Flann O'Brien has some good ones (at swim two birds etc) and I have read all the John Swartzenwelder ones too now. What are some funny books that you guys recommend?

In addition to the "usuals" we talk about around here (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and our very own Ubiquitous Bubba's work), I'd suggest something by Patrick F. McManus.
 
I'm sure I'll think of more soon, but that's a start!

Just about anything from Tim Dorsey.
Triggerfish Twist is probably my favorite. About a quarter bubble off. If you like Bubba's stuff, you'll probably like Dorsey.

Woody Allen wrote a few very funny ones, imho.

Try as I might I cannot find a funnier author than P.G. Wodehouse, and I've tried hard. His Blandings Castle books are probably the most enjoyable I have ever read. I only have to look at them on the shelf and I giggle. He just has a way with words:
 

• "She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and had forgotten to say 'when.'"
• “I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” 
• "Alf Todd,’ said Ukridge, soaring to an impressive burst of imagery, ‘has about as much chance as a one-armed blind man in a dark room trying to shove a pound of melted butter into a wild-cat’s ear with a red-hot needle.’"

He was the world's master of ridiculousness. I think the plot of "Uncle Fred In The Springtime" is one of the most ridiculous (and the most complicated) I have ever read. I read it at least twice a year and never get bored of it. 

 

 
 

OK thanks. I will try all these recommendartions if I can get them thru Amazon. First up- Colin Bateman- comic crime capers. Dorsey sounds interesting too : "All of Dorsey's novels feature Serge Storms as the primary character. The character has several coexisting mental illnesses that render him obsessive, psychopathic, schizophrenic, and frequently homicidal, but Storms serves as the anti-hero in Dorsey's works due to his strong sense of moral absolutism and justice." Sounds like he could be a Cakewalk forum regular.

"wilt" by Tom Sharpe
 
Funny for everyone, but excrutiatingly funny for anyone from the UK

Hi,
 
There are some fun reads.
 
Spike Milligan wrote a whole bunch of books about his war stories, and they are totally nuts and fun to read!
 
Other than that, funny folks are not most of my reads, although I get a lot of fun laughs reading Carlos Castaneda, as some of the jokes by don Juan and the brood are very funny, and sometimes off the wall.
 
"Chuck-a-Muck". If you have never read it, it's Chuck Jones, that created Bugs, Daffy and the Road Runner, and some of the funniest stories ever. Get the hard cover. Those jels in the middle of it are far out and then some!
 
The stuff that Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were a part of, is very funny, and it is clever, and many times also shows the stuck up and off the wall education that they had in someof England's best and most famous universities, and the number of people they worked with that also became famous is insane, when so many of them ended up in theater, film, music ...
 
The Goons, are excellent reads, even the show scripts, of which there are 3 books I think. Very clever sound effects usage and seeing it written, sometimes is better than hearing it. However, I am not sure we are as good listeners at imagining things as the days of radio made us, which we are not today! The book by Mr. Grafton is magnificent. I have not read Harry Secombe's books. But reading Spike Milligan's "The Bed-Sitting Room" is ... different than seeing the film, and in this case, the film comes off better and more fun than the book.
 
Other than that, most humor comes from the Coffee House, though I'm not sure they consider it humor and think it's just another daw-sing application!

Humor is weird.  Some types of humor can transcend regional and cultural boundaries while others are only appreciated within their original culture.  Comedians can deliver the same jokes in the same club two nights in a row and get two distinctly different responses.
 
I used to try to push my humor on my friends and family.  (I know.  Some here are saying, "...used to try?")  I'd try to help them understand why I thought something was funny.  In time, I came to accept the fact that our humor might overlap some of the time, but there would always be certain areas that were uniquely our own.
 
For this reason, I'm always a little reluctant to recommend authors or books that I find funny.  Many times, the books that crack me up do nothing for someone else.  So, here is a short list .  My personal favorites include Pratchett, Adams and Wodehouse.  (I'm sensing a theme.)
 
There are others, but I'm having difficulty remembering them right now.  It's a little bit like trying to remember the name of a song while listening to another song.  I can't do that.