Customer Reviews

The Friars Club Encyclopedia of Jokes: Over 2,000 One-Liners, Straight Lines, Stories, Gags, Roasts, Ribs, and Put-Downs

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you have ever seen the Friar's Club in action, you already know that there is no safe haven from the one liners, roasts and put-downs. "The Friar's Club Encyclopedia of Jokes is no different. The book has over 2,000 jokes listed by subject from A-W, so unless you are a xenophobe, a yak, or a zebra, any person,idea, or subject is fair game.

This is not a book that you would read from cover to cover, Just leave it out on your coffee table, or pull it out from the bookshelves, open up to any page and start laughing. The only place I would not suggest to keep it,is on your night stand. You may wake the person next to you laughing out loud.

All the one liners and gags are grouped by subject. Actors, Baldness, Bankers, Divorce,Ethnic Jokes, Female Anatomy,Life, Politics,Television, Taxes, Weather, you name it, these big guns of comedy don't miss a trick.

This book may not be for everyone, as many of the jokes are crude,some may be considered R rated, and some being from a time when it was okay to laugh at yourself and life without being politically correct. Although none of the lines are intended to be mean spirited. I definately wouldn't keep it around children who can read!

You can almost hear, these legends spouting their stuff. Groucho Marx.."A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running"...Mae West.."I like two kinds of men: domestic and foreign"...Jackie Gleason.."When you leave New York, you're camping out." Joe E. Lewis.."A man is never drunk if he can lay on the floor without holding on" (Those are some of the more tasteful quotes I could give without being edited or offending.)

It is quite a thick book at 496 pages of these priceless quotes and dialouges. There is an index of Humorists, making it easy to find your favorites, and an introduction by Alan King, listing it's most renowned memebers.

Many of the contributors(who some may consider as national treasures) are no longer with us, and this book is a treasure chest of their words. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a good laugh and can appreciate it for what it is.

"For the first year of marriage I had a basically bad attitude. I tended to place my wife underneath a pedestal."...Woody Allen

Badaboom.....enjoy...Laurie

If you speak at various functions or address groups from time to time, The Friars Club Encyclopaedia of Jokes is an excellant addition to your reference library. This book is organized better then most of the joke books I have come across.

This is an adult book, still most of the jokes may be easily cleaned up. Some of the jokes are also dated such as the one on Bill Gates having to "...worry about the Y2K bug." Still even that one could be changed to "...worry about that pesky federal break-up." Read the book, you can't help but become more witty yourself.

This is the best Joke book that I have ever read. It contains jokes from all of the worlds greatest comedians. Almost every joke is a real knee slapper. I have told most of the jokes to my friends and have never gotten a bad response. The only problem with the book is that it is too good. Ever since I read it I haven't heard a joke that wasn't in the book. I have given it as a gift to all of my friends. I sugest that you don't read it all at once because some of the brillant jokes may fall through the cracks. My only waring is that this book isn't sutable for children under the age of 13 because of graphic language and sexual humor. But if you are up for the task I highly recomend this book

Even with Milton Berle's amazing, thick-with-laughs two volume Private Joke Files this is one of the best joke books on the market. Why? It truly contains great one-liners, straight lines, gags, roasts, etc. from the Friars Club, many of them attributed to the world's greatest entertainers and comedians.

Don't give this to Little Johnny (although he may indeed like it) since some jokes in this superb book are adult oriented (with adult language, too) and - yes -- some are politically incorrect ("She's so fat she's my TWO best friends." -- unattributed). But you'll howl with laughter as you read many of these.

And you can truly use them for any occasion or aim one at someone if you know his/her/its background ("You have to have a physical before you get into the Army. A doctor looks in one ear, another doctor looks in the other, and if they can't see each other you're in. If they can see each other, you become an MP." -- Joe E Brown). Some jokes aren't attributed but you'll find many jokes directly credited to classic and modern comedians ... EVEN BETTER: It is well-organized into topics and indexed according to performer. I read a lot of joke books. Some I read, find mildly amusing and file in the basement. This one stays on my self for reference (I am a ventriloquist believe it or not) -- and if I just need a pick-me-up belly laugh. WELL worth the price!!

This book reads like the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" movies play... throw enough attempts at humor at you and SOMETHING is going to make you laugh. With 5000 jokes, you WILL laugh, and laugh often, but you may not find it to be worth wading through the sex and profanity to get to the clean funny stuff (although if you've ever seen a Friar's Club Roast on Comedy Central, the blue material won't come as a great surprise).

Georgie Jessel would have loved this book. He was endlessly talking of the 'Friar's Club' in his old routines. But the truth is this book has quite a bit of material which comes from other sources. Never mind. There are jokes here for every situation and every occasion. The one- liners are conveniently indexed under subject making it easy to decide to be amused about something and finding a particular subject.
This is of course a book not to be ' read through' but rather dipped into here and there when one feels like a little chuckle or smile. There is however some bad taste dirty stuff which a number of readers have complained about, and which the editor might have done without. Of course in doing so he would have taken out one major element of 'Friar's Club ' humor.
Usually I find something disheartening about joke- books especially if they are too 'low in spirit'. I prefer a kind of mild humor as exemplified by this kind of joke.
"Behind every successful man , stands an amazed woman"
The work is not all jokes and has little stories and anecdotes also.
Enjoy.

I think this book was hilarious. Full of all sorts of jokes that can be reshaped for a kids mind. But, most of the jokes i read made me burst out laughing. I really enjoyed but it's not for kids 12 and under.

I love this great big joke book! I got it for Christmas, and each night before turning out the light, I'd read sections of it, and really enjoy it. To tell the absolute truth, I was *very* suprised to find MANY of the jokes from my collection of "Gross" and "Truly Tasteless" books included here, albiet in slightly altered form. I suppose there's a place in the Friar's hearts for occasional filth and rauch. But you know what? I still love it! Hey, I said I was suprised, I didn't say I didn't approve. More power to 'em, so much the better, I say. Ranging in topics from Drugs, Sex, Work, Women, Doctors, Lawyers, (a rather BIG section there) and yes, even the ethnic jokes, I guarantee you'll find the catagory in here to suit your taste, and then you'll find the perfect joke to make you split your sides! Check this one out today!

If you like to smile, this book will make you laugh. It makes fun of everything from acting to work. And while the jokes run the gambit from crude to sophisticated, a lot of them are adult orientated and sexually graphic. In other words, this book is not for junior! If you are over 18, however, I think you will think it is great fun.

While there are many funny ones, the jokes I like the best usually are rooted in reality in some strange way. This morning I read about how, if a man gives his wife flowers without any reason, there probably is a reason the wife doesn't know about. While not always true, it is true often enough to make me smile.

In addition, some of you will probably find it useful for speechs and writing as it has a good index to quickly find that needed anedote. Funny and useful? What a buy. :) Enjoy it and have a good time.

Non-stop laughs if you're smart enough to understand the jokes. Has jokes on circumsision, sex, childhood, holidays, and much more. Sorry to say I can only give it 5 stars. If you want to be the life of the party get this book!