Work Out Your Funny Bone With These Comedian Memoirs

What’s better than having a good laugh?

In honor of April Fools’ Day, we thought it would be fun to round up some side-splitting comedian memoirs that are sure to have you laughing out loud. For the full list, take a look at our Comedian Memoirs book list.

Bossypants by Tina Fey, narrated by Tina Fey

Publisher Summary:
Before Liz Lemon, before ‘Weekend Update,’ before ‘Sarah Palin,’ Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey‘s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoonfrom the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay by Phoebe Robinson, narrated by Phoebe Robinson

Publisher Summary:

New York Times bestselling author and star of 2 Dope Queens Phoebe Robinson is back with a new, hilarious, and timely essay collection on gender, race, dating, and the dumpster fire that is our world.

Written in her trademark unfiltered and witty style, Robinson‘s latest collection is a call to arms. Outfitted with on-point pop culture references, these essays tackle a wide range of topics: giving feminism a tough-love talk on intersectionality, telling society’s beauty standards to kick rocks, and calling foul on our culture’s obsession with work. Robinson also gets personal, exploring money problems she’s hidden from her parents, how dating is mainly a warmed-over bowl of hot mess, and, definitely most important, meeting Bono not once, but twice. She’s struggled with being a woman with a political mind and a woman with an ever-changing jeans size. She knows about trash because she sees it every dayand because she’s seen roughly one hundred thousand hours of reality TV and zero hours of Schindler’s List.

With the intimate voice of a new best friend, Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay is a candid perspective for a generation that has had the rug pulled out from under it too many times to count.

Read more and sample the audio →

David Mitchell: Back Story by David Mitchell, narrated by David Mitchell

Publisher Summary:

David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.

As well as giving a specific account of every single time he’s scored some smack, this disgusting memoir also details:

  • the singular, pitbull-infested charm of the FRP (‘Flat Roofed Pub’)
  • the curious French habit of injecting everyone in the arse rather than the arm
  • why, by the time he got to Cambridge, he really, really needed a drink
  • the pain of being denied a childhood birthday party at McDonalds
  • the satisfaction of writing jokes about suicide
  • how doing quite a lot of walking around London helps with his sciatica
  • trying to pretend he isn’t a total **** at Robert Webb’s wedding
  • that he has fallen in love at LOT, but rarely done anything about it
  • why it would be worse to bump into Michael Palin than Hitler on holiday
  • that he’s not David Mitchell the novelist. Despite what David Miliband might think

Read more and sample the audio →

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, narrated by Anna Kendrick

Publisher Summary:

A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award-nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect.

“I’m excited to publish my first book, and because I get uncomfortable when people have high expectations, I’d like to use this opportunity to showcase my ineptitude, pettiness, and the frequency with which I embarrass myself. And while many of my female inspirations who have become authors are incredibly well-educated and accomplished comedy writers, I’m very, very funny on Twitter, according to Buzzfeed and my mom, so I feel like this is a great idea. Quick question: are run-on sentences still frowned upon? Wait, is ending a sentence with a preposition still frowned upon? I mean, upon frowned? Dammit!” —Anna Kendrick

Anna Kendrick’s autobiographical collection of essays amusingly recounts memorable moments throughout her life, from her middle class upbringing in New England to the blockbuster movies that have made her one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses today. Expanding upon the witty and ironic dispatches for which she is known, Anna Kendrick’s essays offer her one-of-a-kind commentary on the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture

Read more and sample the audio →

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish, narrated by Tiffany Haddish

Publisher Summary:

From stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout star of Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish, comes The Last Black Unicorn, a sidesplitting, hysterical, edgy, and unflinching collection of (extremely) personal essays, as fearless as the author herself.

Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Tiffany learned to survive by making people laugh. If she could do that, then her classmates would let her copy their homework, the other foster kids she lived with wouldn’t beat her up, and she might even get a boyfriend. Or at least she could make enough money—as the paid school mascot and in-demand Bar Mitzvah hype woman—to get her hair and nails done, so then she might get a boyfriend.

None of that worked (and she’s still single), but it allowed Tiffany to imagine a place for herself where she could do something she loved for a living: comedy.

Tiffany can’t avoid being funny—it’s just who she is, whether she’s plotting shocking, jaw-dropping revenge on an ex-boyfriend or learning how to handle her newfound fame despite still having a broke person’s mind-set. Finally poised to become a household name, she recounts with heart and humor how she came from nothing and nowhere to achieve her dreams by owning, sharing, and using her pain to heal others.

By turns hilarious, filthy, and brutally honest, The Last Black Unicorn shows the world who Tiffany Haddish really is—humble, grateful, down-to-earth, and funny as hell. And now, she’s ready to inspire others through the power of laughter.

Read more and sample the audio →

New to Audiobooks.com? Get a free audiobook when you sign up for our one month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobook!

10 of Our Favorite Celebrity-Read Audiobooks

The best audiobooks have the best narrators, and a quick way to find them is to look for Hollywood stars that you love to watch perform. Of course, professional narrators are fantastic but chances are if you love an actor’s voice on screen you’ll love to hear her narrate, too. Here are 10 audiobooks narrated by some of our favorite celebs!

 

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
Narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: talented and successful but slowly going under. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that the insanity becomes real and even rational. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s narration captures and even enhances the haunting mood. Such penetration into the dark corners of the psyche is extraordinary and has made The Bell Jar an American classic.

 

Heartburn, by Nora Ephron
Narrated by Meryl Streep
Nora Ephron shows it’s possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage. During her pregnancy, Rachel discovers that her husband is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has ‘a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb’ is no consolation. Heartburn is a delightfully performed by the lady considered by many critics to be the greatest living actress, Meryl Streep.

 

The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
Narrated by James Franco
This #1 national bestseller was recently released in audio, read by King fan and actor James Franco. Johnny Smith awakens from a five-year coma after his car accident and discovers that he can see people’s futures and pasts when he touches them. When he has a disturbing vision, he must decide if he should take drastic action to change the future.

 

 

Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee
Narrated by Reese Witherspoon
This was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her. Performed by Hollywood star and book lover, Reese Witherspoon.

 

What Pet Should I Get, by Dr. Seuss
Narrated by Rainn Wilson
Fans of The Office television series will fully enjoy listening to the contrast of Dwight Schrute’s voice taking on a mild mannered persona as he reads about kids in a pet store. While this audiobook is for children, all lovers of Dr. Seuss will appreciate how he captures the classic moment of choosing a pet.

 

 

Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Narrated by Kate Winslet
Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she’s a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. Kate Winslet’s narration is calm while her characterizations are full of life, bringing attitude and punch to this classic tale.

 

Scrappy Little Nobody, by Anna Kendrick
Narrated by Anna Kendrick
Anna Kendrick’s essays offer her one-of-a-kind commentary on the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture. Each word is executed with the fast sarcasm and charming quirkiness typical to the roles she plays. Self-described as a “very, very small weirdo,” Kendrick entertains listeners with her tales of early friendships and discovering her calling as an actress.

 

 

A Life in Parts, by Bryan Cranston
Narrated by Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston’s deep, resonant voice is captivating as he discusses his failures as few men do, and describes his work as few actors can. He explains how he searched inward for the personal darkness that would help create one of the most riveting on-screen performances: Walter White on Breaking Bad. In A Life in Parts, Cranston traces his journey from his chaotic childhood to his dramatic epiphany, and beyond.

 


Yes Please
,
by Amy Poehler
Narrated by Amy Poehler
While listening, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll become convinced that your phone is trying to kill you. Offering Amy’s thoughts on everything from her “too safe” childhood to her early days in New York City, Yes Please is chock-full of wisdom to live by. Alongside Poehler’s genuine and entertaining narration, Yes Please includes guest narration by Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy’s parents.

 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling
Narrated by Mindy Kaling
In her sarcastic and sassy tone, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.