Rating: 
Summary: What makes a good stand-up makes for an average book
Review: I don't even know where to start. For starters, more than half the content of this book was part of Ellen's stand-up routine in her new Ellen DeGeneres show. Unfortunately.
Or maybe fortunately.
I don't know which. When Ellen did the stand up, the material was hilarious. When I read the book, it was anything but funny. In fact, it was rather annoying, not only because the material wasn't fresh anymore, but also because I continued to read the book thinking that at some point it was going to be funny ... At least it goes to show that stand-up is more than just words, it's about the delivery, and that Ellen is a great comedienne. As can be expected of any comedian/nne, the material covered has some poignant insights. Such as, when you see someone you haven't seen for a long time, should you hug, kiss or shake hands with them? Or, how the dentist receptionist tries to book your next appointment six months in advance, and asking whether the time will work for you. And the consistent theme about flossing that comes up here and there is quite funny, but not enough to make me laugh out loud. Less interesting were "the serious chapter", "the controversial chapter" and "the last chapter" and "the bonus chapter" where you get free words, apparently (well, no, they're not free - I had to pay for the book and some poor tree had to be chopped for you to print words on it). It feels like Ellen and her editor sat down and said, you know, what you really need is a serious chapter, and that Ellen failed to come up with anything good (it's less than a page, not funny and not serious either). And, apparently, Ellen thinks living in prison would be great. I don't follow her line of thinking and don't think she's really thought it through herself. All in all, this book cost me less than 2 hours to read, and I'm not sorry for it. Anything longer would have felt like a waste of time. And although Ellen obviously has lots of talent for stand-up comedy, she also has no talent for writing. Distinctly average.
Rating: 
Summary: The Funny Thing Wasn't...
Review: I like Ellen Degeneres. I think she has been an excellent emcee on award programs, her own talk show and her sitcom - which was canceled and shouldn't have been. I had this book on my "Wish List" and received it from a family member for Christmas. I really looked forward to reading it. I settled in expecting to be laughing out loud, but I never did. I expected the book to get better as I continued to read it - it NEVER did! All in all quite a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Oh my!
Review: I think Ellen is pretty funny USUALLY!
I loved her in Nemo - she was perfect!
I love her talk show as well. I'm sorry Ellen, but this book is so damn painful.
There are a couple of funny parts, but the rest is
just so damn boring! Mind you I am a person who NEVER
gets bord.
Rating: 
Summary: Split Decision
Review: My wife and I disagreed on this little number from everyone's favorite lesbian comedian Ellen. My wife thought it was great and couldn't stop laughing. I chuckled now and then but wasn't as in love with it as she was. I think Ellen is a talented comedian but her problem is when she tries to sell her sexual preference as a point of humor. She is funny period. When she tries to make it about or in spite of her sexual preference, it clouds the humor. But DON'T take our disagreement on if it's good, great, upside down, or backwards with too much juice. We have only agreed on three books as great this year (THE DA VINCI CODE by DAN BROWN, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by SUE MONK KIDD, and MY FRACTURED LIFE by RIKKI LEE TRAVOLTA). If you think you side more with my wife then you'll love Ellen's little bookie book THE FUNNY THING IS. If you think you side more with my thinking style then you'll have a few chuckles but may want to spend your money elsewhere. Hey - at least we're honest about the difference of opinions. If you want a guaranteed good time we've given you three great ones to read that we both like. If you want to live the fast gamble life then pick me or the little lady as your guide and follow to the promised land.
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly hysterical!
Review: This book was amazingly funny to read. I am a big Ellen fan and I had loved her first book, and I just took this one on a beach vacation, and I was embarassed sitting on the beach reading it, because I was laughing out loud so hard I'm sure others noticed. Her observations on life are so accurate and astute, it is incredible. She is such a brillantly funny woman, I am in awe of the wit she writes with. The only thing that could be potentially dissapointing to the real Ellen fan is that she reuses a lot of material from her standup tour "Here and Now" and even from her comedy album "Taste This". Everything she includes is hysterical, but not new material. Nevertheless, this book is a must read if you like to laugh. Seriously, I cannot imagine reading a much funnier book.
Rating: 
Summary: Wide range of observations that run a wide range
Review: Ellen Degeneres is certainly on a roll . . . she has been funny
on an HBO special, spectacular in FINDING NEMO, toured
the country doing stand-up specials and launched a successful
talk show . . . to add to this impressive list, she has come out
with her second book: THE FUNNY THING IS . . . This is a collection of her observations on a wide variety of
topics, ranging from "Gift Exchange" to "Penny-pinching for Today's
Gal" . . . some are mildly amusing; a few had me laughing out loud. Reading the book made me feel like Degeneres was talking directly
to me, chatting as if we were one-on-one . . . and that's a neat feeling. In addition, I liked the useful advice she provided on a variety of
topics . . . one is something that methinks we all need help with:
Forgetting Someone's Name You're at a party. Don't ask me how you were invited. Either your host
is very forgiving or he has a very short memory. Or else he realizes
that it was partially his fault. Why else would he be bragging about
his new fireproof mattress if he didn't expect you to try it out? And yes,
in hindsight it is pretty obvious that just because the mattress is
fireproof doesn't mean that the sheets and irreplaceable antique
quilt are fireproof as well. Anyway that's all water under the bridge
(the same water, in fact, that you threw the burning quilt into to
put it out). Anyhoo, you're at the party, you notice an old friend walking toward
you, and you start to panic: You've forgotten your friend's name!
(I added the exclamation point to make it doubly exciting. Try it
yourself. It's fun!) Now, when I say "an old friend" I mean a friend
you've known for a long time, not someone who is really old. Someone
really old is not much of a problem because one, by the time they
mosey on over to you with their walker you'll have had time to go
home, look up their name in your address book, then scurry on
back to the party without them noticing. And two, there's a good
chance they've forgotten their own name as well. I'm talking about
someone with a good memory moving toward you at a brisk pace.
What do you do? What do you do? Solution
There are a few possible solutions to the "forgetting the name" problem.
And I'm not talking about ridiculous ones like pretending to faint, then
claiming you don't speak English. That's not only silly, but it has
been proven not to work after the incident when you set fire to your
host's bedroom. One solution is to have the same nickname for everyone. That way you
only have to remember one name. The obvious problem with this is
that in the throes of passion you don't want to be yelling out "Scooter!"
or "Itchy!" A second solution is to say hi to your old friend, then immediately grab
hold of a third person and say all innocentlike, "You two know each
other, right?" You wait for them to introduce themselves, and then sit
back and relax. The problem with this option is if the third person just
answers, "No, I don't know this person." Now you find yourself in the
doubly awkward position of having to introduce two people whose
names you've forgotten. (And don't get all smart with me and try to say
that you know the other person's name-you don't.) I mean, you can
always just say, "Scooter, this is Itchy. Itchy, Scooter." But chances are
that isn't going to work. The best solution: Say to her, "I'm sorry, remind me again how you
pronounce your name?" To which she'll respond, "Kathy." Then
you continue your clever ruse by saying, "That's right, the emphasis
is on the first syllable, Ka-thy. I always think it's on the second, Ka-thy.
I'm glad you corrected me, my old friend." Problem solved!
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Degeneres: Legend In Her Own Time
Review: I, for one, upon learnin that this book was coming out, could not wait for it's release! I have been a huge fan of Ellen's from her early start on stage in her stand up. The best thing about Ellen is her"down-to-earth" forthright deliverence and her genuine concern for her fellow man (and a great animal rights activist!). She definitely comes across as the "Average person" and writes in easy read style that is popular with the average "blue collar worker".Success has NOT gone to her head. She has the ability on her talk show to put any interviewee at ease and make them comfortable and make them laugh. She has the uncanny ability to show a different side of everyone she interviews and is truly loved by many celebs that others may find aloof. This followup to her wildly successful "My Point Is....And I Do Have One" is just as noteworthy and is written in a style quite similar to the monologues that she delivers daily on her hit daytime talk show. Ellen can take the most mundane, everyday ritual and through either spoken word on her show or in written word, can make it the most hilarious situation, that anyone can relate to. Although her views of life may be compared to that of the late Erma Bombeck, she has a unique style, that even reading the book, you can picture her delivering these lines personally. Bright, fresh and witty, even at times, downright silly, this book is a refreshing stab at life, even when describing situations that you know, simply did not happen....i.e. the chapter "the brunch bunch" was totally madcap and hysterically funny. Or better yet "My Most Embarassing Case Scenerio" I could go on and on but... my point is.....and I do have one....you simply have to read this book! Her first book is still available here at Amazon and both are a quick read....they are hard to put down....and whereas proceeds from this book go to many great causes, like the cancer foundation and the fire relief foundation for the California fires....this book has more worth for each buck! Your money will be more than well spent in its purchase and is a great read for after a long day's work or when you are feeling blue or just need a great laugh! This groundbreaking commedienne has found success in television on sitcoms, on her new (and may I add the BEST) talk show on television and has taken it one step further and succeeded in translating this fantastic talent into the printed word. This book, as well as her first, are well worth the time and money and would make a great gift for any friend who could use a good laugh! Ellen, thanks for one heck of a great time! Cannot wait for the next tome!!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Funny Thing Is.............really isn't
Review: Let me start off by saying that I'm a big fan of Ellen Degeneres. Her quirky, irreverent takes on life are, most times, hysterical. The problem with her book though, is that a lot her comedy doesn't play very well on the written page. Without her facial expressions, vocal inflections, and body language, most of the material falls flat. Perhaps I just don't have a vivid enough imagination (something she ironically mentions in her book.....well, not about me personally, but her readers in general) to grasp the comedy.
Another problem with the book is that she's used the material before, whether it be on her talk show or in her HBO special, "The Beginning." For regular viewers of Degeneres, the book is really unneccesary. It has a "been there, heard that" feel to it. What's more, some of the material she duplicates (i.e. dating a billy goat) didn't work in her stand up routine to begin with so it really bombs on the page.
On the plus side however, Ellen's sense of childlike whimsy and fun does manage to translate well to the book. She has a charm and likability that's hard to resist even if her material is substandard. It is probably this quality more than anything that makes the book, if not laugh out loud funny, a light, easy read. And Degeneres does donate a portion of all proceeds from the book to various charities, so there alone is good reason to dip into your pocket.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My!!!
Review: When I bought this book on CD, I wasn't sure what to expect. But being a fan of her stand-up comedy I decided to give it a shot and listen to it on my long drive. OH MY GOD! This seemingly never-ending stream of pointless thoughts made me want to cry! It started off slow, but hinted at promising material ahead which never came. At best there were maybe 3 mildly humerous comments and the rest of the 3hours and 27 minutes were just plain painful. Not only do I want a refund of my money, but I also want 3 and a half hours of my life back!!! PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME, I BEG YOU!!!!
Rating:
Summary: It is so lame, I was almost embarrassed for her.
Review: I wanted so badly to like this cd because it was given to me as a gift and I hated for the giver to have wasted her money. But it was a waste. The book is sooooo lame, I would have been embarrassed for Ellen except I know she is making a lot of money off the book in spite of how bad it is. I have always been a fan of Ellen's, but this book was mostly just a rehash of old material. She really should be ashamed of herself for being so lazy that she just regurgitated old stuff instead of actually writing a book!
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