This is the first book to look at the psychological processes that enable humor to affect people and teams in the workplace. It recognizes that humor plays many roles beyond making people feel happier and more productive, and acknowledges humor’s potential darker side as well. Bringing together a small but growing field of study, the book features chapters around core psychological topics such perception, creativity and stress, while also addressing organizational issues such as leadership, teamwork, and social networks. The collection concludes with chapters on the role of humor in recruitment processes, as well as how humor consultants work with organizations. Each chapter in The Psychology of Humor at Work not only provides a comprehensive review of what is known in that area, but also considers future directions for research and practice. It will prove fascinating reading for students, practitioners and researchers in organizational psychology, HRM, and business and management.

A book of writing prompts from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, authors of the best-selling 642 Things series. Focus on a single aspect of the craft of writing with help from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. Writing Humor starts with a foreword by author Chris Colin, who offers pointers for developing your own comedic style. The rest of the book consists of prompts and space to think, providing opportunities to explore your voice in various hilarious scenarios. Among other ideas, you’ll be asked to write: an account of a bachelor, from the perspective of his refrigerator a Craigslist ad for something you are desperate to sell a eulogy to a pair of jeans that no longer fit an evaluation of a coworker in the form of a school report card a list of embarrassing moments that are funny in hindsight Take to a café, on vacation, or on your morning commute and practice your creative writing a little bit at a time. Special Features Advice from a published writer, followed by prompts Part of a collection of single-subject writing prompt books by the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto Check out the other books in the Lit Starts series: Writing Action, Writing Character, and Writing Dialogue.

Some things are funny -- jokes, puns, sitcoms, Charlie Chaplin, The Far Side, Malvolio with his yellow garters crossed -- but why? Why does humor exist in the first place? Why do we spend so much of our time passing on amusing anecdotes, making wisecracks, watching The Simpsons? In Inside Jokes, Matthew Hurley, Daniel Dennett, and Reginald Adams offer an evolutionary and cognitive perspective. Humor, they propose, evolved out of a computational problem that arose when our long-ago ancestors were furnished with open-ended thinking. Mother Nature -- aka natural selection -- cannot just order the brain to find and fix all our time-pressured misleaps and near-misses. She has to bribe the brain with pleasure. So we find them funny. This wired-in source of pleasure has been tickled relentlessly by humorists over the centuries, and we have become addicted to the endogenous mind candy that is humor.

'You're Funny ' is the next best thing to being in a comedy writing class. It covers the different ways to earn a living as a comedy writer, including writing sitcoms, jokes for late night talk shows, parody, stand up, and screenwriting.

He has written and produced comedy/talk shows for over fifteen years. Now four-time Emmy winner Joe Toplyn reveals his proven methods of writing for late-night television in this one-of-a-kind insider's guide. Toplyn analyzes each type of comedy piece in the late-night TV playbook and takes you step-by-step through the process of writing it. His detailed tips, techniques, and rules include: * 6 characteristics every good monologue joke topic must have* 6 specific ways to generate punch lines* 12 tools for making your jokes their funniest* 7 types of desk pieces and how to create them* 9 steps to writing parodies and other sketches * How to go after a writing job in late night* PLUS a complete sample comedy/talk show submission packetAlso use this comprehensive manual to write short-form comedy for the Internet, sketch shows, magazines, reality shows, radio, advertising, and any other medium.

Do they call menopause "the change" because... You have to change shirts three times a day-after you've sweat through them? You have to change addresses, just to avoid all that mail from the AARP? You have to change your diet to nothing but milk and broccoli—just to get your RDA of calcium? With hot flashes, mood swings, and night sweats (oh, my!), menopause might not be your favorite phase of life. However, bestselling author Joanne Kimes is here to provide relief as welcome as hand-held fans and sweat-free sheets. In her signature, no-holds-barred style, Kimes dishes on: Dealing with a rollercoaster of emotions Anecdotes, remedies, and gentle tips to help you cope with all the physical changes you're facing How to enjoy menopausal sex Menopause brings about a whirlwind of emotional and physical transformations. Menopause Sucks gives you all the info—and belly laughs—you need to cool down during this hot change of life.

There was disaster coming; that was blindingly obvious. Life had been almost ridiculously easy, and now things were going to get worse. Much, much worse. I couldn't believe that I had ever thought otherwise. I couldn't believe that I'd ever thought that there could be any other outcome. Stanley Donwood's fictional universe is one in which anything can happen, and frequently does. Disappearances (people, things) are everyday. Relationships are unstable. Nature has turned unnatural. It's the kind of world (the kind of book) in which you might walk into a room only to find, that room, has ... no ... floor. A substantial selection of Stanley's fiction over the past ten years or so, (title) shows a contemporary master of the micro narrative. Apocalyptic, funny, unsettling and hallucinogenic in their intensity, Stanley Donwood's stories present a series of haunting episodes in a world drained of meaning, sense and consequence.

A comprehensive guide to writing, selling and performing all types of comedy. Includes comments, advice, gags and routines from top comics.