Washoe County Library System

At age four, Molly Shannon's world was shattered when she lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident with her father at the wheel. Held together by her tender and complicated relationship with her grieving father, Molly was raised in a permissive household where her gift for improvising and role-playing blossomed alongside the fearlessness that would lead her to become a celebrated actress. From there, Molly ventured into the wider...

Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you. Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL. Whether I’m talking about my childhood growing up in the South, my early stand-up days driving from gig to gig through the darkest parts of our country and praying...

A biting personal memoir by the actor, comedian, and "Saturday Night Live" alumnus traces his childhood and challenging progression to fame, in an account that also shares behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

The comedy writer and host of the weekly radio-call in comedy show "The best show" with Tom Scharpling discusses how he came back from the brink of self-destruction to forge a career in television writing and production.

Brosh is a connoisseur of the human condition. In her typical self-deprecating and dramatic manner (hence the hyperbole reference), she tells personal stories that name things we can all relate to, including fear, love, depression and hope. Perhaps the most endearing thing about her writing is that she approaches her subject matter from a vulnerable, childlike place, complete with Paintbrush caricatures that have arguably already earned iconic status....

"Comedian Kat Timpf shares how humor has kept her going during the hardest times of her life, and confronts the cancel culture that threatens modern comedy"-- "What happens when we can’t joke about some of the most important stuff in life? In a 2019 study, 40% of people reported censoring themselves out of fear that voicing their views would alienate them from the people they care about most. Those people should probably not read this book in...

"Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt lived with an unshakable addiction. It wasn't drugs, alcohol or sex: it was film. After moving to L.A., Oswalt became a huge film buff (or as he calls it, a sprocket fiend), absorbing classics, cult hits, and new releases at the New Beverly Cinema. Silver screen celluloid became Patton's life schoolbook, informing his notion of acting, writing, comedy, and relationships. Set in the nascent days of L.A.'s alternative...

"When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, black faces were still rare on television, black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow "Flip" Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as "TV's First Black Superstar". Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture. Kevin Cook chronicles Flip's meteoric rise through the Chitlin'...

"I Am Chris Farley is a documentary film that will tell the bittersweet story of one of the most innovative comedians who ever graced the stage, screen and television, before his untimely death from a drug overdose at the tender age of only 33. Immortalized for his uniquely bold, energetic, and in-your-face comedic style, Chris Farley’s off the charts talent cemented his place as a key player in a movement that evolved and redefined the comedic...

"NOT FUNNY is a FUNNY, whipsmart essay collection on gender, politics, the entertainment industry, and work. Jena Friedman is an acclaimed writer and performer, with multiple credits to her name in the fields of tv comedy (The Daily Show and The Late Showwith David Letterman), film (an Academy Award nomination for writing on Sacha Baron Cohen's 2020 blockbuster Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), humor writing (The New Yorker), and live performance. More...