Selected Shorts: Funny Business

by Simon Rich, David Schickler, Joe Meno

From wild and wacky to knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud fun, these humorous tales represent some of the best of recent seasons of the hit public radio series Selected Shorts. Comedian Wyatt Cenac gives a killer performance of Simon Rich’s hilarious tale of woe from the point of view of a condom in a young man’s wallet. Alec Baldwin gives a delightful over-the-top performance of James Thurber’s wonderfully silly classic tale of the day everybody in a small Ohio town thought the dam broke. Joe Meno’s playful and poignant “People Are Becoming Clouds,” slyly performed by Criminal Minds’ Kirsten Vangsness, tells the story of a wife who simply laughs and turns into a puff of soft white vapor every time her husband tries to kiss her. David Rakoff reads Dave Eggers’ sweet, good-humored story in which a father recounts to his son, while making dinner, how his parents saved the world together. Selected Shorts’ founding host Isaiah Sheffer recounts two tales: New Yorker contributor Ian Frazier’s wacky suggestion for young men today in “Dating Your Mom,” and David Schickler’s raucous tale of a family catering company’s crazy and delicious escapades in “Wes Amerigo’s Giant Fear.” With stories that cover all types of humor, this assorted collection of memorable stories is sure to leave listeners grinning.

Genres: Humor, Short Stories, Fiction

Audible Audio

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Simon Rich (born 1984) is an American humorist whose first book, Ant Farm and Other Desperate Situations, was published by Random House in April 2007.

Rich is an alumnus of The Dalton School and a former president of The Harvard Lampoon, and the son of The New York Times editorialist Frank Rich. He received a two book contract from Random House prior to his graduation from Harvard University in 2007.

His first book, Ant Farm and Other Desperate Situations, has been described as a collection of "giddy what-if scenarios". Excerpts of the book were printed in The New Yorker's "Shouts and Murmurs" column. His second book, Free Range Chickens, was published in 2008. His first novel, Elliot Allagash was released in May of 2010, followed by What in God’s Name and most recently, The Last Girlfriend on Earth, a collection of short stories about love.

He is currently a writer for Saturday Night Live.

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories are silly, some are profound, some are heartbreaking, some are disturbing, but all are funny. Dorothy Parker was divine!

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband and I are big fans of Simon Rich but we only made it through 50% of this collection. The first story (which was in Man Seeking Woman) was very funny. The other stories were long, a bit overworked and not very funny or interesting.

[Jay Miraldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had me lol'ing all the way to work :P I especially liked "Docent" and "Your Mother and I".