Rubber Balls and Liquor
Written by Gilbert Gottfried
Narrated by Gilbert Gottfried
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
In the early 1970s, as our nation's youth railed against every conceivable societal norm, a funny-looking teenage Jew started turning up at open mike nights in various New York City comedy clubs. Surprisingly, he didn't suck. That funny-looking teenage Jew is now the even funnier-looking middle-aged comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who despite his transparent shortcomings has managed to carve out a hardly-respectable career—and a reputation for shock and awe unrivaled outside the Bush administration. With this scathingly funny audiobook of rants and musings, Gottfried sullies an entirely new medium with his dysfunctional worldview.
"One of the most touching, eye-opening historical accounts—one day I may even read it." —Howie Mandel
"This is definitely the loudest book I have ever read. It changed my life. After reading it I decided to go through transgender surgery." —Bob Saget
"Truly the funniest book ever, by one of the funniest guys on the planet!" —Paul Shaffer, musical director, Late Show with David Letterman
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is a household name, having used his irritating voice and irreverent sense of humor to build an enormous following for his sold-out stand-up performances, his critically-ignored motion picture career, his hardly-remembered turn as a Saturday Night Live cast member, and his bestselling DVD and CD releases. Gottfried has appeared in over 100 movies and television shows, and has been a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Howard Stern Show. He was recently named by Stern's listeners as their all-time favorite guest. He lives in New York.
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Reviews for Rubber Balls and Liquor
20 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed listening to the author read. It brings back his greatness. Thanks
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I like Gilbert a lot, but this book was a little like a soup that is mostly water. And that's from someone who is a big fan of Gilbert Gottfried...
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5He narrated it himself because he was so cheap, that he didn’t want to pay anyone!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5How do you transfer a comedy routine to the printed page? It’s not easy and it is bound to lose something in the translation. For some comedians, the joke is in their body language, or their facial expressions. Or their voice.In the case of Rubber Balls and Liquor, it’s pretty simple: if you find Gilbert Gottfried’s comedy entertaining, you’ll probably enjoy the book. Lots of self-deprecating humor, a lot of dick jokes, lots of jokes about being Jewish, and some good celebrity stories. I thought it would be a pleasant change to get the funny stuff without the annoying, grating voice, but it didn’t really matter. I heard the voice in my head anyway.The book starts with an introductory section on why he’s writing a book and he’s got pretty modest goals:“I want the book to be the literary equivalent of a slice of pizza and a grape drink. That’s all. It might not be a gourmet meal, but it should at least be filling.”That’s aiming pretty low, but that’s familiar territory for Gottfried. This is, after all, the guy who lost the AFLAC job after offensive tweets about the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It’s not really highbrow humor…but it is funny.There are some great celebrity stories in the book. He pissed off Marlon Brando with a joke on Hollywood Squares. He convinced Harrison Ford he didn’t recognize him. But the one that really made me laugh was the story about being in the row behind Kiefer Sutherland on an airplane:“A couple minutes later, the stewardess stopped at Kiefer Sutherland’s row, and asked in her most professional, hostess-y voice if he would like a set of headphones.‘What’s the movie?’ Kiefer Sutherland asked.‘Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride,’ the stewardess answered.”If you don’t know why this is funny, you need to brush up on your celebrity break-ups.This book is probably not going to be a big hit with people who aren’t Gilbert Gottfried fans. Like I said, I heard Gottfried’s voice inside my head. The book is full of dirty jokes, foul language and ethnic slurs. I find that funny, but not everyone will. It’s best read in small doses — no comedian is funny after hours and hours of material — but it was still a pretty good read.