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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Editor and comedian Luke Ryan has searched the nation for the best comedy writing – collecting gems that have been published far and wide, and mining new comedy gold from our funniest writers. Featuring memoir, satire, fiction, scripts, sketches, prose and much more from comedy legends and rising stars, this is Best Australian Comedy Writing.'
Notes
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Epigraph: 'Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.' -Mel Brooks
Contents
- Introduction, single work prose (p. 1-4)
- Napoleon's Knob, single work prose (p. 5-12)
- You Will Be a Houso Kid, single work prose (p. 13-22)
- Labor's Love Lost, single work prose (p. 23-32)
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Pitching My Snakes on a Plane Remake,
single work
prose
'I know what you're thinking: this movie has already been made. Why make it again? But hear me out. I really think I could make it better. For one, we could have it be a bit more gritty and realistic. So, instead of the snakes—which, I admit, are a fun touch, if a bit far-fetched—it'd be a normal American Airlines flight, and the fantastical element is introduced when the plane's just sitting on the tarmac for two hours and forty-five minutes. Yes, that's right, just sitting there. No, the audience doesn't know the reason; neither do the characters. Instead of dramatic irony, it's, like, the audience and the characters are bound together by American Airlines in their powerlessness.' (Introduction)
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There Won't Be Blood,
single work
prose
'You may be under the impression you are reading a knock-off of Miss Taylor’s engrossing, if sadly premature, health-kick memoir Elizabeth Takes Off when I tell you that in 2015 I experienced a few golden months in which I had never felt better in my life. And the reason I felt this way was due to ‘the menopause’, a state that is usually as welcome as a hot cross bun at Glick’s. I felt so very wonderful that I was even seeing fit to state on almost a daily basis that I was — wait for it — ‘rocking the menopause’. Friends would sit, riveted with boredom, as I confided in them that I had reached this milestone, and that I, apparently alone among womankind, felt great. No more cramps that made me feel as though the dwarf from Don’t Look Now had punched me in the abdomen! No more PMS that made me cry just because some guy in Grey’s Anatomy was getting a face transplant! But then it turned out that I wasn’t actually menopausal after all – though, believe me, things in that department are winding down as comprehensively as Rod Stewart during one of his live shows.' (Introduction)
- Beijing, single work prose (p. 43-50)
- How to Be Happy, extract prose (p. 51-60)
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My Mum Interned at a Non-Profit and Now Her Emails Are All Different,
single work
prose
'TO: Evan
FROM: The Mom Team
SUBJECT: It’s life and death' (Introduction)
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The Seven Sins,
single work
prose
'Last year, I confessed to being a “vain fool” in front of more than a million people. That’s how I started my TED Talk, in which I deconstructed the beauty myth by stripping away the layers of artifice. Tonight, I plan to perform a similar striptease: not of the seven veils, but the seven deadly sins.' (Introduction)
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Eight Lives,
single work
prose
'“I’ve found a black and white cat on the side of the road and I think it might be Sloane.”' (Introduction)
- Scripts, single work prose (p. 81-94)
- Edinburgh Neighbours, single work prose (p. 95-102)
- Those Were Our Young Years, extract prose (p. 103-116)
- WTF Renaissance, single work prose (p. 117-128)
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The Little Women,
single work
prose
‘Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,’ grumbled Jo March, looking around their small log cabin.
'‘Now now,’ said Marmee, their mother. ‘Christmas is a time for giving, not receiving. Speaking of which, this morning I’m going to help Hannah in the kitchen, so we have some nice food to give the poor Hummell family down the street.’' (Introduction)
- Ride of the Valkyries, extract prose (p. 139-152)
- The Dame After Tomorrow, single work prose (p. 153-164)
- The Tweets of Peter Dutton, single work prose (p. 165-170)
- Critically Ashamed, single work prose (p. 171-178)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Introduction
2016
single work
prose
— Appears in: BestAustrianAustralian Comedy Writing 2016; (p. 1-4)
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Introduction
2016
single work
prose
— Appears in: BestAustrianAustralian Comedy Writing 2016; (p. 1-4)