Comedy recommendations

Simon, I gave you a thumbs up, so I hope that you'll forgive me for perverting your first sentence:

You are either funny or you are not, so, writing funny seems like a doddle to some, who are under the impression that their books are a) hilarious; b) witty; or c) splendiferous in their dry, subtle understatement.

I read 2 accounts recently, both of them by humorists: one a writer, one a comic actor. The latter was very possiblyGroucho Marx. Both lamented the fact that SERIOUS writers / actors tend to assume that humour is a lesser art form, beneath THEIR talents. Groucho - if it was he - opined that several comic actors have taken on dramatic roles and had great successes (he gives examples), but that a strictly dramatic actor has more often than not fallen flat on their face when attempting the [ridiculously easy] art of comic acting.

The comic writer wrote that the hardest thing to write is a very funny book. And - judging by the blurbs on jacket covers ("couldn't stop laughing") of very UNFUNNY books AND my own attempts to write funny books - that was absolutely true.

So: best of luck, Heather, but I doubt that you're going to be able to learn how to write funnily from a book. You've either got it or you haven't.