tell Everyone” was the first comedy book released in 2022, the first one read, and now nearly 12 months later it remains one of our absolute favorites. Please do read it in her inimitable accent in your head, it only enhances the experience. These essays unearth answers to the questions we all have about this country we call home, from the perspective of an outsider who has moved in. Maeve attends the 2020 Border Security Expo to understand the future of our borders. A chance encounter with a statue of a teenage horseback rider causes her to interrogate the purpose of monuments, this sends her hurtling through the past, connecting Ireland’s revolutionary history with the struggles of Black Americans today. Maeve wants to leave this country and this planet better than she found it. That may well be impossible, but it certainly means showing love Threaded through these pieces is love for strangers, friends who show up right on time, trees, Tom Hardy, those with differing opinions, glamorous older women of Brighton Beach with tattooed eyeliner and gold jewelry, love for everybody on this train.
TOM SEGURA: I’D LIKE TO PLAY ALONE, PLEASE. Tom Segura has gone so quickly from being that underrated comedian you were proud to discover on your own, to a genuine star selling out huge theaters, and practically running the podcast world. This year Tom showed us he can do more than just sell a shitload of tickets and be funny on like 17 different podcasts. He can also write a bestselling book. Real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more. It’s not that he hates his friends and family tired, and understandably so. The title of his book comes from his son, whose first full sentence, Tom tells us, is “I’d like to play alone, please.” Those six words have become his mantra. In this collection of stories, Tom combines his signature humor with a revealing look at some of the situations that shaped him and the colorful worlds he has inhabited along the way. Life on the road, his unfiltered South American family, parenting, and his dad who loves to talk about his bowel movements and share graphic Vietnam stories at inappropriate moments.
ILIZA SHLESINGER: ALL THINGS ASIDE, ABSOLUTELY CORRECT OPINIONS; FOREWARD BY MARGRET CHO. Iliza is one of the biggest touring headliners in the country, she has a brand new Netflix special out this year, and one bestselling book already under her belt. Her second book- a collection of funny insightful essays about the issues of everyday life, is a punchy, honest, and, she hopes, inclusive book that shares a view of the world through the eyes of Iliza. Topics have a very wide range from her deeply personal perspectives after suffering a devastating miscarriage, to talking about taking a shit while high on mushrooms, to dissecting social expectations. She even dares to ask—Am I actually an annoying person?
KEVIN NEALON: i EXAGGERATE: MY BRUSHES WITH FAME. PORTRAITS AND STORIES Surprise! Kevin Nealon’s been a bit quiet on the national landscape for the last couple years and then BAM he comes out with a memoir/book of essays that captivates everyone. Kevin Nealon’s brand new book is one of the best of the year and a must read for all fans of comedy. In I Exaggerate, Nealon also shows off another talent- sharing original full-color caricatures along with his funny, endearing personal essays about his famous friends. Alongside his portraits and doodles from script margins and cocktail napkins, Nealon takes readers through his memories of everything from the set of Saturday Night Live with Chris Farley and Dana Carvey, to his idolization of James Taylor, his close friendship with Garry Shandling including the eulogy he gave at his dear friend ’s funeral, and much more. This is a beautiful illustrated project from a comedy all-star that you need to read. Buy two, share one with a friend.
JESSI KLEIN: I’LL SHOW MYSELF OUT: ESSAYS ON MIDLIFE AND MOTHERHOOD: A tremendous writer in multiple formats, Jessi Klein brings us her second book, an instant New York Times bestseller. You may know Jessi as the EP and head writer of the brilliant series, “Inside Amy Schumer,” or as the voice of Jessi on “Big Mouth” which she also produces or from her time at Chappelle’s Show or SNL, or even her Comedy Central Special. You probably also know her from her first bestselling book, “You’ll Grow Out of It.” Klein’s second essay collection is as good as her first. This one’s all about motherhood, and the perfect gift for your mom or anyone’s mom who will love watching Klein blow up all the ridiculous cultural mythology that float around motherhood. She’s hilarious and so insightful and unflinchingly honest in her essays about the humiliations and the beautiful poignant moments. She may make you laugh, she may make you pee, and she will definitely make you feel heard and understood. Her essay titles will give you the best insight into what to expect from the book: “Your Husband Will Remarry Five Minutes After You Die,” “Eulogy for My Feet,” and more,
SHAWN LEVY IN ON THE JOKE: THE ORIGINAL QUEENS OF STAND UP COMEDY. From Shawn Levy, the bestselling author of The Castle on Sunset, Rat Pack Confidential, Paul Newman: A Life, comes this important story about an important group of unforgettable women who knocked down the doors of stand-up comedy. These incredible and incredibly funny women made it possible for the women you are more familiar with get a shot. Its a story everyone who loves comedy should know. From Moms Mabley’s rise in Black vaudeville between the world wars, to the roadhouse ribaldry of Belle Barth and Rusty Warren in the 1950s and ’60s, to Elaine May’s co-invention of improv comedy, to Joan Rivers’s and Phyllis Diller’s ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom. These women refused to be defined by type and tradition, facing down indifference, puzzlement, nay-saying, and unvarnished hostility. They were discouraged by agents, managers, audiences, critics, fellow performers—even their families. And yet they persevered against the tired notion that women couldn’t be funny, making space not only for themselves, but for the women who followed them.
MOLLY SHANNON: HELLO MOLLY, A MEMOIR. Molly Shannon is a legend of Saturday Night Live, and an accomplished television and film actress with a killer resume. Her new book is a New York Times Bestseller, and it is hilarious, but its also heartbreaking and shows her incredible ability to rise out of the absolute worst of circumstances. At age four, Molly Shannon’s world was shattered when she lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident with her father at the wheel. Held together by her tender and complicated relationship with her grieving father, Molly was raised in a permissive household where her gift for improvising and role-playing blossomed alongside the fearlessness that would lead her to become a celebrated actor and comedian. Hello Molly is replete with behind-the-scenes stories from Molly’s time on Saturday Night Live during a time that many considered to be the second golden age of the show.
MICHAEL SHUR: HOW TO BE PERFECT: THE CORRECT ANSWER TO EVERY MORAL QUESTION. Producer, writer, director, creator, co-creator, and actor Michael Shur has been a part of some of the most iconic comedies of our lifetime and earned 19 Emmy nominations for his work on, or creation of Saturday Night Live, The Office, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Master of None, and Rutherford Falls to name just a few. His new book, not only helps you to navigate life’s important ethical questions, but is also designed to help make you sound smarter, and cooler at parties. Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. By the time the book is done, we’ll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. OK, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.
GABE HENRY AND OTHERS: EATING SALAD DRUNK: HAIKUS FOR THE BURNOUT AGE BY COMEDY GREATS. FOREWARD BY APARNA NANCHERLA. This book has Christmas gift written all over it. It’s light. Its absolutely uncontroversial and has a piece of like at least a dozen of your favorite comedians inside doing something you’ve never heard them do before- write a haiku. Featuring Haiku-etry from Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Ian Black, Aubrey Plaza, Margaret Cho, Maria Bamford, Ray Romano, Aparna Nancherla, Ziwe Fumudoh, Chris Gethard, Sasheer Zamata, Colin Mochrie, Sean Patton, Zach Woods, and so much more, this book is pure fun, and silliness.
