comedy novel

I have Memoir Mondays because I’ve read plenty of them. Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film isn’t exactly what you would expect from the memoir of a man who starred in King of Queens. Then again, maybe it does if you’re aware that Patton Oswalt is the kind of comedian who candidly jokes about how a month off Prozac revs his depression into watching Princess Bride eleven times in a row while wearing a bathrobe for eight days straight.

I didn’t expect Oswalt to have a whole introductory allegory on how his breakthroughs in comedy were akin to the the warped and slightly scary revelation that is Van Gogh’s “Night Café.” But it works. Oswalt convinces you through his own troubling addiction to classic films that not only are movies a form of art wherein entertainment is a mere bi-product, but that comedy is an art that serves the divine purpose of finding the heart of sadness, grief, disappointment, and pain and somehow making you laugh at it.

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How to Cope with Mitchell and Webb is as good an introduction to Audible as any and has the dual purposes of being a great introduction to how British humor has evolved since Monty Python and through its hilarity, convince everyone that audiobooks are the best thing since reading was invented. Mitchell and Webb are best known for their cult-classic television show Peepshow where their characters introduced the world to the inner monologues of men, which turns out to be comedically inane in their constant worrying about sex and everything else that isn’t sex.

In this hour long listen, Mitchell and Webb set out to give you a guidebook on how to cope with a variety of everyday situations that cause an irritating amount of annoyance, such as getting dumped, coffee snobs, listening to nudists explain the philosophy behind their nudity, and the inevitable ravages of age. If laughing out loud listening to their explanations of your friends’ weird behavior doesn’t cure your hump day blues, then their overall message of having a more humorous outlook on the madness of the world around you just might.

Amber Dusick’s hilarious graphic novel Marriage: Illustrated With Crappy Pictures is a loving account of the weird quirks that we develop when in a committed relationship. While everyone regales “the single life,” Dusick embraces the weirdness and the laughs that come with having a spouse. From side-eying their personal hygiene to having to make joint financial decisions and deal with dietary quirks, she reassures readers that both they and their partner are not weird, and yes, other couples are dealing with similar issues, too.

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Although the majority of Christopher Noxon’s hilarious novel Plus One dives into the world of show business, the real heart and soul of the story is the struggle to keep a marriage afloat when one spouse suddenly becomes famous. The novel focuses on Alex Sherman-Zicklin, a mid-level marketing executive. When his wife lands a television pilot that makes her famous and wins her an Emmy, he has to navigate their new high profile Hollywood lifestyle while also finding a way to keep their marriage afloat.

Instead of being a macho hero, Alex is a fairly lovable character who starts off by getting himself into a few hijinxs when he becomes a stay-at-home dad. There are some cute family bonding moments as Alex slowly learns to become more confident in his new role and manages to figure out how to balance grocery shopping, taking care of the children, and writing a novel based off of his wild days in a punk rock band when he was younger. It’s nice to see a male character take on a traditionally feminine role and not squawk about it too much or, even worse, see it as a threat to his beloved masculinity. Overall, Plus One explores the world of Hollywood and modern relationships with hysterical insight and funny comedic moments.