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Be Funny or Die

How Comedy Works and Why It Matters

by Joel Morris

Narrator Joel Morris

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Length 9 hours 2 minutes

Language English

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Summary
About the author
About the narrator

#38 in Bestselling Art Audiobooks

Comedy can soothe our pain, vent our anger, make us feel less alone, and provide the answer to life’s most difficult questions, such as What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?* It’s a social glue, but it can also be divisive, and the joke is on us if we don’t understand how it works. So what are the rules? How does comedy do its magic, and why does it matter? Join professional comedy writer Joel Morris on a hilarious journey into the hidden world of shared laughter, where he reveals the mechanisms that make jokes work and what comedy can teach us about ourselves. Offering astute analysis of everything from stand-up to slapstick and sitcom to spoof, Morris examines comedic patterns, rhythms, and dynamics to uncover the algorithms that secretly underpin comedy. Packed with gags and examples of comedy at its best—plus some invaluable tips on how to master that b’dum tish timing—Be Funny or Die is a fascinating investigation into how our species has developed and mastered this essential art form where laughter is the universal language and only the funniest survive. *Cliff.

Business Art Humor Nonfiction

Joel Morris is one of Britain’s busiest and most respected comedy writers, working on everything from Charlie Brooker’s Wipe shows to the hit Paddington films. Joel co-created the 5-million-plus selling Ladybird Books For Grown-Ups series and the cult humour hit The Framley Examiner (“The funniest book ever” according to Simpsons showrunner Josh Weinstein and Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk) and co-wrote the bestselling British travel guides Bollocks To Alton Towers (“One of the best guide books ever written” The Guardian), as well as being the real typewriter behind books purportedly by high-brow TV idiot Philomena Cunk and low-brow TV idiot Mrs Brown. Joel has won a BAFTA, Sony and Broadcast Awards for his writing, and put words in the mouths of everyone from Mitchell & Webb and Flight of The Conchords to Armstrong & Miller and Miranda Hart. He has had words published in Broadcast, Empire, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian, The Independent, Mojo and Esquire, and is a regular contributor to Britain’s greatest lavatory humour magazine Viz Comic. Joel is the co-host and producer of Comfort Blanket, the top 10 arts podcast analysing how comforting films, tv, music and books achieve their magic, and the award-winning Rule of Three podcast about the craft of comedy writing (winner, best arts and culture podcast British Podcast Awards 2020).