“How Allan Sidley Ax-identally Gained Comedy Chops!”

A funny thing happened to Allan Sidley while coming off the stage – he quickly fell in love with comedy and the love affair continues to get more heated.

Initially, the Northern Virginia native who now makes his home in Baltimore suffered from intense stage fright.

But some six years ago this did not stop the witty 31-year-old from standing in front of his first audience. In fact, his confidence as a new author, stand-up comic, business consultant, and motivational speaker is irrepressible.

“I still have a little bit of stage fright, but I have always had the conviction that I knew I could do it,” Sidley explains. “I have what it takes to figure it out; it's like a puzzle. Being on stage is scary but you do it anyway.”

Today, this expert punster is celebrating the launch of his new book, Daddy Issues: A Fatherless Comedian's Original Jokes. “It's a collection of jokes I had written, told on stage, or were brand new and never shared with anyone before.”

The 178-page book comes out just at the right time to help us find our funny bone, as we wrestle with the aftermath of a year in pandemic isolation. “I think my book is a distraction from everything in our lives,” Sidley explains.

“It also points out a way to find humor in everything – not just the good or bad, but literally everything. It is also a self-help tool; we all need to laugh more.”

But how did this rising star come to write his first joke book? Sidley’s then-girlfriend (now his wife) Jill Bashore was picking up makeup and he stumbled into the Barnes & Noble humor section.

“All the joke books were disappointing. They were filled with jokes everyone has heard from third grade,” Sidley says, “and I knew my jokes were better; so why not write a book?”

Sidley explains that most comedians don't have jokes that once stripped of their performance, still work. “I wanted to write a book that would really cause people to react by loving or hating the joke,” he reveals. “The worst thing you can do as a performer is to have people feel neutral about your work.”

After a couple of months of the pandemic, which unfortunately halted his stand-up opportunities around Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and New York, he found himself disengaging from social media, where he would traditionally post these kinds of jokes.

“I wanted to still keep exercising my mind and my craft so this became a natural transition for me,” he says.

Sidley’s overall goal: “To bring laughter to those who need it the most, and ultimately share my jokes with the world!”

To purchase Daddy Issues in paperback, or on kindle, please click here