Review of Just Plane Laughter

[Lisa A Rayburn]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Just Plane Laughter" by James Alderson.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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What do a cow, an old rusted-out truck, and a pair of handcuffs have in common? Got it? I have no idea, but I do not doubt that James Alderson could turn it into a chuckle-worthy joke. Mr. Alderson expertly crafted his book, Just Plane Laughter, with two ideas in mind. Firstly, everyone should have at least one smile a day. To this end, the author has included a joke, one-liner, or pun for every day of the year. Secondary to this was the book’s brevity. The author designed it so it can be read fairly quickly to alleviate the boredom of a plane ride. He specifies that it can be read in approximately two hours. It took me a little longer than that because I occasionally had difficulty stopping my laughter and wiping away the tears in my eyes.

Some of the jokes you will find inside contain childlike innocence. Others are either completely irreverent or just make you shake your head and roll your eyes. Some were absolutely facepalm-worthy “ouches,” and many were written with dry/tongue-in-cheek humor (my favorite kind). This one-liner, for instance, “Despite the cost of living, it remains popular!” prompted a wry smile. I got many, many chuckles from this book and several outright guffaws. If you don’t find at least a few of the author’s jokes humorous, I’m afraid your funny bone might be broken. That’s a serious condition. You really need to have that checked out.

Many of the jokes are based in the deep south and reflect that area’s culture, flavor, and dialect. In a flagrant disregard of the (southern) rule “never discuss religion or politics in polite company,” the author puts both areas to full use. Even so, I could not find anything that even slightly bordered on being offensive in these areas. It was all written in good fun. However, if you are extremely sensitive to teasing about these subjects, this might serve as a trigger warning.

To my delight, I found one poem that was based in my home parish in Louisiana! (It’s on page twenty-three if you’re curious.) Containing the obligatory Cajun found in much humor from that area, its particular style was strongly reminiscent of many jokes I heard while growing up. I believe many readers from Louisiana, Mississippi, and even Alabama will find that to be true of the quips within the book.

I immensely enjoyed reading Just Plane Laughter by James Alderson. However, I had two issues with the book. Firstly, some of the jokes were repeated verbatim. Others had slightly different renditions included, with alternative characters, but it was essentially the same joke. This happened several times. Unfortunately, the one repeated the most (four times in all, altered only slightly) was the sole gross joke I found in the book. I did not enjoy gagging that often. (Yes, it’s that bad.) However, a couple of them were so funny that I didn’t mind them being repeated.

The second problem was that the book had over ten errors. Though they are only likely to be noticed if one is searching for them, I cannot give the book four stars with this many errors. Given the above, as much as it pains me, I am forced to drop a point and award the book only 3 out of 4 stars. I do this with the strong caveat that the content deserves full stars for quality and hilarity.

The book contains absolutely no erotic content and only a few words of what might be considered borderline profanity (dang, heck, darn, etc.). As such, I recommend the book for all except the youngest readers (below young teens in age) who like to laugh. I exclude our younger readers only because most of the jokes would go right over their heads.

In closing, for your frustrating pleasure, I leave you with the author’s August challenge: “How smart is your right foot? This is so funny and at the same time so frustrating that it will boggle your mind. You will keep trying this at least fifty more times to see if you can outsmart your right foot. But you cannot. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it. Now, while doing this, draw the number “6” in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction. See, I told you so….” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t beat this. Good luck!

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Just Plane Laughter
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[Mary Lou Mills]

As the title suggests, this would be a great book to take on a plane for light entertainment. Thanks for the samples.

[Shivansh_Reviews]

I haven't read a humorous fun book till now and I think this one will be a good start for me. Thanks for the light hearted review.

[marta baglioni]

Probably reading it all at once would not do for me, but sampling from day to day might be a good idea. Thank you for the review!

[Lisa A Rayburn]

As the title suggests, this would be a great book to take on a plane for light entertainment. Thanks for the samples.

I haven't read a humorous fun book till now and I think this one will be a good start for me. Thanks for the light hearted review.

Probably reading it all at once would not do for me, but sampling from day to day might be a good idea. Thank you for the review!

If you do read it, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[MsH2k]

Dang! That right-foot challenge is real!
Thank you for your entertaining review.

[Lisa A Rayburn]

Dang! That right-foot challenge is real!
Thank you for your entertaining review.

Lol Yes, it is! Thanks forgiving it a try and letting me know!