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Absurd pranks and pointless techniques to amuse yourself, amaze your friends, and annoy everyone else. | |
| I've always been fascinated with how people stay completely engaged using
only what they have at hand. Whether it's balancing a napkin on the end of
their nose or balancing potatoes over every door in a friend's house,
boredom is unnecessary.
I documented stunts for about 20 years, got many of them while touring the
country as a musician. Every time I got a new one I'd illustrate it and put
it into my zine, The Journal of Stuntology. In my travels I distributed tens
of thousands of these, and later self-published two books, both (almost) out of
print.
Luckily, Workman Publishing just put out a compilation of the out of print
books, which also includes many never published stunts. It's awesome!!!!!
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Quotes about the Best of Stuntology:Packed with terrific pranks and stunts. The illustrations are hilarious. Will Shortz, Crossword Editor, The New York Times I only wish I'd been given this book when I was nine. Ira Glass, Host of PRI's This American Life A pranktastic compendium of indispensable japes, frolics, tomfoolery,buffoonery, shenanigans, skylarks, horseplay, and capering monkeyshine. Ben Schott, Author of Schott's Miscellanies |
I tried several of these stunts out on my patients. They didn't laugh, but I sure did. Atul Gawande, Surgeon, New Yorker staff writer, and author of Complications and Better You never know when you might need to amuse your friends, distract an enemy, impress or gross out a loved one, or test your own credulity. For all of the above reasons, it seems reasonable to expect that Sam Bartlett's collection will soon join the Gideon Bible in the top drawer of your favorite motel's dresser. Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and Disobedience |
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If you're a Stuntology nut-case, there are still a few copies left of The Big Book of Stuntology, which HONKS - ( brilliant design by Julie Belcher of Yee-Haw Industries in Knoxville, TN) - I will tell you that 97% of these stunts are in the Workman Best of Stuntology and that you really have no need to buy this book unless you're some kind of collector of absurdist Americana. |
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