The best of stuntology - Sam Bartlett

Forget YouTube. Now you can amuse and embarrass yourself live, by performing the silliest, stupidest, funniest pranks and parlor tricks right in the comfort of your own living room. Or better yet, at any fancy restaurant, cocktail party, classroom, or business meeting. Even a doctor's office. (Here's an idea: Hide a tennis ball in your armpit during a checkup, and just as the doctor is about to take your pulse, squeeze it hard. The pulse in your wrist will stop!)

Created by a professional musician who figured out a unique way to stay amused on the road, Stuntology is a collection of more than 300 off-the-wall ideas for activities that the author affectionately calls stunts. Each is illustrated step-by-step in a charmingly folk-art comic-strip style, and every one works. Here's the Open a Beer with Your Eye Socket Stunt. The Balance a Teacup on the Point of a Knife Stunt. The Eat Like a Lizard Stunt (best performed at an important lunch meeting). Here's the best way to talk to a telemarketer-in pure gibberish. The Medicine Cabinet Stunt, to capture nosy guests. And a Salami Stunt, not to be tried unless you are profoundly bored. The best part is, this is a funny, funny book-goofy, inspired, and filled with an irresistible irreverence, a pure and rare delight even if you don't perform a single stunt.