Ugly Whimsy

by Joshua Turek

A bard of the social media age, comedian Joshua Turek is the author of two bestselling poetry collections, On the Outside Looking Up and Of Dumb Importance. 



His trademark conversational style continues in his third collection, Ugly Whimsy, where the writer searches for the edges of beauty that might be unseemly in the eyes of another beholder. Interspersed in its pages are poems of impending fatherhood, romance, lost ambition, barking dogs and sea lions, plus overcoming the agonies of working jobs to make unseen men rich.



For the first time in his books, Ugly Whimsy also includes personal essays, recalling his dad's last ex-girlfriend, generational disillusionment and his own entrance into middle age and what he has yet to learn. 



Joshua Turek is a touring stand-up comedian and poetry performer whose unintelligible rants have been viewed by millions on the internet. He can be seen live headlining clubs, bars and laundromats, possibly in a city near you.

Genres: Poetry

132 pages, Paperback

Published April 10, 2026

About the author

Deemed a less problematic Charles Bukowski meets The Big Lebowski by a stranger on the internet, Joshua Turek has amassed a large cult following on TikTok and Instagram with his many viral poetic comedy videos. His stand up clips and unintelligible rants have garnered over 1 billion views on TikTok alone and have brought him hundreds of thousands of fans who recognize him regularly at his day job. A stand up comic, he headlines clubs, bars, and laundromats across the globe.

Reviews

[Kody Manke-Miller]

There are many poems you’ve written that I love, bite-sized and clever and poignant. Sometimes bleak and more often hopeful and even more often funny.

But, as a fellow 40-year-old who just entered fatherhood many, many years after losing my own dad — the essays at the end of this book were some of my favorite things I’ve ever read. We’ve got different lives and different dads and different babies, but the way you wrote about falling back into love with your dad and the hopes you have for your son (and your being a dad to him)… honestly, just thank you for this. I’m grateful for you, for putting out there all this creative work through all the phases of your life and growth.

[Lewis Szymanski]

I hate being the first person to write a Goodreads review. I couldn't find a review on any other site either.

This was, as always, great. Even though I've read most of these on Instagram, it's nice to have a physical copy of these poems all in one place.

Ugly Whimsy feels a little more pensive and melancholy than his previous two books. That might be where my own head is at right now.