4 out of 4 stars
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Bawdy Jokes and Patter Songs is not your typical book. Like many of us during the COVID-19 pandemic, author Denny Hatch found himself in an everyday struggle to find happiness. He shares with the reader how he had a constant feeling of dread, anger, and fear. All of that changed one day when his friend emailed him a joke. After laughing at the joke sent to him, Hatch realized that laughter was the magic remedy to his depression. Most importantly, he realized that he could do something to cheer the world up. Hatch’s solution was to create a book filled with hilarious jokes and fun songs. This book is composed of 87 short jokes and 87 amusing songs. Each joke is unique and contains a bawdy theme. This book is pure enjoyment and will make you smile!
I have never read a book like this before. I am so thankful I took a chance and read it! This book was so enjoyable to read. I loved how each joke was unique. The jokes were presented in a story-like fashion, which I have never seen before. These go far beyond the simple “knock-knock” jokes that I am used to! The jokes are humorous in an unconventional and slightly inappropriate way. They require a little more thinking than the simple jokes one might be familiar with. Even though the jokes are slightly inappropriate, the author does a great job keeping the humor from getting too out of hand. I have heard many jokes that I did not like because they were gross and honestly, offensive. I did not experience this feeling at all during Bawdy Jokes and Patter Songs. Hatch’s jokes were the perfect amount of bawdy humor without becoming gross and not funny. I applaud Hatch’s ability to find the fine line between humor and disgust. That is not an easy task and he did an excellent job accomplishing it. The author also goes a step further than just providing jokes and songs, he includes how people can use these jokes in their lives. I thought this was a great addition. He states that these are great for lightening up a gathering, they can be used by standup entertainers, and even in business settings!
There was not much to dislike about this book. Bawdy jokes are a tricky topic considering the inappropriate and risqué undertones. I think anyone who makes a book filled with bawdy jokes is going to face some criticism. There were some jokes included in this book that were slightly more vulgar than others. Hatch also included some politically incorrect jokes as well. I disliked reading some of these. I just do not relate to some of the humor, which made me dislike them. However, Hatch did a great job keeping his jokes from getting out of hand. I do not think any of the jokes he included were too out of line. I just simply did not connect with some of them, which I believe is completely normal.
Overall, this was a fun and lighthearted book. I found myself smiling consistently throughout the book. I really enjoyed Hatch’s purpose behind writing this book. Hatch wanted to alleviate some of the darkness in the world. I think he did a great job with that. His conversational writing style made the book super easy to read and understand. The only aspects I disliked were the vulgar jokes he included. However, they were not bad enough to take away from my overall opinion of the book. I also found no grammatical errors, which makes me believe that this book was professionally edited. For the reasons stated, I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to any adults looking for a good laugh. The jokes are very short and lighthearted. They will not require too much of a time commitment. Because of the patter songs included, I would recommend this book to people who have a music appreciation. Hatch includes links to watch the songs performed. He also gives backgrounds on each of the composers.
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Bawdy Jokes & Patter Songs
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