Cack-Handed, by Gina Yashere
Review of the comedian's memoir
29/07/2021 … I’m not sure Cack-Handed is the perfect title for Gina Yashere’s memoirs.
2021 Books
Reviews of books about comedy, including biographies of comedians old and new, and (occasionally) books by comedians. To have a book considered for review, send a copy to Chortle, 112 Norman Road, London, E11 4RL.
Thu 29 July 2021
Thu 08 July 2021
Sunshine And Laughter: The Story of Morecambe & Wise
Review of Louis Barfe's new biography
08/07/2021 … It’s testament to the enduring appeal of Morecambe and Wise that I already have nine books about them on my shelf.
Thu 24 June 2021
Stand Up, Barry Goldman by David J Cohen
24/06/2021 … There’s no need to ask where Have I Got News For You and Horrible Histories writer Dave Cohen (or rather, ‘David J Cohen’, now he’s…
Mon 24 May 2021
© MarkWSutton The History of Stand-Up by Wayne Federman
24/05/2021 … In 2015, showbiz historian Kilph Nesteroff wrote The Comedians, a near-definitive and thoroughly entertaining account of the evolution of American comedy, from…
Tue 11 May 2021
Delicacy, by Katy Wix
Review of her 'memoir about cake and death'
11/05/2021 … A comedian writing about cake might sound twee, or evoke the sort of defiant hedonism that defines much of Jo Brand’s work.
Mon 26 April 2021
The Secret Diary of a British Muslim Aged 13¾
Review of Tez Ilyas's teenage diaries
26/04/2021 … ‘I wish there had been a book like this for me growing up,’ stand-up Tez Ilyas comments in the foreword to his newly published teenage diaries.
Mon 15 March 2021
One Night Stand by Simon Taylor
Review of novel about a comedian facing a paternity crisis
15/03/2021 … Simon Taylor was a young, jobbing comedian on the Melbourne stand-up scene when a one-night stand led to a paternity scare that forced him to confront a different…
Wed 17 February 2021
He Used Thought As A Wife by Tim Key
17/02/2021 … You never forget your first lockdown.