Readers Digest - Readers Digest Laughter is the Best Medicine: All Time Favorites: The funniest jokes, stories, and cartoons from 100 years of Readers Digest

Readers Digest Laughter is the Best Medicine

All Time Favorites

The Funniest Jokes, Stories, and Cartoons from 100 Years of Readers Digest

A READERS DIGEST BOOK

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Bit by the Fitbit by David Sedaris, originally published in The New Yorker, currently collected in the book Calypso (Back Bay Books, 2018), copyright 2018 by David Sedaris. Reprinted by permission of Hachette Book Group; Readers Digest, June 2015

Cricket Chirp Became an Earworm by Nancy OConnor, Reminisce, February/March 2019

Early to Bed and Late to Rise by Don Herold, Readers Digest, August 1965

Two Reveneurs Walk into a Bust by Herman Fauss, Reminisce, December 2020/January 2021

The Rest Stop Road Trip by Mary Roach, Readers Digest, June 2017

Big Fish in Small Pond by Bonnie Boerema, Reminisce, October/November 2020

Excuse My Boo-Boo by Corey Ford, Readers Digest, June 1961

Coming to Grips with a Sticky Situation by Marianne Fosnow, Reminisce, April/May 2017

Fast Track to a Dad Bod by David Tate, McSweeneys (June 30, 2015), copyright 2015 by David Tate; Readers Digest, May 2016

The Queen of Spin by June Czarnezki, Reminisce, February/March 2021

65 Million Women Want by Husband by Erma Bombeck, from the book Aunt Ermas Cope Book (Fawcett, 1985), copyright 1979 by Erma Bombeck. Reprinted by permission of The Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency; Readers Digest, May 1980

Wardrobe Decision Leaves her in a Bind by Rosemary Williams, Reminisce, April/May 2021

The Great Pushball Incident by Daniel V. Gallery, from the book Clear the Decks (William Morrow, 1951), copyright 1951 by Daniel V. Gallery; Readers Digest, June 1952

Feeling the Heat by Tom C. McKenny, Reminisce, August/September 2019

The Company We Keep by John and Jean George, The Christian Science Monitor (December 15, 1958), copyright 1958 by John and Jean George. Reprinted by permission of The Christian Science Monitor; Readers Digest, January 1959

The Dingoes Ate My Undies by Jan Fenimore, Reminisce, October/November 2021

A Moment with Mandy by James Thurber, Suburbia Today (February, 1960), copyright 1960 by James Thurber. Reprinted by permission of Barbara Hogensen Agency; Readers Digest, April 1960

The Housebreaker that Gave them the Slip by Juda Woods-Hamlin, Reminisce, August/September 2018

My Concession Speech by Andy Simmons, Readers Digest, October 2020

She Saw Red and Lost It by Maureen King Cassidy, Reminisce, August/September 2021

I t might seem hard to be funny for 100 years, but thats just what Readers Digest has done since we first started sharing vhumorous stories back when we began publishing in 1922. Since then, our readers have shared their favorite funny moments through their contributions to Life in These United States, Laughter the Best Medicine, All in a Days Work, and Humor in Uniform. These columns have provided balance to the magazine by showcasing just how amusing, comical, and laugh-out-loud funny everyday experiences can be.

Whether we are befuddled by the complexities of modern life, amused by an interaction with a coworker or a boss, chuckling over family foibles, or gobsmacked by the stupidity of our fellow humans, we come together to laugh at ourselves and with one another.

Sometimes we poke fun at the aging process to make it feel a little less daunting; maybe we joke about dating and relationships to take the sting out when they get hard or go awry. Even our military men and women share humorous stories of their time in service to our country, so that we might all find common ground. We laugh at the antics of animals and realize they arent so different from us; we recognize the hilarity of a misunderstood word or a mixed-up communication; and we certainly know when something just bowls us over and makes us roll on the floor laughing.

In this volume youll find the all-time favorites that weve discovered as we combed through the archives, all the way back to our beginnings. While some of the topics that made us laugh in the 1920s may feel a little dated now, the idea of sharing jokes and funny stories has been a hallmark of the magazine all along, and it continues to this day. Ultimately, readers share and enjoy what is funny about the human condition in all of its absurdity and authenticity.

Not only have we highlighted reader contributions, but weve also curated our favorite humorous quotable quotes, cartoons, and hilarious stories by famous writers that have appeared in the magazine. In Bit by the Fitbit, David Sedaris warns of our lives being taken over by technology; in 65 Million Women Want My Husband, the legendary Erma Bombeck tries to put some romance back in her marriage, with hilarious results; and in A Moment with Mandy, James Thurber becomes entrapped by an eight-year-old in a battle of wits, and barely emerges with his ego intact. These are just a few of the stories that have appeared in the magazine over the years, and weve brought them back because they have stood the test of time and continue to make us laugh all over again.

We hope that youll treasure these jokes, cartoons, quotes, and stories as much as we do, and that youll want to share our all-time favorites with your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers and maybe even the stranger on the train.

One hundred years later, we still believe that laughter is the best medicine, and we are thrilled to share this sidesplitting volume with you.

EDITORS OF READERS DIGEST

T he first Sunday after my husband and I bought a new car, we parked it in the last row of the church lot, not wanting to be ostentatious. While talking with friends, my husband, Byron, accidentally hit the panic button on his electronic key. Immediately our cars horn blared and its lights flashed.

Watching Byron fumble with the button, his friend teased, Wouldnt it have been in better taste to put a few lines in the church bulletin?