Jokes and Targets takes up an appealing and entertaining topic—the social and historical origins of jokes about familiar targets such as rustics, Jewish spouses, used car salesmen, and dumb blondes. Christie Davies explains why political jokes flourished in the Soviet Union, why Europeans tell jokes about American lawyers but not about their own lawyers, and why sex jokes often refer to France rather than to other countries. One of the world's leading experts on the study of humor, Davies provides a wide-ranging and detailed study of the jokes that make up an important part of everyday conversation.

In Practically Joking, the first full-length study of the practical joke, Moira Marsh examines the value, artistry, and social significance of this ancient and pervasive form of vernacular expression. Though they are sometimes dismissed as the lowest form of humor, practical jokes come from a lively tradition of expressive play. They can reveal both sophistication and intellectual satisfaction, with the best demanding significant skill and talent not only to conceive but also to execute. Practically Joking establishes the practical joke as a folk art form subject to critical evaluation by both practitioners and audiences, operating under the guidance of local aesthetic and ethical canons. Marsh studies the range of genres that pranks comprise; offers a theoretical look at the reception of practical jokes based on “benign transgression”—a theory that sees humor as playful violation—and uses real-life examples of practical jokes in context to establish the form’s varieties and meanings as an independent genre, as well as its inextricable relationship with a range of folklore forms. Scholars of folklore, humor, and popular culture will find much of interest in Practically Joking.

Kids can't get enough of laughter--so they can't get enough of Rob Elliot's hilarious joke books! Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids is an all-new collection of knock-knock jokes that will have kids and kids-at-heart rolling in the aisles. Jokes like Knock knock. Who's there? Ben. Ben who? Ben away for a while but I'm back now With more than 2 million copies sold of his first book, Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids, it's clear that kids (and their adults) are looking for clean, lighthearted humor--and Rob Elliott delivers.

When E. B. White said “analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog; few people are interested and the frog dies,” he hadn’t seen Al Gini’s hilarious, incisive, and informative take on jokes, joke-telling, and the jokers who tell jokes. For Gini, humor is more than just foolish fun: it serves as a safety valve for dealing with reality that gives us the courage to endure that which we cannot understand or avoid. Not everyone tells jokes. Not everyone gets a joke, even a good one. But, Gini argues, joke-telling can act as both a sword and a shield to defend us from reality. As the late, great stand-up comic Joan Rivers put it: ‘If you can laugh at it, you can live with it!’ This book is for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, but also wants to know why.

A collection or rude and shocking jokes about celebrities, politicians and public figures. No target is spared when it comes to the celebrity smackdown. A great gift for anyone with a perverted sense of humour who likes sick jokes. Joke targets include: Gordon Brown, George Bush, Celine Dion, Hilary Clinton, The Pope, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise, Sarah Palin, Sean Connery, Kylie Minogue, Barack Obama, The Queen, Amy Winehouse, Princess Di, Britney Spears, Jordan, Prince Charles, Bill Gates, Dick Cheney, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Alex Ferguson, Spice Girls, Posh Spice, Madonna and many more. ***** Q: What do George Michael and Wellington Boots have in common? A: They both get sucked off in bogs. ***** Amy Winehouse's health is at risk due to her crack problem. Her doctors say that if she doesn't wash it soon, she'll get gangrene.

Over 500 giggles, groans, and belly laughs! Kids can’t resist sharing jokes (even you try to stop them), so they always need a fresh supply. We’ve stuffed the pages of this little joke book with the funniest jokes we could find. Old favorites, new favorites, and a few festering stinkers, all guaranteed to make kids laugh out loud. You’ll find Q&A jokes, knock-knock jokes, riddles, and one-liners. And, of course, we’ve included entire chapters of those all-time kid-pleasers: elephant jokes, pirate jokes, and space jokes. Here’s a sampling: What's black and white, black and white, black and white? A penguin rolling down a hill. Why don’t zombies eat clowns? They taste funny. Why did the hen scold her chicks? They were using fowl language. What kind of books do skunks read? Best-smellers! How does Darth Vader like his toast? On the dark side. . . . and many more!

Features a scholarly study of various societies' hostile humor. This book takes a serious look at humor, drawing on the work of psychologists, folklorists, and philosophers, but also is intended for those who are curious as to why we laugh at ethnic jokes.