Plenty Of Pretty Good Jokes

by Garrison Keillor (Editor), Roy Blount Jr. (Performed by), Paula Poundstone (Performed by)

Includes the complete Pretty Good Jokes, Few More Pretty Good Jokes, and New and Not Bad Pretty Good Jokes.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

270 pages, Audio CD

First published September 10, 2004

About the author

Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.

Reviews

[Mary Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review:

I had a LONG drive that I was not looking forward to (actually two long drives, there and back again). As is the case when I'm going to be spending time in the car, I hit the library for things on CDs to listen to. I grabbed this while wondering to myself am I really going to be able to listen to nothing but one-liners for hours on end?

Yeah, well that didn't turn out to be a problem. Side splitting laughter makes a car drive seem to go by faster, and with mostly short jokes, if something comes that you don't like, another one will be along pretty soon. I worry about driving because I sometimes suffer from fatigue, and as I was the only driver in the vehicle (and the only adult in the vehicle) I knew I had to keep going. Garrison and company really helped with that. I'm sure this would also be great "around town" as the bits are all short enough for quick drives on errands.

What I learned from this book:

I know a lot about people walking into bars, and I'm well versed on how many __________ it takes to screw in a light bulb. And I do know what happened to that woman's hearing aid.

What my 11 year old son learned from this book:

I told him that I wouldn't explain anything to him. In other circumstances I wouldn't have played this around him. Oh well, I don't think he'll suffer too much -- but it really is more of an R rating.

[James Biser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is funny. I love to listen to the Prairie Home Companion folks, and this is no exception.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, good to keep you awake while driving. Definitely not politically correct—but well-spread-out offense, they pick on everybody. A few I found cringe-worthy: about pit bulls, Afghanistan, Iraq, & pedophilia. But in a collection this big each person who listens is bound to find SOMEthing they cringe at. I love the sound effects: drum, piano notes, slide whistle, & others I don’t know what they’re called! The jokes come at you so fast it’s hard to remember any! Maybe I should listen to it again?

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun compilation of jokes from the annual joke shows that the Prairie Home Companion Show used to air. Remarkably, while the humor is pretty tame in keeping with the tone of the show, several of the jokes would be considered politically incorrect in today’s cancel culture.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as an audiobook. An audiobook is a very Good way to absorb this book as so much in humor depends on the delivery and timing.

[Sriram]

book full of laughs

some were little boring

[Kevin Connery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as it says.

[Daniel Currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title says it all. :)

[Richelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good jokes.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think my friend's regret me getting ahold of this book. My husband has started running away when I say "Hey, I've got a joke for you!" Very cute and enjoyable.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. I got some good jokes for family dinner conversation.