Take My Life, Please!

by Henny Youngman

The celebrated violin-playing funnyman discusses his courtship with his oft-mentioned wife, his stellar career, the audiences for whom he has played--among them Queen Elizabeth and Dutch Schultz--and more

280 pages, Hardcover

First published March 9, 1994

About the author

Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners," short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire. His best known (and oft misattributed) one-liner was "Take my wife—please".

Reviews

[Lisa Vogl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOL’d. People shouldn’t pooh-pooh this book!

[Billy Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a good little memoir, the shortest I've read so far. Though the author in his late 80's sometimes repeats jokes, sometimes multiple times. It usually serves a purpose and is topical to what he is discussing. He is very candid, though only with reference to people he's worked for. But sometimes he in fact admits some short-comings and turns it into lessons. Also along with Carlin it seems Youngman didn't care for Andrew Dice Clay either. A surprising trend I'm finding with older comics, though Youngman also doesn't care for Kinison.

The jokes are still funny. I recommend.