NPR Laughter Therapy Funny For A Living

by National Public Radio, Ophira Eisenberg (Performed by)

This extended session of "Laughter Therapy" explores the history of all things funny, presenting a cornucopia of comedy from the pioneers of vaudeville and the silent film era, to the wildly creative innovators that transformed television in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, to the modern practitioners that continue to bend the boundaries of comedy today. Chronically serious? Prepare to be cured by this collection of revealing profiles and interviews with some of the funniest personalities ever.
Featuring
Charlie ChaplinBuster KeatonGroucho MarxSid CaesarErnie KovacsBob and RayImogene CocaMel BrooksCarl ReinerBob NewhartJonathan WintersBill CosbyPhyllis DillerJoan RiversJerry SeinfeldConan O BrienAmy PoehlerMargaret ChoJim GaffiganSarah Silverman"

Genres: Humor, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Comedy

Audio CD

First published September 9, 2014

Reviews

[Mom2triplets04 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this on audio. I liked this one more than the first book. It still had interviews but it was nice to hear Lucy talk and some other comedians that I watched when I was little. I don't know how it would be if I read this but to hear all the different voices it was nice. I still didn't laugh though. It was fun to learn more facts about comedians.

[Courtenay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comic diversion while driving from FL to SC. It has funny parts. It has hilarious chapters. Some are droll. The April Fool Day chapters are easy to pick out - but only once you remember that April first stories are included.

Interviews are with comedians we like. We listened and did not skip the interviews with comedians who are not our favorites. Mel Brooks was the best.

[Hope Sears · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are great interviews but I didn’t find them incredibly memorable. These are the standard fair that anyone interested in these people would likely know or not find surprising. I would say that I rank it so high because it is well produced, there are several amazing people in here (let’s be honest, all of them are incredible), and I enjoy the subject matter.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 *s
This was an enjoyable set of interviews with classic comedians from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Seinfeld.

[Nathan Hoyt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed too much of "history of humor" and didn't have me laugh much at all - which was what I was expecting (and wanting).

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just fun April Fool's stories.

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly amusing.

[David Stroud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy reading and you get to learn few things about the famous comedians.
Pleasant boos.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

These interviews are arranged chronologically. I listened to the discs in reverse order, so I heard the CD of interviews with today's comedians first, then the archival interviews and audio from TV and stage stars, and finally the interviews with historians and film critics about the early stars (Stepin Fetchit, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Groucho Marx).

My favorite anecdote: Marlo Thomas says that when Billy Crystal was seven years old, he used to love the Jack Paar Show, and he would set up his chair off to the side of the TV set so he could pretend to be the next guest. I also enjoyed Thomas's story about how she and a friend were nearly expelled from an exclusive Catholic girls' school for stealing the bells off the altar. She was 13. She and her classmate thought it was ridiculous that women weren't allowed on the altar--no altar girls back then. The mother superior told Danny Thomas, "Margaret does not have the character or discipline" to do well at the school. And Danny Thomas said, acting completely serious, "I know, Mother Superior. That's why I am entrusting her to you." (Afterward he told Margo, "Don't you EVER make me go head-to-head with that woman again.")

Hosted by Ophira Eisenberg--or, as she was once introduced at a party, "Oprah Something-Jewish."

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of brief interviews or discussions about various comedians from yesteryear to today. A little too thin for someone wanting more in-depth information about a comedian's methods, and surprisingly not that funny beyond a few snippets of comedy played during some of the segments e.g. the laughter therapy title is a huge mislead. But sort of interesting, especially when they interviewed the actual comedians in later segments.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thimble-deep snippets of interviews and feature stories. Some of the stuff on disc 1 about the really old timers (Harold Lloyd, Lincoln Perry, Buster Keaton, etc.) was interesting, and there were a couple of other decent segments.

[Schawn schoepke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting....