The Funny Thing Is...

A charming ramble through one of our most affably quirky comedic minds

Ellen Degeneres has a general and undeniable affability. Her brand of humor is quirky but accessible, charmingly offbeat but recognizably down-to-earth. The same might be said of The Funny Thing Is…, Degeneres's collection of colorful and observational musings on an eclectic range of topics and situations, both real and imagined. In one chapter, Degeneres describes how a weekly Sunday brunch at her home attended by Paula Abdul, Gloria Steinem, Donatella Versace, Diane Sawyer, Eminem and Ed Begley Jr. devolves into chaos when surprise guests (Tara Lipinsky and Siegfried — or Roy — she can't be sure which) show up. Just a few chapters later she weighs the pros and cons — mostly the pros — of a life behind bars. ("The food is free and I always think free food tastes the best," she says, before later noting, "If I did make friends that were in for small time crime, hopefully they would be repeat offenders. Then every time they'd get released I could look forward to seeing them in the near future.") Degeneres, having mastered the art of comedic storytelling after years of doing stand-up, narrates in a rambling, seemingly off-the-cuff style that adds a layer of comedic mock-earnestness to her writing. There are more chuckles than guffaws to be had here, but The Funny Thing Is… is a consistently entertaining listen that gives Degeneres a chance to share just a few of her seemingly endless clever insights.