Ted L. Nancy

If you're looking for an absolutely hilarious way to spend a few hours, I wholeheartedly recommend Letters from a Nut, an utterly ridiculous collection of correspondence between the pseudonymous Mr. Ted L. Nancy and various businesses, hotels, restaurants, casinos and other organizations. Mr. Nancy. I can't remember reading anything at which I've laughed out loud with such frequency (after one trip I decided I had to read it at home so people on the train wouldn't think me deranged).

Mr. show more Nancy (who may be Jerry Seinfeld, the author of the book's introduction) writes to make suggestions (for new types of underwear, candy, &c.), ask permission (to bring 2200 red ants into a hotel room, for example, or to travel by plane wearing his Angelo the Rotting Radish costume), inquire about lost objects (a tooth, a Prussian military sword, a bag of otter hair) ... you get the idea. The letters are a riot, and the responses tend to be even funnier.

Silly, fun and completely enjoyable. And, I discovered when looking up the LT-link to the title, there are sequels! Oh boy!

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As soon as I discovered there were sequels to Letters from a Nut (review) I knew I'd have to pick them up before long, and did (for less than $1 apiece, by the way - behold, the magic of the Internet). Ted L. Nancy's zany correspondence continues in More Letters from a Nut, in which our faithful nut requests information about 'upcoming' nude baboon races, asks permission to open 1,032 Hungry Mosquito Restaurants in Las Cruces, and gets Dick Butkus to sign a spatula. As amusing as the first show more book, particularly for the number of responses in this volume which seem completely unphased by Nancy's completely outlandish comments.

One of the most amusing exchanges (of many) from these letters comes toward the end of the book, when Nancy writes to the Turkish Department of Tourism requesting information on how to bring his camel, Andrew, to Turkey to participate in one of the annual Camel Wrestling Festivals. Nancy writes "Please tell me when is the best time to come to Turkey and watch camel wrestling? I would like to travel with Andrew but I will come alone if my camel can not get a good rate from the airlines. The bus company lets him travel as a senior. He looks out the window. I have disguised him as a hairy older women named Margaret."

Hulya Ulgun (Directoress of the Izmir Directorate of Tourism) writes back in part "We searched the ways bring Andrew here. None of the airlines can accept Andrew. Yo should look for the ways of bringing Andrew by a ship. You'll probably have to disguise him again as a 'hairy older woman named Margaret.'"

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Ted L. Nancy’s Letters From a Nut is truly the product of a deranged mind. The premise of the book is that a guy living in Thousand Oaks, California has taken it upon himself to write a bunch of letters to actual American corporations inquiring about odd matters or seeking special accommodations or praising them for strange aspects of their service. There’s not really much more I can say by way of a summation, but here are some examples of his correspondence:

• A letter to the Bon Ami show more Cleanser Company asking what exactly they mean by “integrity” on their label.
• A letter to Highlights Magazine asking if they would like to include a picture of his freckles that “kinda look like Richard Gere.”
• A letter to the Portland Stage Company to find out if they would be willing to host a play about his 26-year-old dog Cinnamon
• A letter to the Ralston Purina Company praising their product in prolonging the life of his 26-year-old dog Cinnamon.
• A letter to Nordstrom’s inquiring if he can buy a mannequin that he saw that looks exactly like his recently-deceased neighbor.
• A letter to the Flamingo Hilton Hotel & Casino asking if he can be allowed to wear his lucky shrimp costume while gambling there.

And so on. The more incredible part is that he actually gets responses from almost everyone he contacts. Most of the responses are just deflections of his odd requests. Some, on the other hand, are more than willing to entertain his outrageous scenarios.

While there are times when it feels like he’s trying out different variations of the same joke to gauge the response, some of the letters actually laugh-out-loud funny. These would probably make for a cocktail party gag where people had to read them aloud to the group. It’s a quick read to maybe lighten up some of the more heady stuff that comes out these days. show less

Found this in the library book sale pile and was attracted to it because it mentioned Jerry Seinfeld in the corner (who only wrote an introduction to the letters in the book). I was delighted to find it to be a collection of correspondance in business letter format. 5 minutes into what was supposed to be a cursory glance to see if I wanted it, I was laughing so hard (in the library) that I made a complete fool of myself. I was clutching my stomach and laughing uncontrollably. I immediately show more purchased the book and brought it home to share with my 9-year-old son, who was soon joining me in painful fits of laughter. It ended up having medicinal qualities to it because my son's painfully plugged up ear finally "popped"(if that isn't the ultimate praise for a book, I don't know what is)!

Seriously, reading this book was equivalent to the abdominable workout I should have been doing in its place because I was in a fit of laughter for over an hour as I read the entire book. I can't WAIT to read the original! show less