HUMOR ME: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy

NOW A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READ!

NOW A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READ!

A sense of humor is often the missing piece in what we struggle with these days (personally, professionally, politically, even globally). In HUMOR ME, Chris Duffy sets out to investigate how to make things fun and funny again. He interviewed psychologists, neuroscientists, a Navy SEAL, a Parisian-trained clown, a woman who runs a nursing home in Hong Kong, famous comedians, extremely not famous comedians, a 10-year-old food critic, and a 104-year-old world champion swimmer.

The result is HUMOR ME—a book about how to laugh more every day and how a sense of humor can help you make friends, be healthier physically and mentally, be more creative, and get through hard times.

PREORDER TODAY!

PREORDER TODAY!

Praise for Chris Duffy’s HUMOR ME

  • "Warning: this book may cause repeated smiling. It’s a delightful read about how we can bring more levity into our lives."

    — Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

  • “Practical ways to giggle more every day? Without enabling my crippling laughing gas addiction? Yes, please!”

    —Bowen Yang, Emmy-nominated actor, comedian, and Saturday Night Live cast member

  • "I came away from this book happier, full of information I can't WAIT to bring up casually in conversation."

    —Bess Kalb, Emmy-nominated comedy writer and bestselling author of Nobody Will Tell You This But Me and Buffalo Fluffalo

  • "I missed my deadline for sending the publisher a blurb, because I kept re-reading passages, taking notes, and telling my wife my favorite parts of this book."

    —A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically

  • "A master class in using humor as a powerful tool to build a more vibrant and more connected life."

    —Robert Waldinger, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and New York Times bestselling author of The Good Life

  • "Chris Duffy has a great sense of humor and a great sense of curiosity. Chris also agreed to rename his first born after me, so I’m putting that in print on his book to make sure it happens or to forever mark him as a liar."

    —Wyatt Cenac, Emmy-award-winning comedian, writer, and actor

  • “Humor Me is a delightful and deeply wise reminder that joy isn’t just something we stumble upon and that sometimes the smartest path to happiness starts with a good laugh.”

    —Laurie Santos, host of The Happiness Lab podcast and professor of psychology at Yale University

  • “Illuminating. . . . Duffy is a wry and funny narrator. . . . This will entertain and enlighten aspiring comedians and regular folks alike.”

    —Publisher’s Weekly

  • “Duffy’s perfect comedic timing makes it fun, as well as relatable.”

    —Booklist

About the Book

In his days as an exhausted fifth grade teacher, Chris Duffy taught the funniest person he’s ever met: eleven-year-old Gary. Gary was the school newspaper’s official food critic, blasting cafeteria pizza for looking like cardboard and opining that the baked beans weren’t “beany” enough. These days, Duffy is a professional comedy writer and the host of a podcast with millions of listeners, but he’s never forgotten the transformative joy of laughing with Gary during a bleak Boston winter. In HUMOR ME, he shares a road map for how to cultivate and strengthen a sense of humor in a challenging world.

Duffy embarks on a journey that takes him from comedy clubs to emergency rooms to a helicopter full of Navy SEALs and back to his own keyboard to reveal how—and why—a good laugh can bring us closer to the good life. Drawing on personal stories, insights from the social sciences, and the wisdom of comedians, Duffy offers practical strategies, including:

  • How to hone the art of noticing, finding humor in the most unlikely places

  • Why you should take social risks (to build connection through humor!)

  • How to apply the comedy secret that laughs come in threes.

HUMOR ME promises to deepen your friendships, enhance your creativity, and lighten life’s burdens, and is a genuinely funny read along the way.

About the Author

Chris Duffy is an award-winning comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host. Chris currently hosts the hit podcast How to Be a Better Human. You can watch his comedic TED talk, “How to find laughter anywhere” online. He has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC News, NPR, and National Geographic Explorer. Chris wrote for both seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO, executive produced by John Oliver. He’s the creator/host of the streaming game show Wrong Answers Only, where three comedians try to understand what a leading scientist does all day, in partnership with LabX at the National Academy of Sciences. Chris is both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student.