April, designated as National Humor Month and Holy Humor Month, is home to a lot of funny business.

You probably won’t be surprised that April 1 seems to be the ground zero of humor. Not only is it April Fools’ Day, but also International Fun at Work Day, Saint Stupid Day (complete with a parade), the start of Laugh at Work Week, and – as noted by the American Library Association – Reading is Funny Day.      

With that in mind, you’ll find plenty to laugh at on our shelves (not to mention the witty banter of our circulation staff). Don’t believe me? Do a catalog search for these subjects on our site:

Humor: As I write this, there are 491 subjects and more than 3,300 titles, including humorous stories (more than 1,400) and humorous fiction (775).

Comedy: You’ll find 57 subjects and more than 2,100 titles, including comedy films (almost 1,600).

If those kinds of numbers daunt you here are some ideas about where to start:

• If you are looking for books of jokes and riddles you’ll find them under the call number 818 (meaning between 818 and 819), especially in the children’s area. Fathers can find a crop of new dad jokes there! (One of my favorites - PATIENT: I’m here for my liver. DOCTOR: Sorry. I don’t have it.)
• What about puns? There’s a book on CD you can “check out,” The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack (808.7 POL)  
• Look for cartoons at 741.5 (and learn how to draw them as well)
• Looking for funny writers like Dave Barry, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert, and Tim Allen? Visit call numbers 792, 814, 817, and 818. You can also look for biographies by their last name.
• If you’d rather see your comedian on stage, 792.76 in the DVDs has them all together, and also 814, 817.6 and 818 in books on CD
• Sometimes it is hard to make a specific suggestion, like funny novels. Two authors I have enjoyed are Donald Westlake and John Scalzi. You can also visit Goodreads and discover similar writers or titles
• Comedy in movies is a personal taste as well. I gravitate towards classics like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Jerk, but they wouldn’t be in wife’s top 10 (actually, more like 100). To find a similar movie look up the title on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) which shows what people who liked that movie under “More Like This”

When in doubt, call or visit your friendly reference desk professional and let them guide you to your next great read or movie. And who knows? You may even find a handy display with titles already gathered together for you.