Bedtime Stories for Cynics by Nick Offerman


Bedtime Stories for Cynics
Title : Bedtime Stories for Cynics
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Audible Audio
Number of Pages : -
Publication : First published November 10, 2017

The closest you'll get to having Parks and Recreation's Ron Swanson read you a bedtime story, this sharp and silly series features inappropriate children's stories for adults only – performed by masters of the comedic arts.


Bedtime Stories for Cynics Reviews


  • Paul

    Some parts of this are genuinely laugh out loud funny. Sadly, other parts of it are so unoriginal they're cringeworthy. While this averages out as just OK, I'm glad I downloaded it as it helped with my Ron Swanson withdrawal symptoms. Plus, it was free.

  • Pj

    This is a hit or miss production. Some of these are funny, others not so much.

  • Ray

    Pretty fun audio comedy if one is into that sort of thing.

    It's a treat to hear Offerman and so many other great comedians tell these cynical fairy tales. They are all talented and good actors so the narration and presentation is very well-done. As for the content, all X-ratedly offensive takes on various fairy tales and poems. Mostly too short to be groundbreaking in any way, just quality laughs without trying too hard to make any kind of brilliant statement.

    Bedtime Stories for Cynics is short, entertaining, and worth listening to if you're a fan of anyone in the cast.

    All that said... this collection is pretty good, but not great.

  • TL

    Not as funny as the second volume.. they were all just "okay" and most of the humor felt forced.
    (The one with the house poem was one sort of shining star)

    Narrators were good but couldn't save this for me.. our lovely introductionist (real word?) was still good but grated on me a few times.

    You have to have a certain sense of humor to enjoy these but it missed the mark with this reader this time around. *shrugs*

  • Yoda

    Offermans voice is the perfect voice, especially for bedtime stories! Really liked this one.

  • Ian D

    Ένα ξεκαρδιστικό (κάποιες φορές) και ανορθόδοξο (πάντα) ποτ πουρί από παραμύθια που δε θα διαβάσετε ποτέ στα παιδιά σας, όσο κι αν έχουν μεγαλώσει. Ένα θα πω: ο εξέκιουτιβ προντιούσερ λέγεται Jamie Katsoufis. Katsoufis! Σίριουσλυ. Οπότε, τι να περιμένεις, καλό;

    (Πάντως, ήταν πιο διασκεδαστικό απ'ό,τι περίμενα)

  • Carole Rae

    This came with “12” episodes. Such a fun format. At the beginning of each one, Nick Offerman does a little intro. At the end of some of them, he will say a couple of words too. He was funny as per normal. Such a fun collection.


    Ep. 1 ‘Goodnight Ambien’ read by Wyatt Cenac


    Hilarious and clever. I do think this was Nick Offerman’s best intro. The first is always hard to beat. It really does reflect the night of an insomniac. A good chuckle. The narrator of the story was very good and he made it even better.


    “Good night every embarrassing memory from the last 15 years suddenly popping into my head…” That line did it for me! Hahahahahaha. So much truth. 5 stars


    Ep. 2 ‘Daddies’ read by John O’Hurley


    The intro was the second best. It was a close tie to the first one.


    This one was a hair sad. Funny, yes, but sad and has lots of truth to it. The narrator’s voice is one you’ll remember. I feel like he does everything. I want to listen to more from him. I bet he would do great at other audios. The ending fun a dark ending, but funny of course. 4 stars


    Ep. 3 ‘Goldilocks’ read by Maria Bamford


    Funny as per normal. It really reminded me of Ron Swanson from P&R.


    Some chuckles but overall, meh. The narrator was okay. I liked her different voices for all the characters. She is new to me, so I’m not familiar. The ending was the funniest part. Not a bad remake of the original. I’ll give it 3 stars.


    Ep. 4 ‘Heinz Linge and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’ read by David Spade


    The intro was not as good as the others. But still pretty funny overall.


    David Spade is always a hoot. The story was good and a very interesting take on the story. Oooo Nazis. You evil bastards. But they are hilarious being the butt of jokes. Very funny overall. Guess even Nazis have bad days. LOL. Totally didn’t expect the ending. I’ll give this 4 stars.


    Ep. 5 ‘The Frog Prince’ read by Patton Oswalt


    Another just an okay intro. Not bad, but not as good as the others.


    Love the narrator. He makes me roll on the floor with laughter. His girl voice killed me with this one! Ugh. The whole frog story always bugs me (even when I was little I didn’t care for the story). This remake was a good one and how I would imagine the story would’ve really went. The ending was hilarious and the princess had it coming. 4 stars for this one.


    Ep. 6 ‘The Empress’ New Bangs’ read by Natasha Leggero


    Intro was okay. No issues.


    Funny, but a little underwhelming. It had its moments, but the rest didn’t really make me laugh. Loved the narrator though. She was good. I’ll give it 2 stars.


    Ep. 7 ‘Todd the Dragon Slayer’ read by Lewis Black


    The intro got me for some reason. I listened to it a couple of times. Simple, but good. This quote is what really gets me, because it rings so true, “If you find yourself offended by the language in this story, then you are a child. Congratulations. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t Fuck it up”


    The story was good as well. I listened to it a couple of times as well. Ooooo that dragon! Lewis Black, as per normal, entertaining and knows how to make everything hilarious! I want to listen more to him. 5 stars overall.


    Ep. 8 ‘The Turtle and the Rabbit’ read by Tommy Chong


    Oooo Nick Offerman. You make me laugh. This was good and the best part.

    The story was meh. The narrator just okay even though I find him funny normally. Super bummed. I’ll give it 2 stars.


    Ep. 9 ‘Casey in the Sack’ read by Nick Thune


    This was overall clever and had a couple of laughs (including the intro), but eh. Another meh one. I’ll give it 2 stars just for the cleverness.


    Ep. 10 ‘Open House’ read by Tony Hale


    Intro was okay.


    Ooo! What a fun and funny story. It is told in the format of a poem and it was clever. It was sad too, but overall sidesplitting. Poor Maggie and her hubbie! The ending was the cherry on top. I’ll give this 5 stars.


    Ep. 11 ‘The Very Thirsty Caterpillar’ read by Phoebe Robinson


    A good intro. Had me laughing. Very dark and informative.


    Eh. It had a few chuckles. The only good part was the fact about how darkly true this is. I totally get what they were after and I feel like it didn’t work well. The narrator did well though. I’ll give it 2 stars.


    Ep. 12 ‘Caramello’ read by Brent Weinbach


    HAHAHAHA “foot fetish”. Oooooh Nick Offerman.


    Eh. Another one that gave a few chuckles, but overall meh. I honestly zoned out near the end there. 1 star for this one.


    OVERALL


    This was funny even the meh ones still had some laughs. I’ll for sure re-listen to my favorites here and there since they are legit only a few minutes long. It was free and if you are a cynic and like darker, true, and inappropriate humor I would suggest listening to this collection. *does math*. I’ll round this out to about 3 stars. Worth the listen.

  • Emmett

    Definitely worth a listen if you have an Audible membership, as it's free on there... Some stories were quite funny, some were just okay. None were as humorous as the opening story (truly laugh-out-loud funny), but all of the stories were still fun to listen to. Will definitely check out vol. 2...

  • Iliana Matute

    Not for me

  • Cristhian

    The Cringe is real en varios.

  • Eleni

    Χαριτωμενο,απολαυσα περισσοτερο τον Offerman παρα τις ιστοριες.

  • Normaw

    Thought these would be funny, but were just silly, for the most part. Adding swearing and sex to fairy tales and getting celebrities to read them. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but ... Nick Offerman's comments/intros are more amusing than the stories. Didn't finish.

  • Luanne

    Thoroughly enjoyed listening to these and will probably re-listen again and again. Witty and utterly ridiculous. Loved it.

  • Jessica

    Well, you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate these short stories. Some are genius, most are very annoying. But... It's certainly something different!

  • Michael Huang

    Nothing deep or useful but quite funny.

  • Heather

    Irreverent, inappropriate, and wildly hilarious. These stories are twisted dreams of their own.

  • E.S.

    Book Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5 stars)
    Audio Book Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
    Total Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5 stars)

    Are you sick of all those happy bedtime stories? Do you want something to please your cynical mind? Then Nick Offerman presents to you a series of bedtime stories that will quell your need for all things negative and rude.

    Don’t go into this audible production thinking it will be happy-go-lucky. If you’re hoping for that, then this isn’t for you. No, you’ll be dragged into a series of narcissistic tales filled with unlikable heroes and no real morals. They’re fun, sometimes obnoxious, but worth a quick listen.

    Nick Offerman introduces each story in his Ron Swanson-esque charm, and each storyteller is skilled in keep you engaged. But…not every story is a home run though (such as “Casey in the Sack”), but there are gems that will make you laugh (such as “The Empress’s New Bangs”). Each person’s own taste will play into what they think of these Bedtime Stories…and some people might love them all, while some like a few.

    If you have an hour or so, give these stories a listen. Or just pick one, and dedicate 8 mintues before bed to learning about Goldilock’s unfortunate demise or how the Tortoise kicked the Hare out of his home. I’ll definitely check out the second edition of this series, because if anything, they are some gems within these cynical tales.

  • Anna lost in stories *A*

    DNF at 20% 1,5 stars… I gave up after the third story… this just… wasn’t funny at all, at least not to me… and don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against dark takes on familiar stories, but it helps if you have an actually good idea to do it... maybe if each of them would be at least a bit longer it would work better… but in this format it’s a no from me… moving on to something better

    XOXO

    A

  • Carmen

    Very funny and goofy- not a great way to wind down for the evening, but laughable and twisted for sure. A very fun audible original- never thought Nick Offerman and Lewis Black would be reading me to sleep!

  • Velicia Jerus Darquenne

    Funny adult spin on bedtime stories. But let’s be honest, I grabbed this on Audible because Nick Offerman. He can read to me anytime he likes.

  • Kristen

    It was okay, but the first story was so crude that I almost DNF’d the book. My favorite story was “Goodnight Ambien.” There aren’t too many others that I’d relisten.

  • Rachelle

    How can you not love cynical hilarity read by comedy greats!?!? I mean Nick Offerman, David Spade, Tommy Chong, Lewis Black and on and on... just a great collection!

  • Sierra (BumblebroxBeeblebooks)

    I am only docking this a star because it was so funny I couldn't sleep. I wouldn't market this as bed time stories lol

  • J.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Crap.

  • Emily

    Ridiculous. A few of these story retellings were hilarious, but most fell flat. However, even when he's a little off, I like hearing Nick Offerman's voice.

  • Pooja Kumar

    3.5/5
    Silly giggles guaranteed!

  • Stasia

    it's so ridiculous... but I kinda dig it 🤣

  • Pranit

    I heard this one on Audible podcast which comes as a complimentary option with the subscription. The bedtime stories for cynics start interesting but soon get boring fast.

    I'll recommend this only if you also listen to it via the complimentary audible option. Else, you can do better things with your time!

  • Kathie Lambert

    Another free Audible download. This time, it was something worth listening to. Love Nick Offerman. The stories are a mixed bag of LOL hysterical to kinda twisted & weird. Considering the very old versions of the Grimm's fairy tales are sometimes very disturbing, these new tales are in line with the old.