humor blogger

“Staying Crazy” Gets New Yorker Cartoonist’s Endorsement

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Award-winning cartoonist Drew Dernavich looks forward to Cris Cohen’s new humor book.

May 9, 2011 (Cary, NC) – Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, an upcoming book

Drew Dernavich

by Cary, NC, humor writer and blogger Cris Cohen, has received a rousing endorsement from Drew Dernavich, cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine.

Due out in the fall, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, will be a collection of Cohen’s humor columns, most from the years he spent as a columnist for several newspapers in California as well as new ones he’s written since he and his family moved to Cary, NC, in 2008.

Cohen sent a pre-publication copy of his book to Dernavich, who is also the winner of the National Cartoonists Society’s “Reuben Award” as the best gag cartoonist in the nation.

“If Cris made a lasagna, it would probably be a funny lasagna,” Dernavich wrote in his endorsement. “If Cris made a chair, it would be a funny chair. Thankfully, he has decided to make a book instead, which I enjoyed reading along with a glass of the most hilarious Merlot. Keep it coming, Cris!”

How big of a deal is Dernavich’s endorsement for Cohen? “I am in awe of Drew’s talent,” Cohen said. “At least, that’s how I explained it to the policemen who found me hiding in the bushes outside his house. He can write. He can draw. He does speaking engagements. He’s like a Swiss Army Comedian.”

Cohen is publishing Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane as a way to raise money for a local baseball league for children with special needs, including his own son, Max. He will donate proceeds from sales of the book to the league.

Cris Cohen is also the author of the humor blog “Nothing In Particular: Trying Not To Take Life Too Seriously” at criscohen.typepad.com.

For more information on Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, visit www.stayingcrazy.com and the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stayingcrazy.

About Cris Cohen:

Cris Cohen, the author of the Nothing In Particular blog, was born in Buffalo, NY, and grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California. After a stint in rock radio in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Cris started writing his humor column for a collection of California newspapers. He eventually gravitated toward the tech world and Silicon Valley, working for companies such as Netscape and Cisco Systems. Cris, his wife Michele, and their young son Max moved to Cary, North Carolina, in 2008. Cris’ blog is available at http://criscohen.typepad.com. His first book, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, is due out in the fall of 2011.

CaryCitizen.com Welcomes Humor Writer Cris Cohen

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Cris Cohen, CaryCitizen.com's newest columnist.

May 3, 2011 (Cary, NC) – The online newspaper CaryCitizen.com has added another dimension to its offerings: a new humor column by Cary resident Cris Cohen. His first column, entitled “A Visit to the Chiropractor,” is online now at www.carycitizen.com.

For several years, Cohen wrote a weekly column that ran in several California newspapers. Since he and his family moved to Cary in 2008, he’s been writing a humor blog “Nothing In Particular” at criscohen.typepad.com. He’s also preparing to publish his first book, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, a collection of his columns that he will use to raise funds for a local baseball league for kids with special needs.

This spring, Cohen ran a contest on the blog to celebrate the fact that he received an endorsement for the book from one of his humor-writing heroes, Pulitzer Prize-winner Dave Barry. He invited his readers to submit a guest post for “Nothing In Particular.” The writer with the funniest post would receive a copy of Barry’s newest book I’ll Mature When I’m Dead.

As it turned out, CaryCitizen editor-at-large Leslie Huffman came through with the winning post, “My Invisible Car,” which appeared on “Nothing In Particular” on April 15. And that brought Cohen’s work to the attention of CaryCitizen editor and publisher Hal Goodtree, who invited Cohen to start writing for the online newspaper.

“Cris Cohen reminds me of David Sedaris, another writer and essayist with roots in the Triangle,” said Goodtree. “Like Sedaris, Cris satirizes himself as much as turning the foil to poke fun at others. It’s personal, and it’s rooted in a place: Cary, NC. He makes a good fit with our readership and brings a new dimension to CaryCitizen. Special thanks to Leslie Huffman for bringing Cris into the fold.”

CaryCitizen.com covers news, sports, community events, and business in Cary, NC, and surrounding communities. Cohen said he’s delighted to be a part of the publication.

“I am very excited to be a contributor to the CaryCitizen, a publication whose history reaches all the way back to last Tuesday,” Cohen quipped. “It is possible that their offer of employment was meant for someone else. It would explain why their letter began ‘Dear Helen’. Still, I hope that, like all successful relationships, this one is filled with joy, tenderness, and only occasional threats of litigation.”

Cohen will contribute his humor column to CaryCitizen at least once a month. To read the current column, go to www.carycitizen.com/ For more information on Cris Cohen and to read his blog, visit http://criscohen.typepad.com.

“Nothing In Particular” Author To Speak at Raleigh Women’s Book Club

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Humor writer Cris Cohen will visit the popular book club twice in May.

Cris Cohen

April 27, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – Cris Cohen, the author of the humor blog “Nothing In Particular” and the soon-to-be-released book Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, will be the featured guest at two May meetings of the Raleigh Women’s Coffee & Book Club.

Cohen wrote a popular humor column for several newspapers in California before he and his family moved to Cary, NC, in 2008. Since then, he’s been writing “Nothing In Particular: An incomplete waste of time” (criscohen.typepad.com), a blog that entertains readers with Cohen’s wry and often hilarious takes on any number of everyday subjects.

Recently, Cohen announced that he plans to publish a book this fall, which will be a collection of some of his best humor columns from his California years as well as new pieces he’s written in Cary. Proceeds from sales of Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane will be donated to a local baseball league for kids with special needs, including his own son, Max. Cohen will publish the book through the small press Tyrannosaurus Max Press that he co-owns with his wife Michele in Cary.

For the Raleigh Women’s Coffee & Book Club meetings on May 17 and May 19, Cohen says he’ll talk about how he got his start in writing for newspapers, the odd and funny experiences he’s had as a writer along the way, and his new journey into the precarious world of self-publishing.

“I appreciate them letting me visit and speak to them. I consider women, coffee, and books to be three key ingredients of happiness. Add in wine and a dessert item and I might stay long enough to warrant having my mail forwarded there,” said Cohen, who has already received endorsements for his book from Pen/Faulkner Award-winning author T.C. Boyle and Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry.

The Tuesday, May 17, Raleigh Women’s Coffee & Book Club meeting will be held at Loco Lu’s Coffeehouse, 5210 Hollyridge Drive. The Thursday, May 19, meeting will be held in the Starbucks at 3800 Lake Boone Trail.

The Raleigh Women’s Coffee & Book Club includes over 450 members ranging in age from 17 to 80. Some members join for the reading recommendations only while others attend the monthly discussions. The group meets at least once a month to share coffee and discuss the latest “book of the month” nominated by members of the club. For more information on the club, email Kimber Conners, book club organizer, at thekimberq@yahoo.com.

For more information on Cris Cohen, visit http://criscohen.typepad.com. For more information on his upcoming book, go to www.stayingcrazy.com.

About Cris Cohen:

Cris Cohen, the author of the Nothing In Particular blog, was born in Buffalo, NY, and grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California. After a stint in rock radio in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Cris started writing his humor column for a collection of California newspapers. He eventually gravitated toward the tech world and Silicon Valley, working for companies such as Netscape and Cisco Systems. Cris, his wife Michele, and their young son Max moved to Cary, North Carolina, in 2008. Cris’ blog is available at http://criscohen.typepad.com. His first book, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, is due out in the fall of 2011.

San Francisco Sponsors Support Cary Writer’s New Book

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Cris Cohen’s upcoming humor book will raise money for kids with special needs.

 

March 25, 2011 (Cary, NC) – Humor writer and California native Cris Cohen has lived in Cary, NC, since 2008. But fans of his popular columns that ran in California newspapers for several years haven’t forgotten how much they enjoyed his work. They’re also eager to support his new fundraising effort for kids with special needs.

As a result, Cohen announced this week that TechProse, a technical writing, training and instructional design consulting service, and newspaper copywriter Marilyn Berg Cooper, both of the San Francisco Bay Area, have signed on as official sponsors for Cohen’s upcoming book, “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane.” Proceeds will go to a local baseball league for children with special needs, including his own son, nine-year-old Max.

“I had the pleasure of working with Cris on several projects and always really appreciated his sense of humor,” says Kathy Krumpe, Resource Manager at TechProse. “I’m so pleased that he is writing something that will give us a reason to laugh and at the same time help an organization like the special needs baseball league.”

Entitled “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” the book will be a collection of Cohen’s humor columns, some from his California career, others penned in Cary.

“I’ve been looking forward to this take-it-with-you collection of Cris Cohen’s offbeat musings,” said Marilyn Berg Cooper.

Cohen has been seeking sponsors to help defray the cost of self-publishing his book. They’re starting to come in, as are endorsements from the likes of Pulitzer Prize-winner humor writer Dave Barry and Pen/Faulkner Award-winning author T.C. Boyle.

“I am flattered that these people not only remember me, but have not pressed charges,” said Cohen.

For more information on “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” visit www.stayingcrazy.com and the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stayingcrazy.

Cohen is also the author of the humor blog “Nothing In Particular,” which can be found at http://criscohen.typepad.com.

 

About Cris Cohen:

Cris Cohen

Cris Cohen, the author of the “Nothing In Particular” blog, was born in Buffalo, NY, and grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California. After a stint in rock radio in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Cris started writing his humor column for a collection of California newspapers. He eventually gravitated toward the tech world and Silicon Valley, working for companies such as Netscape and Cisco Systems. Cris, his wife Michele, and their young son Max moved to Cary, North Carolina, in 2008. Cris’ blog is available at http://criscohen.typepad.com. His first book, “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” is due out later this year.

Sponsors Sign On To Support Upcoming Humor Book

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Two entrepreneurs from California sponsor Cris Cohen’s new book.

Cris Cohen's upcoming book. Proceeds will benefit the Miracle League of the Triangle.

 

March 10, 2011 (Cary, NC) – When humor writer/blogger Cris Cohen of Cary, NC, decided to publish a book entitled Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, he announced that he would donate the proceeds from its sales to the Miracle League of the Triangle, a baseball league for kids with special needs. He also announced that he was looking for sponsors to help defray the costs of self-publishing.

 

This week, two entrepreneurs from Cohen’s home state – California – stepped up to the plate. Laura Little of Live A Little More Enterprises in San Luis Obispo, CA, and Gina Gotsill, a writer, editor and voice-over talent with Vocal Variety in the San Francisco Bay area have agreed to be sponsors of Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane.

 

Since moving to North Carolina in 2008, Cohen has been writing his Nothing In Particular blog at criscohen.typepad.com. Before the move, he lived in California for most of his life and wrote a humor column that was published regularly in several newspapers. His upcoming book will be a collection of columns from his California career, as well as some new pieces.

 

Gina Gotsill was a regular reader of Cohen’s humor column when it ran in California. “Cris has been keeping us in stiches for years,” she said. “I’m excited about having a book to refer to when we need some comic relief. And it feels great to support Miracle League of the Triangle. It’s such a positive, fun organization and the kids get so much out of it.”

 

After reading several chapters of the book-in-progress, Laura Little commented, “In his upcoming book, Cris promises to entertain and delight his readers with his offbeat sense of humor prompted by the predicaments of daily life. He crafts a love affair between pomp and circumstance with his witticisms. If you’re overdue for a good belly laugh, don’t miss this book!”

 

Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane will be published in September in time for the opening of the Miracle League’s fall season. For more information, visit http://stayingcrazy.com.

 

For more information on Cris Cohen, visit http://criscohen.typepad.com.

 

About Cris Cohen:

Cris Cohen is the author of the Nothing In Particular blog. Although he was born in Buffalo, NY, Cris grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California. After a stint in rock radio in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Cris started writing his humor column for a collection of California newspapers. He eventually gravitated toward the tech world and Silicon Valley, working for companies such as Netscape and Cisco Systems. Cris and his wife Michele and their young son Max moved to Cary, North Carolina, in 2008. Cris’ blog is available at http://criscohen.typepad.com.