I'd Like to Play Alone, Please: Essays
Tom Segura
A #2 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom a massively successful stand-up comedian and co-host of chart-topping podcasts “2 Bears 1 Cave” and “Your Mom’s House,” hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more. Tom Segura is known for his twisted takes and irreverent comedic voice. But after a few years of crazy tours and churning out podcasts weekly, all while parenting two young children, he desperately needs a second to himself. more
229 pages, Hardcover
First published Grand Central Publishing
4.03
Rating
13377
Ratings
1089
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Tom Segura
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Tom Segura is one of my favorite comedians and a hilarious guy, so I wasn't expecting anything else but to be fully entertained and amused by his book. more
This was funny, but my problem with it is what I feel with most comedian books, which is that a lot of it is recycled from standup bits. Not all of it, though, and some is from podcast appearances - something more forgivable because if you listen to someone on enough podcasts, they are going to mention a lot of stories that they feel are worth telling. Still, this made me laugh several times, especially at things I thought wouldn't be funny but Tom's word choice and delivery makes it hysterical- like seeing Christopher Llyod picking his nose on a flight. Fans of Tom Segura will definitely appreciate this book, I'm not sure if it's a good book for people unfamiliar with Tom's humor to try. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. more
Tom Segura is my favorite comedian so this is 100% a biased 5 stars for the man who never fails to make me laugh even on my darkest days. I took my time with this for a few reasons—this material will be super familiar to any Jeans out there who listen to Your Mom’s House or any of their other podcasts, but also I took my time because I saved this for days or moments when I was feeling particularly down. It never failed to cheer me up. I was also touched at the dedication to his father who was my favorite feature of YMH when he was on it frequently and who heartbreakingly passed away in December. RIP Top Dog ❤️🩹 Thanks to Tom for always giving me a reason to smile and for the unique way that he sees the world that has helped me to see the humor in it myself. more
I love books written by comedians, and while this was funny at times (especially the parts about his dad), I was pretty grossed out that there was an entire chapter dedicated to justifying the use of the R-word. That’s a big nope for me. Also, this guy is a major name dropper *eye roll*. more
4. 5 stars rounded down to 4. I’m definitely a bit biased as Tom is one of my all-time favorite comedians and my husband and I will go see his standup any chance we get, so naturally I loved this one. The book is split up into multiple chapters with each one telling a different story about different times in his life. A few of the stories I had heard on his podcast here and there, but definitely not to the same depth or hilarity that he had in his book. more
basically an entire book of tom bragging about famous people he's met on planes over the years and recounting stories (as a 40 something year old married man) about his college days of "banging" college girls and uncomfortable descriptions of women/acts with women throughout the book. i realized when he brought up that his good friend is joe rogan, that this all makes sense now and this wasn't the comedian/book for me. i can honestly say that i laughed maybe once throughout the 6 and a half hour long audiobook where tom himself delivered the lines. at the very end, he even says, if you didn't laugh at any point, then you're probably a psychopath - i think it's just because you're not funny bro. relying on fart/shit jokes, crude sexual comments about women and going on about how your favorite word in the english language is r*tarded, doesn't make you a funny guy, it makes you an asshole. more
There are some good and funny chapters and some chapters that were offensive. Ya win some ya lose some. more
As someone who admires comedy as a craft goes through phases of watching nothing but stand-up performances I have come across Tom Segura multiple times by now, yet have to admit to not having been familiar with his work before reading this. I'd Like to Play Alone, Please: Essays is probably a safe bet for fans of the guy who is (as I have learned through this book) best known for his stand-up specials on Netflix and a podcast he runs. It's a collection of stories full of anecdotes and personal happenings. The title for example is a direct quote of his son's first full sentence, which in itself is hilarious. This was an easy and entertaining read, but nothing really stood out to me personally. more
Gonna use the Jake Beck model of reviews for this one. 1) did you like it. Yes. 2) are you glad you read it. Yes. more
This book was HILARIOUS. I laughed so hard. Tom Segura is raunchy, inappropriate and so funny. He's had a lot of celebrity encounters which were interesting to hear about. I also totally related to his parenting stories with young kids. more
This was more of a memoir than a comedy piece I expected, which was fine. Listening on Audible was a plus because you can hear his vocal inflections and some laughs. 🎤 🎭 The celebrity encounters were pretty funny but this was my first exposure to the guy and, true to his claim, he’s on the raunchy side. I enjoyed listening while commuting, and listening to a guy tell stories about his life was the short break I needed from the every day routine. more
This was quick and entertaining. If you like his standup (or his podcasts) then you will definitely enjoy this. Some of the chapters were bits and stories I’ve heard him tell before (so that was a tiny bit disappointing)But there was a lot I didn’t know about him and his life before comedy. (His chapter on parenting was 100% relatable)I laughed out loud a bunch of times and I’m sure once this is available as an audiobook read by Tom it will be a fantastic listen. . more
99% sure I’m going to DNF this and get it out of my house ASAP. Read on for my review if one person’s personal tastes and opinions matter to you. This book is vulgar for the sake of being vulgar. It’s written so simply that you should be able to flow through it very quickly and enjoy the comedy. However, unnecessary details were added in distasteful language, just for the sake of being rude. more
Without question the funniest book I've read in a long time, and, quite possibly, ever. Segura's ruminations about assorted events and people in his life easily manage to be hilarious, insightful, interesting conversation pieces and, at a certain point or two, melancholy. What's more is that the comedian's unique style/voice is apparent in his prose, which accentuates the jokes to a masterful degree. Whether it's an essay about family, celebrities, or an outrageous encounter, Segura's giving proof that he's now conquered books, too. It wouldn't surprise me to see this on all of the big end-of-year lists in the "humor" category. more
I actually didn't finish or even read much of this --just not my type of book, especially at the beginning when he says, "Are the Taliban really THAT bad. They seem like a bunch of hotheads, but mainly, the kind of guys you'd wanna have a beer with. " Of course, his book must have been written before the US left Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban to brutally attack the Afgnanis, putting females and the country back into the dark ages. But even before that, yes, the Taliban were really THAT bad. "I also was sickened by the descriptions of his father's very gross toilet habits and terminology. more
My main issue with this book is that probably half of it is retellings of Tom's standup bits. There are a few new tidbits dropped into each, but overall if your a fan of Tom's you have heard most of them before. If your not a fan why would you even be reading this book. The new parts were pretty entertaining and had me chuckling to myself on multiple occasions. more
5. 8/10Entertaining book, bought it because I love his comedy. The low score is because almost every story in the book is rehashed material from stuff that I already had seen before. I was hoping for something new and exiting. But all the same I'm still glad I bought the book. more
I didn't know who Tom Segura was, but my nephew was impressed and surprised that I was reading this. Some very funny stories, I guess I should watch him now. more
2. 5 stars The parts that were supposed to be funny, made me roll my eyes and kinda cringe. Not a fan when someone is trying to be funny. . more
I really enjoyed this book; Tom Segura has had a very interesting life and tells all in this collection of short essays. The format he has written them in makes it easy to digest and is a riot the entire read. Some material is recycled from specials but most is a new look at the world famous comics life. From childhood to the pandemic, you get to hear everything about Tom’s life as well as his name dropping celebrity experiences. If you enjoy Tom, standup, YMH, of Two Bears, you have to read this book. more
This was a great book for me right now and a fun slump buster. Some essays made me laugh out loud, especially the first one about his dad. A bunch of these essays were about celebrities he met on planes. These weren’t always the absolute funniest but they were quick and enjoyable stories well told. I love his stand up but haven’t listened to his podcasts yet, will probably try those next. more
Better than anything Sylvia Plath could write. 10/10. more
Effortless story telling about his family and traveling as a standup comedian with hilarious run-ins with celebs. Enjoyed it. . more
3. 5 ⭐️Good collection of anecdotes. A few I didn’t like. Most I enjoyed. Tom Segura is a hilarious and honest person. more
If you’re a fan of Tom Segura, then you’ll like this book obviously. If you’re not a fan of Tom Segura, but like stories and like to laugh, then you also will enjoy this book. . more
Well this was absolutely delightful. I am a huge standup fan but Tom Segura is my boyfriend's favorite comedian. So several years ago we watched all of his specials and I've since kept up with his body of work. But that's not to say you have to be familiar with all of Segura's work to enjoy this. I loved these stories and I laughed my way through this book. more
There must be a way to make a book actually funny. There is so much opportunity to add complexities and nuances over time that could lead to funny moments given the increased word count of a book vs audio/visual performance. Surely someone has figured out how to capitalize on that, but it's not Tom Segura. This is a random collection of stories (not even chronological) that actually have some really funny moments. It was super easy to read and I felt like I could hear Tom's voice telling each story as I read it, but that's exactly the problem: nothing about this benefits by being a book, it would all be better to just hear him tell the stories himself. more
What’s not to love about the water champ Tommy Bunz. Yes, many stories have been standup bits, but I could listen to those specials everyday. The stories were obviously told with more detail in the book. I loved all this flight encounters and the pics that accompanied them. He is legit one of a kind and I enjoyed his book. more
Tom has had success with spoken word. His written word is like a remedial, 1,000 word high school essay that you wish was even shorter; not something you need memorialized in hardcover (save your money). more