READERSVOICE.COM aims to give some samples from out of print or rare books. This issue features Leave ‘Em Laughing which was a 1995 collection of hundreds of Maurie Fields’ best jokes from Australasian Post magazine.

Maurie Fields (1926-1995) was a vaudeville performer, stand-up comedian and tv actor in Australia. Australasian Post was a long running weekly magazine that featured colorful Australian stories with accompanying photographs: Pig dog’s killer dentures; Marooned in Space; Car Runs on Air; Thousands flock to the chook yard of miracles; Vegemite artist has em licked. It was a fun read. Barber shops usually had a few of these magazines lying around for their waiting customers. The magazine went into a decline in popularity in the late 1980s and it ceased publication in 2002. Maurie Fields was the jokes editor for Australasian Post for six years. Here are some shorter samples from Leave ’em Laughing.

A PSYCHIATRIST was talking to a woman whose husband thought he was a lawnmower.

“Just be patient,” said the doctor. “It’s a harmless fantasy that will soon pass.”

“I hope so,” said the woman. “I’m getting sick of lending him to the neighbours.”

A MAN and his wife were getting very irritated by their teenage daughter’s limited vocabulary. Everything was either “gross” or “awesome” 50 times a day depending on whether she liked or disliked something.

Finally her father said, “Jody, there are two words I don’t want to hear any more. One is gross and the other is awesome.”

“OK, dad,” Jody said. “What are they?”

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