SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy from a Plane

• #49 in Best Gambling Books

42 Reviews

Sort by: Most Helpful ▲ Date Rating

I've seen Kasper Hauser live numerous times over the past 6 years. I've seen them play to sold-out standing-ovation houses. I've even cried during their shows. But this book is hands-down their most hysterical achievement in a long long line of hysterical achievements. Buy this book. Buy it for friends. Buy it for strangers. Just buy it. And then read it. Or make your friends read it. Or your strangers. Then come back here and tell me how right I am. I like to know that I'm right. Cuz with this book, I'm right. Selections from this book will be shown to guests at my house for years to come.

If you're a fan of any of the above: The Onion, The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, Strangers with Candy, Rosemary's Baby, the films of Todd Solondz, They Might Be Giants or Ween, you will LOVE THIS BOOK! It is the most original, ingenius piece of comedy I've seen in years. Just saying the word "Banana-Ganizer" sends me into a fit of feel- good hysterics. And I have my Christmas shopping done! Thank you Kasper Hauser!

I don't know who these guys are, but this is a really, really funny book. Are they with Saturday Night Live or something? The Onion? The products in their book, SkyMaul, are so twisted and unexpected and funny. I couldn't put this thing down. I read it all in one sitting. The Hitler/Werewolf night light! Who thinks of that? Whatever their next book, I'm in line to buy 12 of them. Very, very funny!

It's true! I probably wasn't lying. I mean I bought the book, I read the book, I even showed it to my friends and family. You're just gonna have to trust me. It's really funny. The pictures are great the words are fantastic and the authors handsome. It's everything that you would expect in separate packages, due to the size and scope of hilarity, in one package! A big package... a big, cheap, funny, fantastic... handsome package. Buy it for Christmas if you must but really why not just get it now? Maybe 2 so you can read 2 different pages at once. Like putting a tv on top of another tv. You can buy a hundred of them and replace the bibles with them at your church. You can put one in a time capsule and then when future people open it up they won't catch the humor and think we were real loons (stupid future people). You can even just prop it open above your two TVs and look at the pictures during commercials.

Anyways, and in conclusion I really wish you would buy this book, and I really don't care what you do with it.

I cannot stop going on about this book. It is hilairous! All I have done since reading it is try to quote it to everyone I see. Get the book so you don't have to hear my badly rephrased version. Kasper Hauser, who wrote this book, are some of the most brilliant writers and sketch comics of our time. If you have a chance, see them. Regardless you can buy this book and bask in their comedic genius. P.S. I am not related to them.

The surrealist comedy troupe Kasper Hauser puts their unique spin on airborne shopping with this wonderful spoof of the utterly ludicrous offerings of SkyMall catalogs. I was especially entertained by the narrative of "A Message From SkyMaul's CEO..." extolling how shopping saved his life (in Las Vegas, of course) and kept his family ("lovely wife, Pfepfer," "two children, Horace and Candy," and "Labrador buddy, Melchus") together. With that premise firmly ingrained, the catalog moves from the twisted and bizarre, to the surreal and other-worldly.

It's impossible for me to pick my favorite product in the catalog, though I think the Llamacycle would be near the top of the list. I also loved the concept of the "'Cut Above' Electronic Hair-Salon-Naming Computer," ("Hairly Legal," "Shave Me, I'm Drowning," "Banged 'n' Feathered," "From Hair to Eternity," etc.), which with additional modules can also help name your scone cart, coffee shop, or crepe restaurant. The scientific part of my brain loved the "Air Straightener," while the animal lover in me liked the "'Moby Dick' Hamster Coffin." Perhaps my favorite concept in the book is the collection of "motivational posters" from "Probletunity Knocks." I utterly loathe motivational posters, so mocking them was a certain hit with me. For the extremely deranged there's the "Hitler-Turning-into-Werewolf Nightlight," sure to be useful because it's "new monitor function allows the wolf's eyes to follow you or your baby around the room and emits a 'safety growl' anytime someone moves toward it."

Although the type of humor in the catalog is occasionally a bit base, the book is funny across the board and is the definitive skewering of the excremental products in the actual SkyMall catalog.

I have gotten so much mileage from this gem of a book. It has had me in tears on my morning commute, and at home from laughing so hard I kind of freaked out my dog. It has been the ultimate gift for anyone I deem "worthy" enough to appreciate the brilliant and twisted wit of Kasper Hauser. Mark my words: this book will catapult KH to superstardom. A must-read!!!!

Its hard to describe how funny this book is. Each item is a hilarious and ingenious twist on the inane things they sell in the real inflight catalogue, but as you flip through the the pages, the whole thing becomes almost unbearably funny! It sits innocuously on my coffeetable, and sucks in any visitors at my house who pick it up.

Irresistable reading, and a perfect gift....

The only bad thing about this book is that it isn't a real catalog. Sit back in your favorite chair, close your eyes, and imagine a world without camel toe.

This spoof of SkyMall is great! I fly frequently, and when I'm bored I always pull out the SkyMall and laugh at the goofy products and descriptions. The authors behind SkyMaul have taken the same idea and got very creative with it.

If you have ever thought, "Who thought it necessary to invent this... let alone produce it?" or "Do I really need to spend $50 on a hair comb that tells me the time in Japan and France, and winner of the '67 World Series?"

Then this book is for you!

This book is fantastically funny and insightful at the same time and it makes a great gift for the hard-to-shop-for person. Consider including a Sky Maul gift certificate because everyone needs a Hybrid sign for their Hummer!

There are times when parody transcends rote imitation and becomes social satire. In the past 30 years or so, we've had "The National Lampoon's High School Yearbook" and The Daily Show's "America: The Book." SkyMaul belongs next to those seminal works.

I bought the book because I found the concept amusing, and I'd heard great things about Kasper Hauser -- but when I actually cracked it open, I was stunned. This book isn't a bunch of one-note gags -- each product, no matter how silly (The Banana-Ganizer) or dark (Hitler Becoming Werewolf Nightlight) has a lovingly crafted description that multiplies the laughs tenfold.

I think we've got a vital new voice in American satire, here. SkyMaul is something special.

do I have to say anything else? brilliant book. buy buy buy. make these guys superstars.

I saw these guys at the Co Co County fair in 1997. AWESOME! They had entered a Dutch Belted Milker (honorable mention) AND killed at the Tuesday night open mic. Now this?? Sixty year timer? Some golf clubs? If only there was a real place to get all of this hilarious stuff!!

Buy this book now! Anyone who flies and knows the stupidity of the junk sold in the original Sky Mall will die laughing at these hillarious knock-offs. My favorite is the "Whore-ganizer" and I can't stop laughing at the stupidity of the "Llamacycle". I wish I could actually purchase some of these items as Christmas gifts and speaking of... this would be a great gift for anyone you know who flies - or just has a plane or two.

This is not just dumb humor. It is hard to describe without it sounding dumb, though! The writeups are as funny as the pictures. This does contain some profanity so you might not want to get it for a younger kid.

Being a flight attendant myself and looking through the SkyMall magazine countless times on long flights I can tell you...this book is AMAZING. I have never laughed so hard from a book all my life. I really want to get another one and put it in the crew lounge. I'm sure the flight crews will get a kick out of it :)

I read the entire book, laughing, in one sitting. When I go back to revisit I laugh again. I like this book so much I bought several copies and gave them as gifts to friends and family.

These guys are the best. I not only recommend this book, but I recommend their stage performance(s) as well - should they be appearing in a town near you.
I bought several of the "Sky Maul" magazine/books for friends and family this Christmas. For each and every person, it was a huge success.
This Crap is funny. Purchase often and a lot.

This may be the funniest thing I have ever read. I laughed until I was crying and have continued to laugh about it for the past week. Easily the best gift ever. The gift of laughter.

Well, assuming that Amazon gave me a volume discount. Which I'm sure they would - this book is too funny to go unprinted, unsold, unshipped, and unread (fortunately there are lots of great photos for our illegible brethern out there). Trust me America, this is one slammin' gift.

You won't be disappointed. I've seen these guys perform multiple times over the years, and they're amazingly brilliant.

Not every item is a gem, but if you like sarcasm and fly a lot you'll get a big kick out of this lampoon.

I have walls of humor books in my collection and Sky Maul sits proudly on the top shelf.

This is one of the funniest and most creative books I've ever read. There are some "R" rated items, so be aware. But this is well worth buying for laughs from page to page.

If you've ever been on a plane and browsed through the original SkyMall magazine, you'll love this play on the products inside.

The concept was excellent but the execution disappointing. A banal miscellany of unimpressive photo editing, mild vulgarisms, and shock words in place of inspiration. Doesn't even reach sophmoric. That it got published is a testament to P.T. Barnum's evaluation of American taste.

Sure, the book is a great gift idea, but what about its products? Sadly, as Fred Willard points out, many of them are on back-order. In the interim, enjoy this book's excellent graphics. (NOTE: There are words, too.)

My brother sent a sample of this book to me via email. I almost wet my pants. So I bought it for my other brother for Christmas. It's a great coffee table book. If anyone that visits you is down-in-the-mouth, give them a homemade beer and this book and they'll be fine in no time. One of my favorites: "Medical Test Results Fortune Cookie"!

The writers eally captured the themes of the various companies parodied and the descriptions themselves were hilarious. I won't be able to look at Sky Mall the same way again. Really funny! I hope Sky Maul II is in the works

Hilarious, original, clever, and wonderfully off-beat. I gave it as a Christmas present to four family members and each of them laughed out loud within a minute of browsing.

I bought this as a gag gift, and it was a total hit.

I bought one for all of my friends with a sense of humor. Laugh out loud fun!!

I bought this for my husband for Christmas just because it was on sale. Before it arrived, I had started to regret my impulse buy. Then it got here--it is HILARIOUS! On Christmas morning, no other present got so much attention... we passed it around and cracked up. This faux catalogue should entertain anyone who spends their flight time perusing Sky Mall. It may not be the smart, pointed comedy you can find in The Onion or Colbert/Stewart publications (or have the hard covers of real coffee table books), but it will definitely make you smile. Who doesn't need a Hitler/Werewolf nightlight for their child's room?

Absolutely hysterical. Unfortunately I let someone borrow it and didn't get it back in time for my flight...saving the full read-through for the plane. The parts I did glance at are money.

This book is so unbelievably funny that you will find yourself, for weeks after reading it, thinking of items in it and chuckling to yourself.

I want Reality Cancelling Headphones!

This catalog is full of wonderful items! From the ultra useful (Crack pipe chess sets, bandana-ganizers, rabies-detecting poodle spray, etc.) to just plain silly (i.e., blueberry muffin of the month club memberships, racial globe toaster), Sky Maul has everything you could ever need to live your [consumer-whoreish] American Dream.

I have been fiber-loading, just so I can spend more time in the bathroom reading this delightful gem. Every page is full of joy and funny things. You should buy it and find out for yourself.

Actually, you should buy two copies, because you will want to lend a copy to your stoner friend who will 1. forget to read it, and 2. forget to give it back. Then you will be stuck cursing that darn high-fiber diet, as you are left to read bottles of shampoo and hair remover whilst on the throne.

I bought this for my grandpa. He was disappointed with the book, as was I. The jokes were not very creative. It's new home is the bathroom, next to the enquirer.

This book is very clever and a cute little gift for the holidays. You can't help but laugh at the pictures

I saw this at a friends house on their coffee table and loved it so much I had to have one. I got two more as gifts too! I always enjoy checking out the wacky sky-mall products when I'm bored on a plane and wonder who the hell buys half of this stuff. This parody catalog is hilarious and genius. It's a great conversation piece.

Made me laugh from cover to cover. If you have ever been on an airplane and read the "real" SkyMall magazine, you will find this parody clever, intelligent and intensely funny.

Anyone who has ever been stuck on a plane with nothing better to do than read the SkyMall magazine will truly appreciate the well though out humor of this book.

Very very hilarious for the offbeat humor. Best used as a surprise slipped into the seat-pocket of your traveling mate and watch as they thumb through it unknowingly. lol...really. We could barely catch our breath, tears in the eye laughter (while trying not to disturb fellow-passengers). No luck though, so we ended up passing it around and enjoyed the mirth speading through the cabin. Best if you fly Southwest, of course....that crowd gets it. Here's a thought...slip it into the seat pocket of a perfect stranger and watch him/her come unglued...
NOTE To Authors...eliminate the few off-color ads and we would keep it on the coffee table where younger eyes could enjoy.

These guys are just plain funny. A few of the products in this catalog have entered my girlfriend's and my vernacular. It would be funny to leave this on a plane and watch some unsuspecting reader's reaction to it, but it would be hard to part with it, plus it's not free like the real ones on the plane. I wish the layout were a little denser to make it look even more like the real catalogs, but maybe that's just a subtle way of wishing there was even more funny stuff in here to read. This is a good thing to get if SkyMall catalogs have a special relevance for you, or if you are a die-hard fan of Roy & Gil and the other fellows that brought you the indie comedy classic Fishing With Gandhi.