The Funniest

… book I’ve ever read – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Hands down. Douglas Adams is the funniest writer period. Every page has a guaranteed chuckle. Occasionally, you’ll be forced to put the book down from laughing so hard. I have a smile on my face right now as I read this, recalling some of the jokes, characters, and setups. The trilogy has five books, and I burned through them all the summer of 1989, and occasionally re-read them from time to time. Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is a close runner-up.

… music CD – Tenacious D. Yeah, it’s got side-splitting comedy bits interspersed among the songs, but some of the Jack Black-Kyle Gass compositions are hilarious. My favorites are "Dio", "Kyle Quit the Band", "Friendship", and a song whose title I can’t print here. It was the CD for me during the summer of ’07 and I almost wore it out.

… movie experience I ever had – Borat. I say ‘experience’ because, well, let’s face it, I could name at least twelve or fifteen genuinely funny films, but in order to choose a definitive one, I had to go with experience. I saw Borat almost two years ago with my friend and his father, in a packed movie theater, and everyone was on the same page. We were all one under the barrage of jokes and incredibly goofy scenarios, and we all had an awesome time. What a great way to bond with two or three hundred people.

… show on TV – The Office. No contest, here. There’s not a funnier show, or, I might add, one more uncomfortably enjoyable, to watch on the tube nowadays. Created from a hugely successful British show to be a vehicle for Steve Carrell, The Office is filled with hilarious and human characters. I have never cried harder, hoarse with laughter, unable to breathe, watching anything else.

… person I’ve ever known – Bob. Also known as Tank, Boogie Dog, and the Master of Unreality. Purveyor of the Slow Treatment. Replacer of the star with a streetlamp. Bob, you with the palindrome name, you know who you are. I’ve known him since 1984, though we’ve fallen out of touch over the past decade or so. We found ourselves in similar straits at the tail end of the ’90s, and those weekly hard-drinking sessions were some of the funniest times of my life, ever. If you’re out there and come across this, drop me a line.