Best of
Comedy

1986

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts


Douglas Adams - 1986
    For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and the Galaxy is a very very very large and startling place.THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE.When all questions of space, time, matter and the nature of being have been resolved, only one question remains --- "Where shall we have dinner?" The Restaurant at the End of the Universe provides the ultimate gastronomic experience, and for once there is no morning after to worry about.LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING.In consequence of a number of stunning catastrophes, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself living in a hideously miserable cave on prehistoric Earth. However, just as he thinks that things cannot possibly get any worse, they suddenly do. He discovers that the Galaxy is not only mind-boggling big and bewildering but also that most of the things that happen in it are staggeringly unfair.SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH.Just as Arthur Dent's sense of reality is in its dickiest state he suddenly finds the girl of his dreams. He finds her in the last place in the Universe in which he would expect to find anything at all, but which 3,976,000 people will find oddly familiar. They go in search of God's Final Message to His Creation and, in a dramatic break with tradition, actually find it.

Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness


Berkeley Breathed - 1986
    An anthology of cartoons from the syndicated comic strip, "Bloom County" encompasses highlights from the five-year span of the strip.

Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion


Neil Gaiman - 1986
    Told in the same fanciful, irreverent style as the Hitchhiker trilogy, with scraps of scripts, letters and comments from Adams, Don't Panic is the perfect companion to one of the most successful series in publishing history.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe


Jane Wagner - 1986
    Jane Wagner's masterpiece--The first play in more than 20 years to become a national bestseller--is now a motion picture!In this satire, a form all too lacking in American theater, Trudy the bag lady, Wagner's central character, tries to explain modern American material society to an alien (i.e., interstellar) committee.

Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters


John Waters - 1986
    This hilarious collection of essays by the offbeat writer and director is a treat for fans of the "Pope of Trash" and the perfect introduction for those who have not yet discovered his eccentric charms.

Five Hundred Mile Walkies


Mark Wallington - 1986
    His two-legged companion is Mark. This is a heroic study of survival against the odds, as together they take a journey, up hill and down dale, with rucksacks full of kennomeat, along Britain's longest coastal footpath - from Somerset to Devon, from Cornwall to Dorset.

Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live


Doug Hill - 1986
    This is the book that revealed to the world what really happened behind the scenes during the first ten years of this groundbreaking program, from the battles SNL fought with NBC to the battles fought within the show itself. It's all here: The love affairs, betrayals, rivalries, drug problems, overnight successes, and bitter failures, mixed with the creation of some of the most outrageous and original comedy ever. "It reads like a thriller," said the Associated Press, "and may be the best book ever written about television." Available for the first time in ebook format, this edition features nearly fifty photographs of cast, crew and sketches.

My Daddy Was a Pistol and I'm a Son of A Gun


Lewis Grizzard - 1986
    This is a compelling, often hilarious portrait of a loving man who faced failure but always remained an inspiration to his son. "A sad book, a funny book, a very human book".--The Courier-Times.

The Collected Plays, Vol. 2


Neil Simon - 1986
    They and the critics agree that a trip to see any one of this master of comedy's stage triumphs ranks among the most wonderful experiences that the American theater offers. The eight plays in this, the second volume of The Collected PLays of Neil Simon, bear eloquent witness to the unique genius of this master playwright who so magnificently blends the joy of laughter and the love of life.

Say Goodnight, Gracie!: The Story of George Burns & Gracie Allen


Cheryl Blythe - 1986
     This book is a comprehensive ‘backstage look’ at the making of this historic TV show – how the writers contrived that delicious misinterpretation of Gracie’s world; the real Gracie and George vs. the characters they play; and an early look at broadcast television - kinescopes, then the coaxial cable – and loaded with George’s comedic wisdom and dialog from the series! The comedy is timeless. The genius behind the show may have been George Burns, who played the "straight man," but the one who got the laughs was Gracie, whose "illogical logic" made the show catch on like wildfire.

Yes, Prime Minister: The Diaries Of The Right Hon. James Hacker: Volume 1


Jonathan Lynn - 1986
    

Lend Me a Tenor


Ken Ludwig - 1986
    So the impresario's diminutive assistant blacks up and goes on as Otello. The tenor awakens, dons his costume, and thence follows a hilarious comedy involving two Otellos, a volatile Italian wife, an outrageous bellhop and a cynical impresario.

Loop's Progress (the Loop Trilogy: Book One)


Chuck Rosenthal - 1986
    An uproarious novel about coming-of-age that reflects the gritty reality of modern urban America.

Yes Prime Minister: The Diaries Of The Right Hon. James Hacker: Volume II


Jonathan Lynn - 1986
    Many literary classics become television classics, Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are television classics which have the rare distinction of becoming classic English comic literature.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off


Todd Strasser - 1986
    Ferris knows the value of a day off, and just how to make the best of any situation.His plan is fool proof. He'll pretend he's sick (and the whole city will be sure he's at death's door). He'll get his girlfriend out of school (using the famous "dead relative" excuse). And they'll drive in style to every Chicago hot spot (in his best friend's father's Ferrari, of course). It's not an ordinary day off, it's.......Ferris Bueller's DAY OFF.

Herman Treasury 5


Jim Unger - 1986
    Cartoons offer a humorous look at hunters, doctors, thieves, fishermen, job applicants, UFOs, zoos, marriage, cavemen, prisoners, pets, beginning drivers, musicians, waitresses, weddings, and dentists.

Henry's Quest


Graham Oakley - 1986
    A small kingdom based on the principles of King Arthur's Round Table sends out its knights on a quest for the legendary substance called gasoline.

Another Bloody Ratbag Book


Kerry Cue - 1986
    

Romance in the Roaring Forties and Other Stories


Damon Runyon - 1986
    

Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality: Reading from the Journal of Polymorphous Perversity


Glenn C. Ellenbogen - 1986
    Cinderella left her glass slipper behind at the stroke of midnight, she was clearly acting in a state of rebellion against the dictatorial regimentation of the domineering fairy godmother.It's true. Members of the psychiatric community are capable of laughter. The Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, the brainchild of psychologist Glenn C. Ellenbogen, has received confirmed reports of uncontrollable outbursts of laughter as the pages of the scholarly parody are sampled.Now patients, professionals, and armchair travelers alike can enjoy the articles that have appeared in this hilarious journal in one hilarious anthology, including such profound and penetrating subjects as " New Improved Delusions, " " The Scale of Mental Abilities Requiring Thinking Somewhat (SMARTS), " " Cancer and Tobacco: A Bum Rat, " and more. Learn how psychoanalysts diagnose patients by the way they park their cars in the mental health clinic lot and how to apply the practical principles of Vigilante Effectiveness Training (VET) in daily life." For the Jung at heart " --New York Daily News

Son of Ambush Bug


Keith Giffen - 1986
    6 part mini series

The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It


Don Nigro - 1986
    

Moonstruck (Screenplay)


John Patrick Shanley - 1986
    Comedy, Drama, RomanceLoretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.