Play Audiobook Sample
Mr. Funny Pants Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.03) - 553 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
The writer and star of The State, Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, and Michael & Michael Have Issues brings readers his uniquely absurd humor in his hilarious first book.
I was at my wit's end. I'd had enough of this job, this life, and my relationship had broken up. Should I eat chocolate, or go to India, or fall in love? Then I had a revelation: Why not do all three, in that order? And so it was that I embarked on a journey that was segmented into three parts and was then made into a major motion picture. Later, I woke up on an airplane with a hole in my face and a really bad hangover. I was ushered brusquely off the plane by my parents who took me to a rehab where I tested positive for coke, classic coke, special k (the drug), Special K (the cereal), mushrooms, pepperoni, and Restless Leg Syndrome. It was there that I first began painting with my feet.
But rewind...the year was 1914. I was just a young German soldier serving in the trenches while simultaneously trying to destroy an evil ring with some help from an elf, a troll, and a giant sorcerer, all while cooking every recipe out of a Julia Child cookbook. What I'm trying to say is that there was a secret code hidden in a painting and I was looking for it with this girl who had a tattoo of a dragon! Let me clarify, it was the 1930s and a bunch of us were migrating out of Oklahoma, and I was this teenage wizard/CIA operative, okay? And, um then I floated off into the meta-verse as a ball of invisible energy that had no outer edge...
Ugh, okay. None of this is true. I'm just kind of a normal guy from New Jersey who moved to New York, got into comedy, wrote this book about trying to write this book, and then moved to Alaska, became the mayor of a small town, spent $30,000 on underwear, and now I'm going to rule the world!!!
Download and start listening now!
"This book was incredible. It literally had me looking like an idiot, laughing out loud at some points. I was really glad to see that while the book was as funny as promised, it was really well written also. Michael has a great vocabulary and it was refreshing to read a book by a comedian that was as good of a read as it was funny. I definitely would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Michael's and even to people who aren't."
— Katie (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“Mr. Funny Pants is unlike any book I've ever read. It's this weird, hilarious, choose-your-own-adventure inside Michael Showalter's brain-which is, of course, brilliant. I was at first skeptical of the premise of deconstructing the process of writing a book, but 10 pages in, I was literally crying with laughter and by the time he got to analyzing his own high school poetry, I could no longer read the book in public without embarrassing myself.”
— Mike Birbiglia, New York Times bestselling author of Sleepwalk With Me -
“Showalter is a comic genius. This is, cover to cover, the funniest book I've ever read!”
— Ben Stiller -
“Here's the deal: I think Michael Showalter is a genius. And I don't use that term lightly. This book is brave, merciless, and soulful and I think that by that I actually mean stupid, smart and very funny (I mostly just wanted to use the word "merciless" in a sentence.) If you see it on a friend's shelf do yourself a favor and just take it. Not the shelf. Just the book. Unless of course you need a shelf. Merciless!”
— Paul Rudd -
“Showalter, Michael has written a very clever book. And he has written about writing a book, cleverly. Showalter, Michael asked me to write a blurb. It was easy to do-here it is: 'I very much really really liked this Mr. Funny Pants-a book so enjoyable that blurbing about it is so very easy.”
— Zach Galifianakis -
“I read Michael's book on a train. It was funny and engaging. I also once took a train with Michael. I wish that Michael, as a passenger sitting next to me, was as funny and engaging as his book was.”
— Janeane Garofalo -
“Procrastination in written form. This book, like all great works, is honest, absurd and absolutely pointless.”
— Amy Poehler -
Showalter is a comic genius. This is, cover to cover, the funniest book I've ever read!
— (Dear Mike, Haven't had time to check it out yet. Do you want to just write a quote and put my name on it? Best, Ben) --Ben Stiller -
Here's the deal: I think Michael Showalter is a genius. And I don't use that term lightly. This book is brave, merciless, and soulful and I think that by that I actually mean stupid, smart and very funny (I mostly just wanted to use the word "merciless" in a sentence.) If you see it on a friend's shelf do yourself a favor and just take it. Not the shelf. Just the book. Unless of course you need a shelf. Merciless!!!" --Paul Rudd
-
I read Michael's book on a train. It was funny and engaging. I also once took a train with Michael. I wish that Michael, as a passenger sitting next to me, was as funny and engaging as his book was." --Janeane Garofalo
-
Procrastination in written form. This book, like all great works, is honest, absurd and absolutely pointless." --Amy Poehler
-
With MR. FUNNY PANTS, Showalter deconstructs books down to their core, then builds them back up into a swirling core-nado. Which is a tornado made out of book cores. It's not a real thing. This book is funny." --Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone of SNL & The Lonely Island
-
Showalter, Michael has written a very clever book. And he has written about writing a book, cleverly. Showalter, Michael asked me to write a blurb. It was easy to do-here it is: 'I very much really really liked this Mr. Funny Pants-a book so enjoyable that blurbing about it is so very easy.'" --Zach Galifianakis
-
MR. FUNNY PANTS is unlike any book I've ever read. It's this weird, hilarious, choose-your-own-adventure inside Michael Showalter's brain-which is, of course, brilliant. I was at first skeptical of the premise of deconstructing the process of writing a book, but 10 pages in, I was literally crying with laughter and by the time he got to analyzing his own high school poetry, I could no longer read the book in public without embarrassing myself.
— Mike Birbiglia, New York Times bestselling author of Sleepwalk With Me -
Michael Showalter: amusing trousers, singular mind." --Sarah Vowell, New York Times bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates
-
With MR. FUNNY PANTS by Michael Showalter, the meta-enterprise of the [comedian memoir] genre achieves full wax-bouquet bloom." --James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
Mr. Funny Pants Listener Reviews
-
" There are a few fleeting funny bits in this thing, but overwhelmingly it's a bust. Just not funny. Gives the lie to the whole "Mr. Funny Pants" thing. The guy is trying way too hard. The book is much too long and many stretches are just plain boring. Some of this stuff might be amusing as part of a stand-up routine, depending on how it's delivered, but on the page many of the passages fall hopelessly flat and just seem self-indulgent. Stay away. "
— Patricia, 2/16/2014 -
" there were def a few gems in here which were absolutely hilarious, though overall i was a little disappointed. "
— Rachelr, 2/13/2014 -
" I just couldn't find the humor in this book. I didn't even finish it I couldn't struggle through it any longer. I had hoped to like it but didn't. "
— Sue-Ellen, 12/29/2013 -
" hilarious. though I was made to love this book. and sho "
— lainiemarie, 11/23/2013 -
" Good, but could have been great. "
— Arielle, 11/14/2013 -
" Rarely have I laughed out loud so many times during one book. Hilarious. "
— Emily, 8/15/2013 -
" This was a very funny book considering 80% of it is nonsense. Micheal Showalter has a great sense of humor and his unique voice really comes through in every word he writes. FROGMAZING! "
— Barry, 7/13/2013 -
" While completely without structure, meaning, or purpose, the book as a whole is weirdly meta and very entertaining. Michael Showalter is too adorable. "
— Alex, 7/6/2013 -
" Should have waited for the audiobook, though my brain can do a pretty good Showalter imitation all by itself. "
— Elizabeth, 7/6/2013 -
" Once the book finds a pace, it is a nice read. "
— Adam, 6/22/2013 -
" MTV's The State was one of my favorite shows. And I grew up one town over. And my sense of humor tends to oscillate between the crude/juvenile, odd observational, and bad wordplay. In any number of ways, I was very predisposed to like this book. And I did. "
— Seth, 3/2/2013 -
" The humor is inconsistent, but when it's on, it hits very well and caused me to laugh loudly. The bits that work outnumber the bits that don't. But I would only recommend this to someone who already likes Show. "
— Billy, 2/9/2013 -
" Moments in the middle are as funny as anything I have ever read, and for that I recommend. The rest is meh. I still greatly enjoy Michael Showalter and his comedy, but the funny book about writing a funny book premise is slightly stretched beyond its usefulness. "
— Brooke, 12/20/2012 -
" It has its moments. Around the middle of the book I was laughing quite a bit. It ended on a bit of a whimper. It's very unfocused, but hey, that's what the author intended! "
— Paul, 3/13/2012 -
" too much meta writing about writing "
— Erica, 2/26/2012 -
" I LOLed several times over the course of a few subway commutes reading Mr. Funny Pants. And the horrified looks I got from fellow passengers only made it all even more worth while. I love you, Michael Showalter. "
— MK, 12/19/2011 -
" I've read a lot of comic memoirs, and this one was absolutely the funniest. I laughed out loud (in public) shamelessly through the thing. "
— Crystal, 10/28/2011 -
" Good penis and bad penis worth the price of admission for me. "
— Lola425, 8/27/2011 -
" Michael Showalter is one of my very favorite funny men. This book was very funny. As in: it made me laugh. "
— Toni, 8/23/2011 -
" This was pretty hilarious, but I needed more to go on to actually finish reading it. Perhaps I'll come back to it later. "
— Lindsay, 8/9/2011 -
" funny but recognized a lot of chapters from his comedy CD 'sandwiches and cats.' still laughed. "
— Ohgodyouths, 5/22/2011 -
" This was pretty hilarious, but I needed more to go on to actually finish reading it. Perhaps I'll come back to it later. "
— Lindsay, 5/4/2011 -
" Oh, Michael Showalter, you are my favorite. "
— Candace, 5/1/2011 -
" I love mike s - when he's acting, I guess. "
— Ari, 5/1/2011 -
" Michael Showalter has exactly my sense of humor. I knew this from watching him on the state, seeing his movies, other shows he's been on and his stand up. This book of concentrated silliness just reenforces that for me. "
— Allison, 4/27/2011 -
" While completely without structure, meaning, or purpose, the book as a whole is weirdly meta and very entertaining. Michael Showalter is too adorable. "
— Alex, 4/10/2011 -
" There were a few times where I wanted to strangle him and yell "Get to the point Showalter" but the meta-wait was always meta-worth it. He's too goddamn funny for me to care that most of the book is random silliness about how exactly he plans on writing the book and related nonsense. "
— Zach, 3/28/2011 -
" Moments in the middle are as funny as anything I have ever read, and for that I recommend. The rest is meh. I still greatly enjoy Michael Showalter and his comedy, but the funny book about writing a funny book premise is slightly stretched beyond its usefulness. "
— Brooke, 3/14/2011 -
" I bet the audio is even funnier. Too bad my library doesn't own it. He's such a great writer. This is better than My Custom Van. I laughed so hard at one point I snorted. "
— Danielle, 3/12/2011 -
" Rarely have I laughed out loud so many times during one book. Hilarious. "
— Emily, 3/8/2011 -
" Should have waited for the audiobook, though my brain can do a pretty good Showalter imitation all by itself. "
— Elizabeth, 3/8/2011 -
" being inside michael showalter's head via the medium of a book is a weird place to be. which is a good thing. "
— Gina, 3/5/2011
About Michael Showalter
Michael Showalter is a writer, director, and comedian who lives in Brooklyn with his cats. He was an original member of the seminal MTV sketch troupe The State. He cowrote and costarred in the cult film Wet Hot American Summer and is one-third of the comedy trio Stella, which had a critically acclaimed television series on Comedy Central and tours nationally. He wrote, directed, and costarred with Michelle Williams and Elizabeth Banks in the romantic comedy The Baxter. In November of 2008 he released his first stand-up comedy album, Sandwiches & Cats. He recently completed a Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues with collaborator Michael Black. He has appeared in many television shows and movies including Sex & the City, Law & Order, and Signs. Right now he teaches screenwriting at NYU Graduate Film School, writes a monthly column for the Chicago Tribune, and is working on a one-man show about his love of theater.