People act like being dead is so serious. But if you've spent any time in a cemetery, you know a lot of those dearly departed have to be rolling over in their graves–with laughter. This collection of ironic, comic and just plain ridiculous tombstones proves that it's possible to have a sense of humor about kicking the bucket. Just be careful you don't laugh yourself to death.

Most days, Anwen regrets working at a funeral home despite the good pay. With the residents no longer inclined to stay in their coffins where they belong, she’s got her hands full making sure everyone follows the rules: In the funeral home, there is no screaming, no murdering, no mutilation, no possessions, no kidnappings, no resurrections, and no cursing of any type. Be quiet and stay polite. The day Old Man McGregor decides to take a walk and disturbs her peace, Anwen learns there’s a lot more to the basement in the funeral home than a vampire and a handsome gentleman on ice. If she’s not careful, she’ll learn first-hand why ‘eternally yours’ is the most potent of threats. Warning: this novel contains romance, humor, bodies, shenanigans, and mythological puppies. Proceed with caution.

Old Mr. Settle’s Guide to Bar Humor is a compact compendium of humor found around bars. The author was not only a bartender but a son of two generations of bartenders. His knowledge of jokes, poems, pranks, tricks, and toasts are encyclopedic. Mr. Settle tries to condense his comic knowledge into this volume with humor both old and new, refined and bawdy, and visual and verbal. The bar setting is a place where customers expect to be entertained, and bartenders who can entertain make the best tips. But a tip for the reader of the material in this book is that you, too, can be the center of attention in many places besides bars – parties, dates, coffee klatches, and even business meetings. By a thorough reading and practice of this book’s content, you can lighten up many occasions. What you can expect to find in Old Mr. Settle’s Guide to Bar Humor: • old jokes – old jokes never die; they just get recycled • new jokes – about current politics and social issues • cartoons – designed by the author • visuals – for bar tricks, for physical humor and for bar pranks • bawdy poems – for toasts and for recitation • And much, much more __________________________________________ This book gets better and better in my company. -Jack Daniels Enter into the world of drunkenness without drinking. Thich Cold Duc Drown in a cold vat of whiskey? Death, where is thy sting? -WC Fields Some of these jokes are real knockouts. -Mickey Finn Settle has accomplished a zaniness in this book in what usually takes a night of steady drinking. -Tom Collins If you like your humor neat, this book is for you. – Jim Beam Warning: Old Mr. Settle’s Guide to Bar Humor may have humor that is offensive. -P.C. Barnum

This book presents an ethnographic perspective on the intersection of humor, identity, and belonging. Based on recorded interactions between Americans and Japanese, it explores how beliefs and stereotypes surrounding gaijin ‘foreigner’ identities create various types of humor such as mockery, sarcasm, and conversational jokes. Through this analysis, the study also discusses how identity-focused humor impacts participants’ understandings of interculturality and social belonging. In particular, it argues that while "being an outsider" can be marginalizing, humor allows cultural differences to become a basis for developing inclusion and social unity, in part through the recognition of shared norms and values.

First published in 1982. The intent of this book is to build an understanding of the people who create humor and are expert at making people laugh. Who are the comedians and clowns of the world? Where do they come from? Why are they so dedicated to tickling funny bones? In what ways are they unique? It is primarily to studying comedians, clowns, and other funny people. It seeks to provide an understanding of the origins, the motivations, and personalities of those who make humor and in exploring the factors that shape actors and other public entertainers.

Gathers a selection of the National Book award nominated author's short stories, excerpts, and essays reflecting his life, career, and recurring literary themes

Humor, wit, and laughter surround each person. From everyday quips to the carefully contrived comedy of literature, newspapers, and television we experience humor in many forms, yet the impetus for our laughter is far from innocuous. Misfortune, stupidity, and moral or cultural defects, however faintly revealed in others and ourselves, seem to make us laugh. Although discomforting, such negative terms as superiority, aggression, hostility, ridicule, or degradation can be applied to instances of humor. According to scholars, Thomas Hobbes's "superiority theory"?that humor arises from mischances, infirmities, and indecencies, where there is no wit at all?applies to most humor. With the exception of good-natured play, Charles R. Gruner claims that humor is rarely as innocent as it first appears.Gruner's proposed superiority theory of humor is all-encompassing. In The Game of Humor, he expands the scope of Hobbes's theory to include and explore the contest aspect of "good-natured" play. As such, the author believes all instances of humor can be examined as games, in terms of competition and keeping score?winners and losers. Gruner draws on a broad spectrum of thought-provoking examples. Holocaust jokes, sexual humor, the racialist dialogue of such comic characters as Stepin Fetchit and Archie Bunker, simple puns, and many of the author's own encounters with everyday humor. Gruner challenges the reader to offer a single example of humor that cannot be "de-humorized" by its agonistic nature.The Game of Humor makes intriguing and enjoyable reading for people interested in humor and the aspects of human motivation. This book will also be valuable to professionals in communication and information studies, sociologists, literary critics and linguists, and psychologists concerned with the conflicts and tensions of everyday life.