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The Joke's On Me...!
by Mel Simonsfrom the book's back cover: "Hey, did you hear the one about the honest lawyer?.. "So, this priest says to a rabbi..." When it comes to comedy, nobody knows the comics and their jokes as well as Mel Simons. Mel has spent his entire career enjoying, collecting and chronicling the best of the best, whether it be the comedy of radio, TV, nightclubs or stand-up comedians. Take These Jokes, Please! is the latest in Mel’s prolific series of books, which cover radio, television, music, and comedians. Take These Jokes, Please! includes the jokes of the greatest of the greats, including comics who Mel knew personally, including entertainers like Milton Berle, Red Buttons and Joan Rivers. If you just like jokes for jokes’ sake, he has also placed humor into categories, such as “Lawyer Jokes” and “Bar Jokes.” Mel, an entertainer, lecturer, author and radio personality lives in Boston. His home boasts one of the largest collections of entertainment memorabilia any where.
The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories
by Danny PellegrinoFrom the New York Times bestselling author of How Do I Un-Remember This? and host of the hit podcast Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino comes a collection of tragically hilarious holiday mishaps.For many families, the holiday season is—quite frankly—unhinged. Whether that involves inappropriately improvised monologues at the children's Christmas pageant, gifts that land someone in the emergency room, or just sitting through the emotional rollercoaster of a Hallmark movie marathon, the holidays are a chaotic and magical time. And nobody knows this better than Danny Pellegrino.For Danny, the holidays are always accompanied by both merriment and mayhem. And like the gay Ghost of Christmas Past, he's here to take you on a nostalgic trip through his most festive memories in a collection of stories that are heartfelt, hilarious, and (unfortunately) true. So grab your favorite winter beverage, snuggle up by the crackling fireplace, and turn up the holiday tunes from the pop diva of your choosing. The Jolliest Bunch is a healthy dose of holiday cheer to prepare you for the unhinged season ahead and remind you of the moments that make all the chaos worth it.
Jolly Green Giant
by David BellamyDavid Bellamy is a natural story teller whose memoir will be packed full of funny anecdotes and observations. It is the story of how a city boy, brought up in the middle of London, went for a trip into the countryside one day, an event which was to transform his life by setting in motion the amazing love of nature which would make famous this larger-than-life character. In his infectious style he illumines on, amongst other things, the fact that his father, the manager of a branch of Boots, had to grease his hair straight - because in those days managers of Boots weren't allowed to have curly hair! Then there was the time he and his brother discovered an exploded bomb, kept in the garden shed - and then accidentally blew off the front of the house with it. He reveals his secret passion is ballet dancing - and how his mother only found out about it when she saw him on stage at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon. His career as an academic, then author, broadcaster, consultant and television personality, spans 35 years and his main passion - campaigning for the environment - have led to many adventures including his being twice imprisoned in the Third World.
Jolson: The Legend Comes to Life
by Herbert G. GoldmanThey call him "The Immortal Jolson"--the dynamic king of Broadway. Audiences knew him for four decades as The World's Greatest Entertainer. Now Herbert G. Goldman gives us the definitive biography of this quintessential star of the musical stage. With a sure eye for the revealing anecdote, Goldman chronicles each step of Al Jolson's colorful life: his early struggles with his brother, Harry, on the vaudeville and burlesque circuit; his rise to stardom on Broadway, which prompted a Variety writer to proclaim, "The Shuberts may run the Winter Garden, but Al Jolson owns it;" his glory at the pinnacle of national fame, which came with his appearances in the movies The Jazz Singer (the first "talking picture") and The Singing Fool; his subsequent decline and brief resurgence after the film biography "The Jolson Story" was released in 1946; and his final round of appearances in 1950, entertaining American troops in Korea just before his death.
Jon Vickers: A Hero's Life
by Jeannie WilliamsWith foreword by by Birgit Nilsson. During his extraordinary career, the now-legendary Canadian tenor Jon Vickers sang the most demanding of operatic roles -- Tristan, Peter Grimes, Otello, Aeneas, Parsifal -- with searing emotional intensity and dramatic interpretation. In this first biography of Vickers, Jeannie Williams provides a captivating and revealing portrait of a very private, deeply religious man and complex artist who baffled and often enraged his friends and colleagues. Drawing on scores of interviews with those who knew and worked with Vickers, Williams traces his life from boyhood in western Canada, to schooling in Toronto, to his debut at Covent Garden, to his tenure at the Royal Opera House, to his celebrated appearances on the world's major opera stages. She discusses his signature roles, including details of a little-known Otello in South Africa, over-the-edge performances, and stormy battles with conductors and directors. In addition, she details Vickers' controversial withdrawal from the Tannhuser opera, his on-going friction with BBC-TV, his conflicted relationship with his native Canada, and his choices in repertory. Williams also illuminates the paradoxes in the world view of a man who might have been a preacher or a prime minister if he had not been blessed with such a remarkable musical talent. This in-depth, well-balanced, and objective biography will stand as the definitive work on one of the world's greatest heroic tenors.
Jonah the Whale
by Susan ShreveTo cope with the taunts of his schoolmates, lonely, overweight Jonah escapes into the fantasy of being a talk show host named "Jonah the Whale", and creates a new identity for himself.
The Jonas Brothers: Issue #4 (Scoop! The Unauthorized Biography #4)
by Jennifer PouxIntroducing a new series of unauthorized biographies on the world's biggest names and rising stars in entertainment, sports, and pop culture! Complete with quizzes, listicles, trivia, and a full-color pull-out poster of the star, this is the definitive collection to get the full Scoop! and more on your favorite celebrities.Nick, Joe, and Kevin. Can you name a more iconic trio? From their early singing days with their mop-top haircuts, to their meteoric rise to superstar status, and then an abrupt breakup in 2013, the Jonas bros are back...and this time they're clean-cut and wifed up. But what's next for the Jonas bros and J sisters? Get the full Scoop! and more on pop's most iconic trio.
Jonas Mekas: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Gregory R. Smulewicz-ZuckerA refugee from post–World War II Europe who immigrated to the US in 1949, Jonas Mekas (1922–2019) became one of America's foremost champions of independent cinema and one of its most innovative filmmakers. An admired poet in his native Lithuania, Mekas began recording his life on film shortly after his arrival in New York. Through his work as the author of the Village Voice’s “Movie Journal” column, editor of Film Culture magazine, and founder of Anthology Film Archives and the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, Mekas played a vital role in the promotion of avant-garde and independent films. His early films, Guns of the Trees and The Brig, challenged the structure of traditional narrative filmmaking. He is best known for his “diary films,” including Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches); Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania; and As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty. His films, writings, and the institutions he built have influenced generations of filmmakers, poets, artists, musicians, critics, and scholars. In Jonas Mekas: Interviews, volume editor Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker collects eighteen interviews covering almost sixty years of the filmmaker’s career. Mekas discusses his remarkable life as a refugee from Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Lithuania, his role as one of the major figures in the development of the American avant-garde, and his thoughts about his own work. In conversation with scholars, journalists, and other prominent artists, Mekas speaks of his passion for artistic expression and uncompromising vision for a liberated cinema. These interviews preserve Mekas’s voice so that it might speak to future generations of artists and intellectuals.
Jonathan Burrows: Towards a Minor Dance (New World Choreographies)
by Daniela Perazzo DommThe first monograph on the work of British choreographer Jonathan Burrows, this book examines his artistic practice and poetics as articulated through his choreographic works, his writings and his contributions to current performance debates. It considers the contexts, principles and modalities of his choreography, from his early pieces in the 1980s to his latest collaborative projects, providing detailed analyses of his dances and reflecting on his unique choreomusical partnership with composer Matteo Fargion.Known for its emphasis on gesture and humour, and characterised by compositional clarity and rhythmical patterns, Burrows’ artistic work takes the language of choreography to its limits and engages in a paradoxical, and hence transformative, relationship with dance’s historical and normative structures. Exploring the ways in which Burrows and Fargion’s poetics articulates movement, performative presence and the collaborative process in a ‘minor’ register, this study conceptualises the work as a politically compelling practice that destabilises major traditions from a minoritarian position.
Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark (33 1/3 Ser. #40)
by Sean NelsonIt’s a sucker bet to try and argue that Blue, or For 2 the Roses, or The Hissing of Summer Lawns are better or worse albums than Court and Spark, or than one another. In a certain way, they all feel like one sustained burst of musical endeavor from an artist who had only just begun to understand what she was capable of—and before she had decided to leave that strength behind in search of new powers. Still, Court and Spark is such a clear turning point, not just in terms of its popularity, but in terms of its approach. It represents a perfect example of an artist reaching out to a wide audience without pandering to it, in what feels, more than three decades on, like an honest attempt to say as much as possible to as many people as possible.
Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell (Musicians in Their Own Words)
by Susan WhitallFew artists are as intriguing as Joni Mitchell. She was a solidly middle-class, buttoned-up bohemian; an anti-feminist who loved men but scorned free love; a female warrior taking on the male music establishment. She was both the party girl with torn stockings and the sensitive poet. <P><P> She often said she would be criticized for staying the same or changing, so why not take the less boring option? Her earthy, poetic lyrics (“the geese in chevron flight” in “Urge for Going”), the phrases that are now part of the culture (“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot”), and the unusual melodic intervals traced by that lissome voice earned her the status of a pop legend. Fearless experimentation ensured that she will also be seen as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. <P><P> Joni on Joni is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of some of Mitchell’s most illuminating interviews, spanning the years 1966 to 2014. It includes revealing pieces from her early years in Canada and Detroit along with influential articles such as Cameron Crowe’s never-before-anthologized Rolling Stone piece. Interspersed throughout the book are key quotes from dozens of additional Q&As. Together, this material paints a revealing picture of the artist— bragging and scornful, philosophical and deep, but also a beguiling flirt.
Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids
by David KushnerThe ultimate bully-magnet, Finkel grew up heckled and hazed until destiny came in the form of a trading-card game called Magic: The Gathering. Magic exploded from nerdy obsession to mainstream mania and made the teenage Finkel an ultracool world champion. Once transformed, this young shark stormed poker rooms from the underground clubs of New York City to the high-stakes tables online, until he landed on the largest card-counting blackjack team in the country. Taking Vegas for millions, Finkel’s squad of brainy gamers became the biggest players in town. Then they took on the town’s biggest game, the World Series of Poker, and walked away with more than $3.5 million. Thrilling, edgy, and ferociously feel-good, the odyssey of these underdogs-turned-overlords is the stuff of pop-culture legend. And David Kushner, acclaimed author of Masters of Doom, masterfully deals out the outrageous details while bringing to life a cast of characters rife with aces, kings, knaves . . . and more than a few jokers. If you secretly believe every player has his day, you’re right. Here’s the proof.
Jonson, Shakespeare, and Aristotle on Comedy (Routledge Studies in Shakespeare)
by Jonathan GoossenJonson, Shakespeare, and Aristotle on Comedy relates new understandings of Aristotle’s dramatic theory to the comedy of Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Typically, scholars of Renaissance drama have treated Aristotle’s theory only as a possible historical influence on Jonson’s and Shakespeare’s drama, focusing primarily on their tragedies. Yet recent classical scholarship has undone important misconceptions about Aristotle’s Poetics held by early modern commentators and fleshed out the theory of comedy latent within it. By first synthesizing these developments and then treating them as an interpretive theory, rather than simply an historical influence, this book demonstrates a remarkable consonance between Aristotelian principles of plot and its emotional effect, on the one hand, and the comedy of Shakespeare and Jonson, on the other. In doing so, it also reveals surprising similarities between these seemingly divergent dramatists.
Jordan and Max, Showtime (Orca Echoes)
by Suzanne SutherlandJordan had a tough time with the other kids at his old school. So, on his first day at Massey Elementary, he has a plan: to be absolutely invisible. His new classmates don't need to know that his grandmother is his best friend or that they put on shows together dressing up in elaborate costumes each night in their apartment. When he's forced to pair up with Max, a loud-mouthed loner with a love for Hawaiian shirts, Jordan's cover of invisibility threatens to be blown completely. But with the help of his partner's unique artistic vision, Jordan begins to see that his sparkling secret deserves to be revealed.This partially illustrated early chapter book is a gentle exploration of friendship, gender performance and identity.
Jose! Born To Dance: The Story Of Jose Limon
by Susanna Reich Raúl ColónJosé was a boy with a song in his heart and a dance in his step. Born in Mexico in 1908, he came into the world kicking like a steer, and grew up to love to draw, play the piano, and dream. José's dreaming took him to faraway places. He dreamed of bullfighters and the sounds of the cancan dancers that he saw with his father. Dance lit a fire in José's soul. <p.,p> With his heart to guide him, José left his family and went to New York to dance. He learned to flow and float and fly through space with steps like a Mexican breeze. When José danced, his spirit soared. From New York to lands afar, José Limón became known as the man who gave the world his own kind of dance. <p> Susanna Reich's lyrical text and Raúl Colón's shimmering artwork tell the story of a boy who was determined to make a difference in the world, and did. José! Born to Dance will inspire picture book readers to follow their hearts and live their dreams.
José Ferrer: Success and Survival (Hollywood Legends Series)
by Mike PerosJosé Ferrer (1912–1992) became the first Puerto Rican actor to win the Best Actor Academy Award for the 1950 film version of Cyrano de Bergerac. His iconic portrayal of the lovelorn poet/swordsman had already won him the Tony in 1947, and he would be identified with Cyrano for the rest of his life. Ferrer was a theatrical dynamo with limitless energy; in 1952 he directed Stalag 17, The Fourposter, and The Shrike (which he starred in) on Broadway, while New York City movie marquees were heralding his appearance in Anything Can Happen. At his apex in the 1950s, Ferrer was in constant demand both in theater and movies. He capitalized on his Oscar with such triumphs as Moulin Rouge and The Caine Mutiny. Not content with merely acting, Ferrer soon became a force behind the camera, acting and directing such critically well-received films as The Shrike and The Great Man. Success proved difficult to sustain. In the late 1950s, such ambitious theatrical productions as Edwin Booth and Juno were critical and commercial flops, while film studios also lost their patience with him. By the mid-1960s, Ferrer took whatever roles he could get in films, television, or regional theater. In addition, Ferrer had a turbulent personal life. His first marriage to actress Uta Hagen ended in divorce and scandal. His personal and professional relationship with his Othello costar Paul Robeson landed Ferrer before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ferrer’s marriage to actress/dancer Phyllis Hill was marred by his infidelity, while his initial wedded bliss with singer Rosemary Clooney eroded as his career began to ebb while hers started to peak. In spite of everything, Ferrer managed to endure and was working practically right up to his death. Ferrer maintained his pride in his Puerto Rican heritage, donating his Oscar to the University of Puerto Rico while championing the work of Latino poets and playwrights. He continuously evolved, striving to remain relevant, stretching his talents (including cabaret, operas, musicals, and yes, ballet!), and writing the occasional guest column for major newspapers. Ferrer’s life is an American success story and a testament to reinvention and resilience.
Jose Limon: An Artist Re-viewed (Choreography and Dance Studies Series)
by June DunbarJose Limn is universally recognized as one of the most important modern dancers of the 20th century. His technique is still taught at major colleges and dance schools; his dance company continues to revive his works, plus presents new works. His most famous work, The Moor's Pavanne, has been presented around the world by ballet and modern dance companies. This book presents a series of essays about Limn's life and works by noted scholars and dancers who were associated with Limn. It serves as a perfect introduction to his choreography and legacy. The book should appeal to fans of modern dance.
Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years
by Cari BeauchampJoseph P. Kennedy's reputation as a savvy businessman, diplomat, and sly political patriarch is well-documented. But his years as a Hollywood mogul have never been fully explored until now. In Joseph P. Kennedy Presents, Cari Beauchamp brilliantly explores this unknown chapter in Kennedy's biography. Between 1926 and 1930, Kennedy positioned himself as a major Hollywood player. In two short years, he was running three studios simultaneously and then, in a bold move, he merged his studios with David Sarnoff to form the legendary RKO Studio. Beauchamp also tells the story of Kennedy's affair with Gloria Swanson; how he masterminded the mergers that created the blueprint for contemporary Hollywood; and made the fortune that became the foundation of his empire.
Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham: Dances in Literature and Cinema
by Hannah DurkinJosephine Baker and Katherine Dunham were the two most acclaimed and commercially successful African American dancers of their era and among the first black women to enjoy international screen careers. Both also produced fascinating memoirs that provided vital insights into their artistic philosophies and choices. However, difficulties in accessing and categorizing their works on the screen and on the page have obscured their contributions to film and literature.Hannah Durkin investigates Baker and Dunham’s films and writings to shed new light on their legacies as transatlantic artists and civil rights figures. Their trailblazing dancing and choreography reflected a belief that they could use film to confront racist assumptions while also imagining—within significant confines—new aesthetic possibilities for black women. Their writings, meanwhile, revealed their creative process, engagement with criticism, and the ways each mediated cultural constructions of black women's identities. Durkin pays particular attention to the ways dancing bodies function as ever-changing signifiers and de-stabilizing transmitters of cultural identity. In addition, she offers an overdue appraisal of Baker and Dunham's places in cinematic and literary history.
Josephine Baker and the Rainbow Tribe
by Matthew Pratt GuterlCreating a sensation with her risqué nightclub act and strolls down the Champs Elysées, pet cheetah in tow, Josephine Baker lives on in popular memory as the banana-skirted siren of Jazz Age Paris. In Josephine Baker and the Rainbow Tribe, Matthew Pratt Guterl brings out a little known side of the celebrated personality, showing how her ambitions of later years were even more daring and subversive than the youthful exploits that made her the first African American superstar. Her performing days numbered, Baker settled down in a sixteenth-century chateau she named Les Milandes, in the south of France. Then, in 1953, she did something completely unexpected and, in the context of racially sensitive times, outrageous. Adopting twelve children from around the globe, she transformed her estate into a theme park, complete with rides, hotels, a collective farm, and singing and dancing. The main attraction was her Rainbow Tribe, the family of the future, which showcased children of all skin colors, nations, and religions living together in harmony. Les Milandes attracted an adoring public eager to spend money on a utopian vision, and to worship at the feet of Josephine, mother of the world. Alerting readers to some of the contradictions at the heart of the Rainbow Tribe project--its undertow of child exploitation and megalomania in particular--Guterl concludes that Baker was a serious and determined activist who believed she could make a positive difference by creating a family out of the troublesome material of race.
Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism
by Terri Simone FrancisJosephine Baker, the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, was both liberated and delightfully undignified, playfully vacillating between allure and colonialist stereotyping. Nicknamed the "Black Venus," "Black Pearl," and "Creole Goddess," Baker blended the sensual and the comedic when taking 1920s Europe by storm. Back home in the United States, Baker's film career brought hope to the Black press that a new cinema centered on Black glamour would come to fruition. In Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism, Terri Simone Francis examines how Baker fashioned her celebrity through cinematic reflexivity, an authorial strategy in which she placed herself, her persona, and her character into visual dialogue. Francis contends that though Baker was an African American actress who lived and worked in France exclusively with a white film company, white costars, white writers, and white directors, she holds monumental significance for African American cinema as the first truly global Black woman film star. Francis also examines the double-talk between Baker and her characters in Le Pompier de Folies Bergère, La Sirène des Tropiques, Zou Zou, Princesse Tam Tam, and The French Way, whose narratives seem to undermine the very stardom they offered. In doing so, Francis artfully illuminates the most resonant links between emergent African American cinephilia, the diverse opinions of Baker in the popular press, and African Americans' broader aspirations for progress toward racial equality. Examining an unexplored aspect of Baker's career, Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism deepens the ongoing conversation about race, gender, and performance in the African diaspora.
Joshua Jackson
by Nancy KrulikJoshua Jackson Tall, dark, handsome hunk Joshua Jackson is the superstar of tomorrow. It's easy to see why! How many other stars can boast of appearing in nearly twenty movies, not to mention being the breakout performer in Dawson's Creek, one of America's biggest teen series? The Mighty Ducks, Cruel Intentions, The Skulls, and Gossip. Not only is his charisma indisputable, Josh is also a bona fide hero, having helped rescue four teens from the water off the coast of North Carolina. What's Josh really like when the cameras are turned off? Who does he pal around with? All the fascinating facts are inside...and don't forget to check out the tough J.J. quiz, only for his most faithful fans!
Josiah
by Stephen Arterburn Angela Elwell HuntMeet a group of young believers who had the guts to live out their Christian faith. Some of them had to make tough decisions, others had to hold on to God's prom
Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy
by Candace HavensJoss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy is a biography of Joss Whedon, the wunderkind creator of television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly.From Booklist: Writers, actors, and fans often call Joss Whedon a genius. It's easy to see why. Whedon, who got his start writing for Roseanne, dreamed of writing movie screenplays. He got his shot when he sold his script for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the movie fell far short of his hopes for it. After a few years of working as a script doctor, Whedon got the chance to doBuffy again, this time as a TV show.Few expected it to succeed, but Whedon's humor and intelligence shone through in the scripts, and viewers quickly became attached to the engaging, witty characters. Buffy kept getting better: each season of the show featured a complex story arc possessed of a real sense of danger and further developed the characters. The last few years have brought the Buffy spin-off Angel, the lamentably canceled Firefly (a space western), and the comic book Fray. Engaging and filled with fun quotes, this is a must-read for Whedon's many fans.
Joss Whedon: Conversations (Television Conversations Series)
by David Lavery Cynthia BurkheadNo recent television creator has generated more critical, scholarly, and popular discussion or acquired as devoted a cult following as Joss Whedon (b. 1964). No fewer than thirty books concerned with his work have now been published, and ten international conferences on his work have convened in the U.K., the United States, Australia, and Turkey. Fitting then that this first volume in University Press of Mississippi's Television Conversations Series is devoted to the writer, director, and showrunner who has delivered Buffy the Vampire Slayer (The WB, 1997–2001; UPN, 2001–3), Angel (The WB, 1999–2004), Firefly (2002), Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Webcast, 2008), and Dollhouse (FOX, 2009-10). If Whedon has shown himself to be a virtuoso screenwriter/script-doctor, director, comic book author, and librettist, he is as well a masterful conversationalist. As a DVD commentator, for example, the consistently hilarious, reliably insightful, frequently moving Whedon has few rivals. In his many interviews he likewise shines. Whether answering a hundred rapid-fire, mostly silly questions from fans on the Internet, fielding serious inquiries about his craft and career from television colleagues, or assessing his disappointments, Whedon seldom fails to provoke laughter and reflection.