Milton Berle's Private Joke File: Over 10,000 of His Best Gags, Anecdotes, and One-Liners

by Milton Berle

One of the legends of show biz delves into his personal treasury of jokes ("The most comprehensive storehouse of 20th-century humor in the world"-- Los Angeles Magazine ) to present the most astounding array of one-liners, anecdotes, quips, and gags ever published. Line drawings.

Genres: Humor, Jokes

672 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 1989

About the author

Mendel "Milton Berle" Berlinger was an Emmy-winning American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater from 1948–1955, he was the first major star of television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie or Mr. Television to millions during TV's golden age.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing collection of the most phenomenally unfunny jokes ever compiled.

I may sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. Berle represents, to me, a whole generation of comedians whose humor just doesn't translate into today's world. Their jokes come across as wooden, and schmaltzy. About half the time I don't even know what he's getting at; the rest of the time it's so incredibly obvious as to not be at all funny. I'm not saying this to cast aspersions on Berle's talent; on the contrary, I think books like this one provide an incredible glimpse of the changing eddies of culture.

Plus, it's just a royally f**ked up experience to read some of this stuff and go "Huh!?!?"

[Edwin García, Esq. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Back around 1992-93, I acquired the paperback edition of this book. I was looking forward to reading through "Uncle Miltie's" jokes. Oh boy. 10,000 jokes. I couldn't wait. After going through it, I was underwhelmed. This was an example where size did not matter. In the past, I had heard that Berle had a file cabinet or several cabinets with almost 7 million jokes, carefully catalogued. However, it appeared that this collection consisted of material from the bottom shelf. Hardly his best material. Despite being about 83 years old then, he was still performing at the time this book came out. So, he probably didn't want to give away his better material.
Most of the material were play on words, mild puns and obvious, stale punch lines. At the time, I placed a dash in red ink to indicate entries that appealed to me. I flagged less than a couple hundred out of the 10,000 jokes as mildly worthwhile to me. Hardly a smashing success. Perhaps I was too young to appreciate the humor. Or perhaps, they were more effective spoken, rather than as they appeared in print. Humor is subjective and our tastes in what is funny can change over time.
So, I recently began to go over the material again. While my reactions haven't changed much, I was able to enjoy the book a little more. It was okay, nothing more.
On the plus side, there are two considerations. First, with most books, readers feel a subtle pressure to read a large portion of a book in one sitting. This book is essentially a "list." Thus, you may read it in small chunks, at your leisure.
Second, possibly the most valuable part of the book is the twenty-page concluding section "Tricks of the Trade," where Berle gives tips on how to deliver a joke and construct a monologue, among other thoughts. It's a subjective matter whether this justifies a purchase.

[Ilena Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

the jokes are a little dated. but remember, back in the day these were all the rage. Guys, something that was funny in the 1950s probably is not funny in 2019. Berle was also known as the "Thief of Bad gags" and had a bad reputation of stealing other comics' jokes and using them in his act. So I wonder how many of these in the book are truly his. Still, you have to give the guy credit for recording these for posterity. Has any other comic done this? (answer: no). I did see tv show once on Joan Rivers and she showed off a library-style card catalog where she had written on Rolodex-type cards all her jokes. Berle has these divided into categories, so if you are in the mood for some good doctor jokes, just flip to the "D" page.

[Jerome · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember checking this book out back in high school, and I was in tears.....I remember one joke that read "You are so ugly you could be a character witness for a nightmare.... lmbo. A good book that will have you laughing for hours.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncle Milty, the man who wore a dress on tv and as a joke "stole everyone's jokes" shares some of his collection in this fantastic book and saves them for posterity.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too many repeats of his jokes thru out the book!!! I did have a few that really needed to read over and over to understand the joke!!

[Sean Lubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten thousand jokes and about 25 good ones. They should've kept this file private. Milton's humor had no bite, but if you love jokes, this book is worth having.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good bedside just heading off to sleep reading

[Ryan W. Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

How my life started…telling these jokes..,,love ya Milton!