How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Stewart Lee

Comedian Stewart Lee takes a look at the highlights and lowlights of his long career, from his early stand up shows to the Jerry Springer Opera to Edinburgh to his promised BBC TV series to his career as we know it today.

Lee presents a detailed account of his life, and varies it with articles he has written, and transcripts of his live shows. As well as his life, he also writes about the alternative comedy scene, and the lives and his views on other comedians, so I learnt a lot about this! Lee is a great writer but whilst there are some funny, intelligent moments, at others, the book feels a little dull in places. The idea to include his live shows is unusual, as is the use of footnotes to add additional information or his feelings about a certain event. However, in some places, there can be an over reliance, and it can interrupt the flow of the main text, especially as some times the footnotes last over a page!

This is a great book for Stewart Lee fans, and I found this book an enjoyable read on the whole. Although I haven’t really seen much of Lee’s material, after reading this, I wouldn’t mind watching a show of his… 3.5 stars.

Andrew Collings - That's Me in the Corner review

As a big fan of the Collings and Herrin podcast (which has ended – sobsob), I decided to try reading Andrew Collins’ book, That’s Me in the Corner. I’ve already read Richard Herring’s How Not To Grow Up (I’ve reviewed it on this blog) and was really surprised. I really enjoyed it, so I really wanted to like this book.

TMITC recounts Collins’ various jobs as he reaches the age of 40. Some of it is good, I enjoyed the early bit about his job at Sainsbury’s and his take on the supermarket hierarchy there, both for the most part, it was not interesting enough, and perhaps slightly self-indulgent. I felt Collins namedrops a lot which can be a bit frustrating, and I think due to my age, I haven’t connected with the book as I don’t understand the rock/indie musical or 80s/early 90s references. Overall, the writing style just isn’t strong enough – it mostly reads like a list of anecdotes, factual for the most part, with the odd celebrity name dropped in and there is little to gain from reading this. HNTGU was captivating as Herring had a set theme – reaching the age of 40 and whether he should be more adultlike – and incorporated several events from his life. You don’t need to have prior knowledge to read it, it is pretty accessible for any reader, whereas I felt like I was missing something when reading TMITC. Another thing that was successful about HNTGU was Herring’s writing content – it is witty and interesting, and it also probes deeper into his feelings about career, life, health, history and his love life. Collins doesn’t do anything of the sort, and it seems quite pointless and shallow on some level. I frequently found myself skim-reading or skipping large chunks whereas with HNTGU I was hooked on every page and could not put it down.

That being said, I do enjoy Collin’s wry throwaway observations which are casually thrown in and I enjoyed the chapter about writing for Eastenders but taken as a whole, it isn’t my cup of tea. Perhaps I am being too harsh, Collins isn’t a comedian like Herring so I can’t expect it to be a hilarious read and maybe it is unfair to compare TMITC to HNTGU, but I do expect to enjoy and get something out of reading the book, but sadly, with Collins’ book, I don’t get anything at all. 2 stars.

*It was announced that Richard Herring is to get married yesterday – perhaps he had finally grown up after all!

Richard Herring - How Not To Grow Up

I’ve become a big fan of Herring through his many podcasts – Collings and Herrin, AIOTM to name but a few – so I decided to take a chance on this book having hearing it publicised so many times in the Collings and Herrin podcast. I was pleasantly surprised – it still retains some of Herring’s humour that I have become used to over listening to his podcasts, but it is a well written, candid look at his feelings of turning 40, and realising what he wants out of life. It takes a deeper look at what it means to “grow up”. What is interesting is the way he introduces events from his past into his writing, such as his childhood events. The book also includes some of Herring’s deeper feelings and emotions, such as meeting Catherine, which was interesting as it is something that doesn’t really come across when you listen to his podcasts.There are a few issues, such as the editing – in one chapter, a woman switches name in the next paragraph from Julia to Yasmin, only to return back to Julia in the following section. If you are easily offended, there is a lot of strong language and adult humour so be warned before you start reading this book. If however, you don’t mind that sort of stuff, I would recommend this book for you.