The Book Pile

Last year, Kellen and Dave both broke their personal record for number of books read, and in this episode they list their top ten picks. Plus, Kellen comes into 2024 on a mission to roast some Berenstain Bears, and Dave battles his demons (and angels) on a train.Click below to buy any or all of our favorite books from 2023 AND support the podcast at the same time!Enlightenment Nowhttps://amzn.to/3S55LwtMisfit: Growing Up Awkward in the 80'shttps://amzn.to/49lzecHA Room of One's Ownhttps://amzn.to/424cM5nHumanshttps://amzn.to/47KxecFProject Hail Maryhttps://amzn.to/3S6GLFcMaster of the Senatehttps://amzn.to/42aeHFfThe Gifts of Imperfectionhttps://amzn.to/4b3rb5LThe Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happinesshttps://amzn.to/3Hr3newThe Powerhttps://amzn.to/490kKypExcellent Advice for Livinghttps://amzn.to/49lzBUDThe Spy With No Pantshttps://amzn.to/3vEj3Z8*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!)https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Want to purchase On Writing  and support the podcast? (Or just that first one?) Click here! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/48L68D8*Today Kellen covers the first half of Stephen King's On Writing, which is a memoir. It's slickly written, it's funny, it's got some strong language...so pretty much the only difference between this and his novels is that his life story doesn't contain any ghosts or childrens of the corn.*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com

Buy Gary’s book, Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s: https://www.amazon.com/Misfit-Growing-Up-Awkward-80s/dp/1250777062Gary’s standup special, Born on Third Base: ​​https://www.max.com/movies/gary-gulman-born-on-3rd-base/3c80efb5-7891-463e-87b9-9e8ca7d8e6c7Gary’s standup special, The Great Depresh: https://www.max.com/movies/gary-gulman-the-great-depresh/6b6e6992-a485-42f7-b41e-ff11441da6abDave’s book / game, The Starlings: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dpWe interviewed a comedy hero of ours, Gary Gulman, about his memoir Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the ‘80s. It’s funny, sweet, poignant, and redeeming. And if you’re not a fan of any of those, this book happens at the same time as Stranger Things!! Fun! Please buy Gary’s book, so that he will come back on our podcast any time he has a new book. We would like to become a necessity to him.Gary Gulman has appeared on virtually every late night show, with some of the highest viewed stand-up clips in Conan's history, and was runner-up on NBC's Last Comic Standing. He's released specials on Netflix and HBO, and appeared in the 2019 movie Joker alongside Joaquin Phoenix. He also appeared in an episode of the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes, alongside Kellen Erskine, which is probably Gary's most important credit...*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!)https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp*Rediscover A Christmas Carol with the wonderful Tim Curry narrating! Also rediscover this gem of a Book Pile episode (episode #114)  that we dug up from 2022 (now with a new intro!). Listen to Dave whisper laugh! Hear Kellen disagree with Dave's habit of walking out of movies! Notice how Kellen tries to defend himself against what appears to be a an unequal luggage-packing relationship with his wife...*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/3NGz6fm*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!)https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*So there's this book called A Christmas Carol which is about a guy trying to save money when a bunch of ghosts guilt-trip him into burning through his 401K just for a party. The book for today's episode, however, is about Charles Dickens writing that book.*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/3REVWWZ*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!)https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp*Imagine if Indiana Jones were less sexy, more wrong, and way more condescending. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll love Robert Langdon, who’s back again with way more Catholics and way less fact-checking! Enjoy our live roast of Angels and Demons. Plus, Kellen and Dave meet a man in the crowd who's a horrible father.*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/41aH7Pg*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

Happy belated Thanksgiving (to whom it may apply...)!Here's  a mini-episode courtesy of Dave, where he covers his Top 5 book recommendations of books he loves that no one else ends up liking at all (do you agree?) We'll be back next week with a SUPER EPISODE, one of two recent live recordings, it will be The Roast of Angels and Demons (the prequel to The Da Vinci Code). *Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.comDavid Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

JOIN OUR NEW PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp*The Year of Magical Thinking covers the heaviest of subjects: really big hippopotamuses.  No, it's grief, and do you already see how hard it is to cover a serious book on a comedy podcast? Well we tried. But it really is a beautiful and tragic volume written by the wonderful Joan Didion, who crafts this book with heart, humor, and her signature attention to detail.Also Dave clearly throws Kellen under the bus when it comes to attempting jokes on this darker episode of the podcast.*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/49FUNFz*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.comDavid Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

JOIN OUR NEW PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*This week Kellen discusses (with himself) an autobiography by Roald Dahl, who of course wrote Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, and one novel that actually wasn't terrifying for children about a chocolate factory (the 1971 film took care of that...).*If this book sounds interesting to you AND you want to support the podcast, click here to purchase it in paperback, Kindle, or listen to it on Audible for free! (If you're a new subscriber!)https://amzn.to/3N6aQ6b

FOR TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOWS ON NOVEMBER 11th!For FREE tickets use promo code "LETSIMPROV"Tickets for 7pm show: The Roast of the novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, by Alan Dean Fosterhttps://www.improvbroadway.com/events/7-pm-improv-comedy-special-live-taping-at-the-hive-collaborative-not-the-improvbroadway-theater-2-4Tickets for 9:30pm show: The Roast of Angels and Demons, by Dan Brownhttps://www.improvbroadway.com/events/9-30-pm-improv-comedy-special-live-taping-at-the-hive-collaborative-not-the-improvbroadway-theater-1-9*Buy Dave's graphic novel + escape room here!https://amzn.to/49udcFw*JOIN OUR NEW PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Today's book: Trick MirrorTrick mirror? What is this, a magic show? Lol. Like what, does this book teach you how to do magic tricks with mirrors, like a magic guy? LOL. ROFL. LMFAO. No, in all seriousness. This is a book of essays about the horrors in the world.*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers!https://amzn.to/3Ss4CAX*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.comDavid Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.