Laughter Therapy: A Comedy Collection for the Chronically Serious

by National Public Radio

Looking for an alternative to the seriously reliable, soothing yet informative sound of NPR? Try NPR! Prepare to be surprised by this collection of interviews with some of the funniest personalities on the planet, and by the memorable, unbelievable news that delights NPR listeners on the 1st of April each year. Interviews include: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Groucho Marx, Ernie Kovacs, Stepin Fetchit, Sid Caesar, Lucille Ball, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Marlo Thomas, Bob and Ray, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, Kristen Wiig, Louis C.K., Jim Gaffigan, Aisha Tyler, Sarah Silverman, Gabriel Iglesias, Eddie Izzard, Mike Birbiglia and more.

Genres: Audiobook, Humor, Nonfiction

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[KeeKers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found literally nothing funny or interesting about this book.

[Planxti's Imaginary Worl · Rating 2 out of 5]

AKA Fake news and other flops. Most of the audio shorts were... just not funny. Most were trying to hard to be funny, including big name guests.
The Drew Carey one was good, but then DREW CAREY!

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humour is such a peculiar and parochial thing. Each chapter was a recap of a former interview on NPR. Some were informative (PhD on humour!), Steven Colbert, Phyllis Diller and Mel Brookes were funny. However, most of the jokes fell flat for me. I can appreciate that this is because it is US -centric and there were many location jokes that flew over my head.

[Mary Diebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun interviews like Phyllis Filled and Joan Rivers. I laughed and chuckled as I walked outside. It started out by saying that it's good for keeping your back straight, so I tried to walk a little straighter while I listened.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting interviews with comedians hosted by Peter Sagal of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. It sounds like a rehash of old NPR interviews. Some new information for me, but I expected an audiobook of jokes, so I was disappointed.

[Jennifer Boettcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick listen. This was a fun transition between audiobooks, and it worked as promised... it did make me laugh!

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK - the skits were kind of dorky and not that funny, but the interviews with comedians were better - Joan Rivers, Mel Brooks, and Phyllis Diller were highlights.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick listen for some quick laughs

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag. There were several interesting interviews and some humorous parody/satire pieces. This still felt very NPR despite the host's insistence that it was a complete 180 of all things serious. haha It was a super quick and enjoyable listen as I was waiting in the airport, but I won't be listening to the other collections.