Comedy Gifts You Can Still Get Or Send In Time For Christmas
How My Procrastinators Doin' Tonight?
If you still need to get gifts for a friend who loves comedy (what have you been doing for the last 3 weeks?), I’ve got you covered.
Comedians are small businesses / vendors, in a way. So, by buying their merch, you’re actually supporting a mom/pop shop. Go, you!
Below is an assortment of books, classes and other tchotchkes that—trust me—your comedy lover would love to see under the tree.
Jena’s comedy memoir, Not Funny, was a funny, fast read, documenting stories about her experiences as a comedian in Chicago and NYC. It made several big deal comedy lists, too. BUY IT HERE.
I took The Onion founder Scott Dikkers’ comedy class, How To Write Funny, during the pandemic to help keep my comedic wheels turning and I am not being hyperbolic when I say it was one of the best classes I have ever taken, in any subject. It combines the best of an assortment of business classes and theories Scott has encountered himself over the years with comedy wisdom and know how that he delivers in a very straight style. IT’S VERY GOOD!
Emily Flake is a powerhouse, a whirlwind and an inspiration. She not only raised enough money on Kickstarter to buy a house and fund the St. Nell’s house for women comedy writers in Williamsport, PA (and its subsequent Hell’s Bells comedy festival); she constantly churns out hilarious, touching and spot on illustrations for The New Yorker and other outlets. Her hands-on new book in a box (game?) enables folks to learn to draw their jokes, like she does. Plus, it comes in a cute yellow box. It’s great FOR ALL AGES.
An almost accompanying manual to The Eric Andre Show, I love Eric Andre and Dan Curry, and I love their new hardcover book. It’s big, beautiful and hilarious, and will satisfy any hardcore comedy fan with its delightful pranks and funny words. BUY IT HERE
I love Colin Quinn, always have, always will. Colin performed his eighth solo show, Small Talk, through 2023, and is starting 2024 with performances in Utah, Connecticut and New Jersey. If you haven’t seen him perform recently, he’s still got it, and he might even have it more now than he ever did before. And he has a bunch of book versions of his past few shows for sale on his website, all of which I’ve seen and all of which I loved, and I bet YOU WILL, TOO.
Victor Varnado does a lot of funny things—he runs NYC Talent Show in Manhattan every Tuesday night, a novel open mic where comedians get paid to perform; he illustrates comics for The New Yorker; he makes stand-up and videos and puts out funny social media content. But more recently, he’s become an entrepreneur and AI expert. His new book, How To Make Money With AI is about to hit the market, and can be pre-ordered HERE AND NOW.
Hey, it’s my Substack, so I’m going to shill my stuff, too. You can give a gift subscription to my comedy newsletter, The Museletter.
Did you know I have 4 CDs, including a Christmas CD? They are, in order of creation, Dirty Folk Rock, I Wanna Be Famous, Perfect Holidays and Songs To Make War To. I also wrote a joke book called Dumb Jokes for Smart Folks, which would make a great gift for any fans of puns and riddles (it was #1 on Amazon in Puns and Riddles). And for the complete Jessica Delfino gift package, I make handmade holiday tampon ornaments and cool movie tee shirts.
Go thrifting and look for a vintage joke book, make a copy of the cover to affix to a notebook, if you’re feeling crafty, and then the perfect cup to fill it with fresh pens. Then head straight to the post office! Dec 20 (today) is the cut off for priority mail and tomorrow (Dec 21) is the cut off for express priority mail.
Today’s comedy inspo:
Speaking of thrift store finds, this was a lot of fun | Demilked
The Idea You Can’t Joke About Anything Anymore Is Fkn Ridic | Rolling Stone
I love reading famous comedian’s stories about the comedy struggle | Metv
See you later, friend-os.