Laughter on Parade: A Compendium of Comedy Classics

This selection of comic pieces gives a light-hearted look at life form some of the world's funniest men and women.Some stories have all the non-stop action of classic slapstick: a group of ham-fisted safebreakers are accompanied by a screaming babe-in-arms in Damon Runyon's Butch Minds the Baby, and James Herriot is involved in a bizarre controversy during the annual Darrowby Show. Others are hilarious jeux d-esprit such as Woody Allen's The Whore of Mensa or Punch editor Alan Coren's Body and Soul.Classic cases of misunderstanding and mistaken identity form novelists Tom Sharpe and Evelyn Waugh contrast with the real-life drama of actor Peter Ustinov's extraordinary singing lessons!No comedy collection would be complete without its complement of clownish characters. Starring in this humorous parade are Spike Milligan's loony Irish namesake, Richard Gordon's hapless medical students, and the inimitable Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves, combining to defeat the wiles of rapacious spinsters and Gorgon-like aunts.From Hollywood cracksters to renowned satirists, from rumbustrious farce to subtle irony, this anthology has something for everyone, making it a pleasure to dip into and a source of delight and diversion for all tastes, moods and ages.Tom Sharpe, P.G. Wodehouse, Woody Allen, Peter Ustinov, James Herriot, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, James Turber, Mark Twain, Spike Milligan, Richard Gordon, Dylan Thomas .. 34 stories