Following her success with Playboy Swings, Patty Farmer looks at Playboy’s relationship with comedians and cartoonists in her new book Playboy Laughs. Playboy Laughs invites readers onto the sets of the organization’s groundbreaking TV shows, Playboy Penthouse and Playboy After Dark. These popular variety series brought top-tier comedians, impressionists, and monologists—as well as the finest musicians—into people’s homes each week. Readers will learn how before he ever dreamed of conquering the magazine publishing world—and along the way establish a worldwide brand—Hugh Hefner harbored aspirations of making his mark in the world as a cartoonist. Playboy Laughs delves into the darker aspects of the time as well, tackling the ways Playboy and its comedy stars helped break down social and racial barriers as well as sexual ones. Known for her devotion to meticulous research and clear, honest storytelling, Farmer has gained the full cooperation of the Playboy organization—and Hugh Hefner himself—making this not only an entertaining read but a trustworthy history of an under-appreciated aspect of American comic culture.

Compiled by a top comedy writer, a rib-tickling collection of sharp, topical one-liners on every subject under the sun, alphabetically arranged by category for easy use.

Whoever wrote "Make 'em laugh!" knew that it's easier said than done. But people love to laugh, and good comedy will always sell. With the help of this complete and entertaining guide, writers and would-be writers for film and television can look forward to writing comedy that goes far beyond stereotypic jokes and characters. In Laughing Out Loud, award-winning screenwriter and author Andrew Horton blends history, theory, and analysis of comedy with invaluable advice. Using examples from Chaplin to Seinfeld, Aristophanes to Woody Allen, Horton describes comedy as a perspective rather than merely as a genre and then goes on to identify the essential elements of comedy. His lively overview of comedy's history traces its two main branches—anarchistic comedy and romantic comedy—from ancient Greece through contemporary Hollywood, by way of commedia dell'arte, vaudeville, and silent movies. Television and international cinema are included in Horton's analysis, which leads into an up-close review of the comedy chemistry in a number of specific films and television shows. The rest of the book is a practical guide to writing feature comedy and episodic TV comedy, complete with schedules and exercises designed to unblock any writer's comic potential. The appendices offer tips on networking, marketing, and even producing comedies, and are followed by a list of recommended comedies and a bibliography. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 2000. Whoever wrote "Make 'em laugh!" knew that it's easier said than done. But people love to laugh, and good comedy will always sell. With the help of this complete and entertaining guide, writers and would-be writers for film and television can look forward

"Remember me?" I wipe the sleep out of my eyes. Do I remember this woman pounding at my door in the middle of the night? Vaguely, and not in the Biblical way. I recall the roller skates and pig tails of my best friend's younger sister. This woman in front of me is...well...a woman. She wants me to pretend I'm her fiancé at her grandmother's birthday party. In Florida. A road trip is the perfect excuse to miss the meeting where my father will tell me it's time to take over the family company. That's how all six feet of me wound up stuffed into a subcompact next to the nuttiest, most predictably unpredictable, charming, funny, deliciously sexy woman I've ever avoided my obligations with. She's got me managing snacks, sitting in a Cracker Barrel rocking chair, and sharing a cheap hotel room. But falling for her means I'll have to stick to my commitments, because I think I just may love her enough to tie myself down. Now I have to make her believe it before we get home to New York. ----- Check out all the books in the How to Marry a Billionaire series: Easton: The Billionaire's Guide to the Marriage Deal Dylan: The Playboy's Guide to the Fake Fiancee Max: The Alphahole's Guide to Marrying Your Enemy

The writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron is captured by her long-time and dear friend Richard Cohen in a recollection of their decades-long friendship.

Tempted by the hospital heartbreaker! Nurse Isla McKenna is warned about Dr. Harry Gardiner the moment she enters the London Victoria's emergency department. He's a commitment-shy playboy—and Isla has been betrayed too often to play with fire! But there is more to this "bad boy" than meets the eye, and when Harry asks for help facing a family wedding, Isla can't refuse. Even if it means fighting the chemistry between them! Except their weekend together proves the ultimate temptation, leaving them both dangerously wanting much more…