4 Comic Albums And Audiobooks To Lighten Up Your Holiday Road Trip
Are you among the hordes of people expected to hit the road over the holidays? If so, what'll you do to pass the time? We suggest you try laughing: 2014 was a great year for comedy albums and comic audiobooks. These recommendations will help you chuckle away the tension while you're stuck in holiday traffic:
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Not only does Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler perform her best-selling memoir, she also brings her friends in to help — friends like Carol Burnett, Kathleen Turner and Seth Meyers, who voices the chapter he wrote for the book. Beth Anderson, head of Audible, says, "I think this is one of the cases where the audiobook is actually better than the print book. And especially if you're an Amy Poehler fan and you love to hear her talk, listening to this you're gonna feel as if you're a fly on the wall of her home."
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney
If you have kids in the car, they'll stop complaining about being in the back seat when they listen to Jeff Kinney's book. It's about a family road trip from hell, complete with gas stations, fender benders and backseat antics. "I guarantee that no matter what kind of road trip you're taking," Anderson says, "it's probably going to be placid and serene and easy compared to the road trip that that family is taking. So that's a fun one, and will not only keep the kids entertained, but will keep the parents entertained too."
Obsessed by Jim Gaffigan
Comedian Jim Gaffigan had two releases this year: a book called Food: A Love Story and a CD called Obsessed. The CD has family-friendly tirades about lobster tails and picking your own shellfish at a restaurant. Sean McCarthy, who writes for The Comic's Comic, says Gaffigan "talks a lot about his love of food [in Obsessed], and that's something that anyone of any age can relate to."
Live From Chicago by Hannibal Buress
Here's a comedy album for those kid-free road trips. Hannibal Buress is an edgy, laid-back comedian who has gotten a lot of attention this year from critics like Paste's Hudson Hongo. "He's been the best-kept secret, the comedian's comedian," Hongo says. "And this year he finally really broke out." In Live From Chicago, Buress talks about seeing rats in a New Orleans restaurant, weird tweets and being introduced to one of his celebrity fans, actress Scarlett Johansson. Hongo says that as a Chicago comic who's been in New York for years, this album represents a kind of homecoming for Buress. "This is really him, you know, returning for the victory lap as the famous comedian."
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Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
If you're among the hordes of people expected to hit the road this Thanksgiving, what will you do to pass the time? NPR's Elizabeth Blair says you should laugh because 2014 was a very good year for comedy albums and comic audiobooks.
EIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: Talk to folks in the audiobook business and they'll tell you one of the best things to happen this year was Amy Poehler.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "YES PLEASE")
AMY POEHLER: Part one - say whatever you want.
BLAIR: The "Parks and Recreation" star and "Saturday Night Live" alum voices her best seller, "Yes Please." Here's what she calls her demon voice.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "YES PLEASE")
POEHLER: I hate how I look. That is the mantra we repeat over and over again. Sometimes we whisper it quietly. And other times we shout it out loud in front of a mirror. I hate how I look.
BLAIR: But Poehler is quick to turn that around.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "YES PLEASE")
POEHLER: I'm so ungrateful. I have arms and legs. And I can walk. And I have strong nail beds. And I'm alive. And I am so selfish. And I have to read "Man's Search For Meaning" again and call my parents and volunteer more and reduce my carbon footprint. And why am I such a self-obsessed, ugly [bleep]? No wonder I hate how I look. I hate how I am.
BLAIR: Beth Anderson, head of Audible, says Poehler's audiobook is faithful to the print version. But she also goes off script.
BETH ANDERSON: I think this is one of the cases where the audiobook is actually better than the print book. And especially if you're an Amy Poehler fan, and you love to hear her talk, listening to this you're going to feel as if you're a fly on the wall of her home.
BLAIR: Another comedian, Jim Gaffigan, came out with two releases this year - a memoir and a CD called "Obsessed," which is all about food. Gaffigan's got a thing against shellfish.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALBUM, "OBSESSED")
JIM GAFFIGAN: Lobster tail - is that the area near the butt? Mmm...
(LAUGHTER)
BLAIR: Jim Gaffigan seems appropriate during a weekend when many Americans will be eating a lot, says Sean McCarthy, who writes the Comic's Comic website.
SEAN MCCARTHY: It might inspire some changing directions as you're going out to eat.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALBUM, "OBSESSED")
GAFFIGAN: How about those restaurants where you have to pick out your own lobster? You're like, I guess I'll take that one that's really struggling with the rubber bands.
BLAIR: Jim Gaffigan's tirades are also family-friendly if you've got antsy kids in the backseat. But that is not the case with Hannibal Buress, an edgy but laid-back comedian who's gotten a lot of attention this year from critics like Hudson Hongo, who writes about comedy for Paste Magazine.
HUDSON HONGO: He's been the best-kept secret - the comedian's comedian. And this year he finally really broke out.
BLAIR: In his album "Live From Chicago," Hannibal Buress talks about seeing rats in a New Orleans restaurant, weird tweets and being introduced to one of his celebrity fans - actress Scarlett Johansson.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALBUM, "LIVE FROM CHICAGO")
HANNIBAL BURESS: And we go up. He says, Scarlett, this is Hannibal. Hannibal, Scarlett. She says, oh, Hannibal, I'm a huge fan of your stand-up. Thank you, Scarlett. I'm a huge fan of pictures of you. No, I didn't say that.
(LAUGHTER)
BURESS: I didn't say that. You can't say that type of stuff to people. You think it, but you don't say it. It's social norms, you know?
BLAIR: If you do have kids in the car, Jeff Kinney came out with a new "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid." And the audiobook is perfect for a car stuffed with kids and suitcases. It's called "The Long Haul."
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL")
RAMON DE OCAMPO: But when we had a station wagon, me and Rodrick used to sit in the way back together, in a seat that faced the rear window. But we got in big trouble when we played a practical joke on mom and dad - holding signs that read, these people are kidnapping us.
BLAIR: "The Long Haul" is about the family road trip from hell - gas stations, fender benders, fighting. Beth Anderson from Audible says it'll make whatever road trip you're on seem like a piece of cake. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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