The Naked Jape was written by Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves and the first edition (the image below with only 3 characters on the cover) came out Nov 2^nd 2006 (Published by Michael Joseph – the commercial imprint of Penguin Books). Listed as 294 pages – plus the Notes section.

There is a post here about the auction process (for the book rights).

Gotham Books published it in the US (same date) under the name Only Joking. And Thorndike Press published the hardback (march 2007) as Only Joking (see here).

The full titles are:

• The Naked Jape: Uncovering The Hidden World of Jokes
• Only Joking: What’s So Funny About Making People Laugh?

Regardless of title (or format) – these are all the same book.

The Naked Jape changed to the orange cover in September 2007 (this time showing Penguin on the front cover) and had some new text on the rear of the sleeve (including quotes from The Times and Scotland on Sunday).

Information on seller websites sometimes differs (re the exact publication date) – but the below is “close enough”.

Unfortunately, only 2^nd hand copies can be found now (try Amazon or Ebay) and some can be over £50 (I’ve seen an Only Joking hardback copy at £130).

What is it about?

In the preface they introduce themselves as “best friends since meeting at University in 1992” (that University being Gonville and Caius, Cambridge).

The book is a real love letter to joke telling and goes way back to the first jokes recorded. In the wrong hands it could have been quite a dull topic – except its very witty and they have added a joke at the bottom of every page. And, when you get to a chapter’s end, there are another half dozen pages of jokes tagged on the end. Some are Jimmy’s, some are credited to a wide variety of other comedians and some are anonymous (because no one knows who first told them).

It’s one of those books that you read cover to cover, when you first get a copy, and then keep somewhere handy – so that you can dip in and out of it, when you can’t sleep.

Chapters

Possibly the best way to sell the book to you is to list the chapters. It really is well researched and must have taken such a long time to compile. Highly recommended.

1. Joking Matters – why jokes are important. In which we clamber atop our rudimentary soapbox, clear our throat and prepare to address the assembled reader
2. Tickling the Naked Ape – the science of laughter. In which we ask some men with PhDs why jokes are good, then wilfully misinterpret the results of numerous careful scientific studies
3. Send in the Clowns – the early evolution of the stand-up comic. In which we trawl the annals in search of the joke’s earliest antecedents, then run away screaming
4. Only kidding – how children learn to joke. In which we are intimidated by tiny children and their potty-mouthed joking antics, but survive to learn some universal truths
5. Nuts, Bolts and Hydraulic Brains – dissecting the joke. In which we unpick some philosophical arguments about humour, and try not to spoil everyone’s fun
6. No Way to Make a Living – How to be a professional joker. In which we scrutinize professional joke-tellers, wonder where jokes come from and ask, is it really all in the way you tell ‘em?
7. Take My Wife…No, Please: Take My Wife – Joking across the gender divide. In which we encounter clichés about women and jokes, and tiptoe around an angry lady with a rolling pin
8. Beyond the Pale? – Offensive jokes and why we laugh at them. In which we examine society’s arrangements for giving, and taking, offence in the vicinity of a joke
9. An Englishman, an Irishman and a Rabbi… – The chequered history or ethnic jokes. In which we plunge neck deep into the murky waters of ethnic humour, and say nice things about the Irish
10. Sometimes the Joke Gets Elected – Why we need political jokes. In which we examine the uneasy relationship between jokes and Establishment: can our rulers afford to have a sense of humour?
11. Knock Knock. Who’s There? The Police. – When jokes get taken to court. In which we examine how a joke can lead to a jail sentence, especially once God gets involved
12. The Last Laugh. In which we are determined to make it to the punchline, if it’s the last thing we do