Jerry Seinfeld Rarely Laughs While Heâs Reading Credit...Jillian Tamaki Dec. 10, 2020 âItâs pretty hard to laugh when youâre reading â the written word is tough,â says the comedian and author of âIs This Anything?â But he makes an exception for John Updike: âYou know, describing the circles of water under someoneâs toes when they get out of the pool. That makes me laugh more than anything, that he would zero in on that.â What books are on your night stand? I only have one book on the night stand at a time, because Iâm a very slow reader and I really enjoy making a book last. If Iâm going to bother to read a book I donât want it to end quickly. I donât binge. I like to sip. If I like the world, I want to stay in the world. And I donât read a lot of books, honestly, but I have really turned to it during this virus time, because itâs cozy and I like it better than most shows â when I watch a show, I see script pages and I see acting. Having done what Iâve done, I find it harder to get into. So the book thatâs on my stand right now that Iâm really, really enjoying is called âFour of the Three Musketeers,â by Robert Bader, and itâs a very, very long, detailed history of the Marx Brothers.