This collection offers an overview of British TV comedies, ranging from the beginnings of sitcoms in the 1950s to the current boom of 'Britcoms'. It provides in-depth analyses of major comedies, systematically addressing their generic properties, filmic history, humour politics and cultural impact.

'Absorbing, funny and oh-so-romantic. I loved every page!'When Lily's husband dies, she moves to the edge of a tiny village, settling into a solitary life, her only real company her brother and his family. A quiet life becomes her safe space, with no risk of getting hurt. When her brother offers her spare room to his oldest friend, Jack, Lily's reluctant - but knowing how much she owes her family, can't say no. A lodger takes some getting used to but to her surprise, Lily begins to enjoy Jack's company. Slowly but surely, Jack encourages Lily to step outside her comfort zone. But taking risks means facing the consequences, and telling people how she really feels, means Lily might have to face losing them. But as the saying goes - you only live once - and being brave could mean Lily gets a second chance at love... 'Read yourself happy' with Maxine Morrey's latest feel-good, unforgettable and utterly uplifting love story, guaranteed to make you smile. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Kinsella. Praise for Maxine Morrey: 'An uplifting read that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder "....but what if?" Absorbing, funny and oh-so-romantic, I loved every page!' Rachel Burton 'A super sweet read, guaranteed to warm any winter evening' Samantha Tonge 'A lovely story that kept me turning the pages' Jules Wake 'A stunning, perfect novel - it literally took my breath away.' The Writing Garnet, 5 stars 'A warm hug of a book.' Rachel's Random Reads, 5 stars

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
This year I am six years old.
My parents are delighted.
Today is my first day of school,
But they're the ones excited
They're dancing around the kitchen,
And I would like to know:
Are they happy school is starting,
Or just glad to see me go?
So begins this collection of witty, whimsical verse that anyone who ever covertly shot a spitball in class will love.
The quirky teachers, bizarre events and embarrassing mishaps of Roby School are all wonderfully captured here with only one purpose in mind: to make children laugh and adults giggle. And they do. Chartier's tidy poems bring back the days when reading poetry was fun.
"My First A," "Toilet Problems," "Mean Mrs. Green" and "Ode to a Substitute" are just some of the poems that trigger universal memories of those odd daily events in an elementary school that sometimes seemed only to have been designed to baffle young, otherwise uncomplicated minds.
Karen Gosselin's line drawings provide a perfect and delightful running narrative of their own for each of the amusing "educational" moments captured so richly here by Chartier in Roby School.
Linda Chartier attended Roby School in Saugus, Massachusetts and these verses are a whimsical sojourn back to that place where students and teachers laughed, played and learned. Ms. Chartier lives in Laconia, New Hampshire, where she teaches karate and skiing and enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking...and, of course, writing.
Karen Gosselin lives in the wilds of New Hampshire where vacationers trample the unwary and moose wrestle cars for fun. When she's not trying to keep her daughter from pushing random buttons on her laptop, she's illustrating games and stories for other small companies. She is now creating an on-line comic with her husband, Tom, titled Chaos Express, on her site Chibikarenstudios.com.

WINNER OF THE 2021 NORTHBOUND BOOK AWARD 'Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' Jenn Ashworth Before Adam Farrer's family relocated to Withernsea in 1992, he'd never heard of the Holderness coast. The move represented one thing to Adam: a chance to leave the insecurities of early adolescence behind. And he could do that anywhere. What he didn't know was how much he'd grow to love the quirks and people of this faded Yorkshire resort, in spite of its dilapidated attractions and retreating clifftops. While Adam documents the minutiae of small-town life, he lays bare experiences that are universal. His insights on family, friendship, male mental health and suicide are revealed in stories of reinvention, rapacious seagulls, interdimensional werewolves, burlesque dancing pensioners, and his compulsion towards the sea. Cold Fish Soup is an affectionate look at a place and its inhabitants, and the ways in which they can shape and influence someone, especially of an impressionable age. Adam's account explores what it means to love and be shaped by a place that is under threat, and the hope - and hilarity - that can be found in community.

Best ever Yo Mamma jokes on earth. These are guaranteed to make you roll on the floor laughing. Tell these at parties and get-together's and be the star of the entertainment. Here are a few: 1. Yo mamma's so fat that people raise their hands and shout "Taxi!" when she walks by in a yellow raincoat. 2. Yo mamma's so fat that the elevator can only go down when she rides. 3. Yo mamma's so fat that her pants had to be ironed in the driveway. 4. Yo mamma's so fat that people just had to go around her for a 15-minute exercise. 5. Yo mamma's so fat she has group insurance by herself. 6. Yo mamma's so fat she brought the bridge down when she went bungee jumping. 7. Yo mamma's so fat she is charged for group rates when she went to a buffet. 8. Yo mamma's so fat her feet doesn't get wet when she showers. 9. Yo mamma's so fat she doesn't a tailor, she needs a contractor. Purchase now over 100 more of them!

Full of warm, witty and wise stories about parenting, A New Life Journal began as a weekly column by Australian journalist Jane Cafarella about her daughter's first year and ended up a life's work. First published in The Age newspaper from 1993 -1997, the column struck a chord with readers, many of whom wrote in response: "Your family life so often mirrors my own." It is that made the column so universally relevant and which led to it being picked up by Quality Time magazine from 1997 to 2002. Excerpts were also broadcast on the ABC Radio National program Life Matters over the years and further instalments were published on Jane's Older and Wider blog. Now, for the first time, the columns have been collated into a single edition for a new generation of readers to enjoy. Written over more than 20 years, A New Life Journal is both a parenting book and a memoir, covering everything from first words and potty training to choosing schools and finally letting go. A must-read for all new parents, step parents and blended families A New Life Journal is a funny, eloquent and compassionate record of one family's parenting journey and the universal issues that face parents across generations.

"The best book ever written about small business" is the superlative written by Esquire in a feature article profiling this best selling how-to book, written by the CEO of ten successful businesses. The usefulness of this entrepreneurial business manual has propelled Success in Small Business Is a Laughing Matter through four printings over two decades, making it a must-own classic.

What happens when your basic American guy meets and marries a Danish nurse in the mid-1950s, has six baby boomer children, moves to a big old house in the suburbs and gathers a menagerie of pets? Hilarity in House 579 happens!

Para Handy has been sailing his way into the affections of generations of Scots since he first weighed anchor in the pages of the Glasgow Evening News in 1905. The master mariner and his crew - Dougie the mate, Macphail the engineer, Sunny Jim and the Tar - all play their part in evoking the irresistible atmosphere of a bygone age when puffers sailed between West Highland ports and the great city of Glasgow. This definitive edition contains all three collections published in the author's lifetime, as well as those that were unpublished and a new story which was discovered in 2001. Extensive notes accompany each story, providing fascinating insights into colloquialisms, place-names and historical events. This volume also includes a wealth of contemporary photographs, depicting the harbours, steamers and puffers from the age of the Vital Spark.

'He is screamingly funny. He is wise. He has style' Daily Telegraph 'His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction' Mail on Sunday It is known as the Discworld. It is a flat planet, supported on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin as it swims majestically through space. And it is quite possibly the funniest place in all of creation... Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death's apprentice. Terry Pratchett's hilarious fourth Discworld novel established once and for all that Death really is a laughing matter... Readers can't get enough of Mort: 'This book was so good that if I knew the way to Sheepridge, I'd be heading there next Hogswatch Eve hoping to be chosen as DEATH's next apprentice . . . This book is laugh out loud, want to read the funny bit to someone (anyone) funny, it is witty, very witty, cleverly witty, it is deceptively simple, but wonderfully complex, an enigma, a dichotomy. Oh ok it is bloody good and outrageously funny, just read it' Goodreads reviewer, 'This was the very first Discworld novel I've ever read . . . It became instantly dear to me, prompting me to immediately buy the English original and reading it once again, but I had almost forgotten just HOW GOOD this was. After this re-read it is clear that it shall remain one of my all-time favourite books' Goodreads reviewer, 'The story itself is simple to follow, what makes this book so incredible is the fantastic descriptions of the way this universe works and the different realities and places and people . . . I didn't want to leave this world and I will definitely be returning soon!' Goodreads reviewer, 'The fourth Discworld novel is right up there with my favourites . . . it's fun to watch [Death] stretch his legs a little, witness Pratchett pushing the character in interesting and imaginative directions and without a shadow of a doubt the best conversations involve the grinning skeleton with the sparkle in his eye . . . If you're wondering where to start with the incredibly large body of work that makes up the Discworld then this is the one I suggest' Goodreads reviewer,

Did you ever look at the clouds in the sky and notice the bumper stickers God has pasted on them to try and get our attention? Bumper Stickers on the Clouds presents some of the signs you may have missed.

The essays and humorous stories included within will help you to relax, laugh, and provide some new perspectives on your Christian journey. Bible references and the "re-telling" of Bible stories and verses assist in furthering the understanding and thinking that we must use in order to successfully carry out God's plan for each of us.

Do you ever have questions about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or the Bible? What about the creation story? Who exactly was at fault in the whole Garden of Eden fiasco? How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark? (Answer: zero. It was Noah with the animals, not Moses, but even ministers fall for this old joke )

Laughter is one of God's great gifts to us. In the world today, we sometimes are too quick to not see the humor of our earthly life. We become offended rather than realize how therapeutic laughter can be. Keep your heart light and be joyful

"We left our Maine and our United States at home and we journeyed amongst other peoples with courtesy to them and credit to ourselves." That is John Gould's definition of good travelers; and he and his wife are charming examples of this as they tour through Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy, France, England, and Scotland. You'll discover what a delight it is to travel Gould family style, for that is Maine style with the extra sparkle of Gould's wry Down East humor. It's a friendly book, but Gould lets no country, group, individual, or menu get away with pomposity or an unearned reputation. There is much to discover, both good and bad as the Goulds search for the quality of European life and bring readers into the presence of ordinary, and fascinating, Europeans.

I Will Speak Using Stories is a collection of everyday, down home, stories of people and events. Some of the stories will make you weep, smile, cry, or laugh. Some stories will cause the reader to reminisce. Others will remember an old relative or friend. Each story ends with Scripture. The point of the story is to show that Scripture is universal and pertinent. There are probing questions that will help the reader meditate. The devotions have a prayer to give the day a fresh start. The book is great resource to use for a daily quiet time.