Gabe Henry

Great formula: get a bunch of comedians to submit jokes in the form of Japanese haiku. This means three lines, five, seven, and five syllables. They can do it, and they have done a terrific job of it in Eating Salad Drunk, under the auspices of Gabe Henry on text and Emily Flake on illustrations.

It turns out that haiku was originally about amusement. It wasn’t expected to be the deep thought-provoking pseudo philosophical mystery that westerners assume. Haiku is actually fun. So humorous haiku is all but redundant.

The poems are divided into chapters by subject, like food, show business, relationships – all the things comedians spend their lives honing. They are forever testing, reducing and amplifying their lines, their jokes – and their whole acts – for the most effective returns – the laughs.

It’s such a wonderful collection, I had difficulty limiting a sampling to show you.

One thing that came to mind on page after page, is that these haiku read like Stephen Wright jokes. His whole act, I now realize, is haiku, not one liners. He is a master of haiku and ironically, or unfortunately, he is not represented in this book at all. But I could hear his dry voice reciting these lines. See for yourself if most of these could come from Stephen Wright:

I’ve said it before.
And I will say it again.
I’ve said it before.
(Ariel Elias)
**********
Can we use “hashtag”
To describe when someone throws
Potatoes at brunch?
(Natasha Vaynblat)
*********
Dance like no one sees.
Sing like no one hears. Moral:
Don’t have a roommate.
(Alonzo Bodden)
***********
“Human connection
Is what life is all about”
She typed on her phone.
(Amanda Lund)
**********
You guys, I did it.
Hot dogs with Goldfish crackers.
The saddest dinner.
(Christian Finnegan)
**********
Cafeteria.
Café plus bacteria?
I will eat at home.
(Myq Kaplan)
**********
I’m the silent type.
She’s the silent treatment type.
We both nod a lot.
(Steve Mittleman)
**********
It’s hard to find good
Underwear when you steal it
From the laundromat.
(Natasha Vaynblat)
**********
Been putting off work
To watch videos about
Procrastination.
(Jim Tews)
**********
Sometimes I feel like
I’m the only narcissist
In the universe.
(Josh Comers)
**********
Thought I saw Groucho.
Moustache, glasses, funny walk.
Close, but no cigar.
(Elayne Boosler)

By the way, all proceeds from the sale of the book go to Comedy Gives Back, which helps comics “struggling with substance abuse and mental illness, and whose livelihoods have been affected by COVID-19.”

David Wineberg

If you liked this review, please read my book on my first thousand reviews and what I learned. It’s FREE for Prime members, otherwise — cheap! Reputed to be a fascinating and superfast read. And it has a whole chapter on humor, too. https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-learned-thousand-nonfiction-ebook/dp/B07Z48...… (plus d'informations)

Disclaimer: I read this as a NetGalley ARC. No compensation was received other than the chance to read this book.

This book contains a selection of haikus, or short poems made up of three lines. The syllable count goes: 5 syllables for the first line, 7 syllables for the second, and 5 again for the third.

The haikus themselves were written by various comedians (some standup, some from television, some from podcasts and various other media), and the book itself has all author proceeds going to the nonprofit Comedy Gives Back. Topics the haikus cover include food, relationships, social media and more.

This book would be a nice gift idea, or possibly meant as a 'bathroom reader'.
Or, put another way:

A book of haikus,
For those in your life who say,
'Reading? Who has time?'… (plus d'informations)