The funny pages

The scoop His cult faves Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared were canceled, and his wife was pregnant with their second child. So comedy kingpin Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People) decided to take a reading year, as so many of us do, and ingest great lit to enhance his writing. The resulting I Found This Funny (McSweeny’s, $25) compiles dozens of short works.
Our take A twee collection of pretentious stories gathered by Hollywood’s comedic golden boy? Commence eye-rolling. Not so! This slick volume is full of compulsively readable and downright perverted nuggets. Jack Handey’s “My First Day in Hell” recounts life in the underworld (Satan’s a lot shorter than you’d expect), and in “No Contact, Asshole,” Jonathan Ames goes on an S&M binge with a dominatrix.
Perfect for Apatow fans looking for something to chew on before the new Pee-wee Herman pic he's producing hits theaters in 2011.
Apatow to TOC readers “Everything in it can be read on an airplane, in the bathroom or while waiting to go into a doctor’s appointment.”

The scoop Stand-up Mike Birbiglia’s acclaimed 2008 Off Broadway show, Sleepwalk with Me, weaves stories from the Boston native’s childhood with his battle for a good night’s sleep. Much of his live work gets rehashed in Sleepwalk with Me: And Other Painfully True Stories (Simon & Schuster, $24).
Our take Birbiglia suffers from David Sedaris Syndrome: He’s so compelling live, we prefer the oral renditions to his written words (Birbiglia’s comedy albums Two Drink Mike and My Secret Public Journal are available on iTunes). But the book also lays out his struggle to make it as a stand-up, including bad jobs, even worse jokes and the thrill of manning the mic.
Perfect for Birbiglia devotees and those who ask, “Mike who?”
Birbiglia to TOC readers “Last year I performed at a bar mitzvah at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. Imagine: Forty young people all waiting for you to make them laugh, and all of their parents are standing behind them, watching to make sure you don’t say anything too crazy. Well, I did that show for you, Chicago. Now go buy my book!”

The scoop “World Champion” and 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander offers 208 illustrated pages of instructional and inspirational life-saving karate advice in How to Beat Up Anybody (HarperCollins, $17.99).
Our take If you’re a single woman looking for ways to fend off would-be predators, may we suggest sticking to your local dojo? We’re glad Friedlander has sidestepped the memoir route for a goofy offering in keeping with his Rock alter ego. That said, low-grade photos of Friedlander training at the Grand Canyon and dick-clamping amputees prove very niche.
Perfect for 30 Rock fans in search of a conversation-starting coffee-table book.
Friedlander to TOC readers “My book is the only one that deals with the serious problem of deforestation and how it’s caused a rise in Bigfoot attacks in suburbs and cities. It teaches you how to be safe.”

The scoop That Girl star Marlo Thomas grew up among stand-up legends like father Danny and his menagerie of comedy cronies, including George Burns, Bob Hope and Sid Caesar. In Growing Up Laughing (Hyperion, $26.99), Thomas recalls these men while interspersing interviews with current mavens like Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien and Tina Fey.
Our take In the FunnyorDie.com era, it’s easy to forget that comedy was once a craft practiced in a tux. Thomas reminds us what it was like hanging with the greats while offering up pleasing (albeit soft) interviews with current hall-of-famers.
Perfect for Mom and Dad. Consider your holiday shopping done.
Thomas to TOC readers “In addition to the adventures of my life, the book is a love letter to the rich roots of comedy, which, as any stand-up comic will tell you, run right through the heart of the Windy City. The book also blows a big kiss to that Chicago darling himself, Phil Donahue!”

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