I absolutely loved this book, it’s such a good memoir. It’s funny from start to finish, and describes the challenges of gradual eyeloss with great heart and in a really approachable way. Obviously, I was obsessed with Chris’ journey on Strictly, and getting more of the back story that led him there and then the great details about how he had to adapt to the show and vice versa were really interesting. But more than anything I loved the small details and funny stories, like when he and his flatmate each wore the wrong half of a suit. Perfect.

I saw Alan Davies on the Channel 4 program with Bill Bailey, where they walk around and open up a bit about themselves and Alan mentioned that joining a writing group had allowed him to go on to write a book about his childhood and being abused by his father - I suddenly remembered I owned this book! So I read it and boy is it a moving and difficult read but so brave and honest and like holding someone’s hand as they discover things about themselves and their past and about how hard it is to unravel memories. A must read.

We might be joining in the tradition of watching stand up comedy in bleak January here, with another live special, this time from Kevin Bridges. I’ve not seen a lot of his comedy before, other than the iconic accent recognition piece but always willing to give it a go. Overall, I enjoyed it, but the comedy fell into three buckets for me - one where I didn’t know what he was talking about, referencing people or events I don’t know. The second was just not really funny to me, Covid jokes are still a bit soon, not too sure on the Hitler bit. But the third was where he absolutely nailed it and the bit about your brain waking up as you go to bed spoke to me on so many levels. Mixed results but an enjoyable watch nevertheless.

I continue to be obsessed with Dawn French and after reading the accompanying book to this live one-woman stage show from the comedian, I was super glad to see it appear for free on BBC iPlayer. After finishing up with festive content for the year, it’s always good to laugh it all away into the next year and this show is the best way to do it. Pulling no punches and perfectly happy to air embarrassing moments from the past and probably nearer the present than she’d like, I really love a good story told well with a hilarious ending, and that covers pretty much all this show. Top notch.

I enjoyed the previous memoir by comedian Tom Allen and was curious what this second book would be about, coming so relatively quickly after the first. Sadly, this one is a memoir of grief, with Tom sharing stories and humour from family life with his father, and then the process of coming to terms with his death, and life afterwards. The stories are great, and there’s a lot of honesty and growth and learning throughout. It’s nice to go on the journey with Tom.

Oh, you have to love Peter Kay’s stories, and I always choose the audiobook version when it comes to his books like this, as he goes off-piste and starts chatting sometimes, so it’s often just like listening to a friend. This book focuses on Peter’s relationship with and in television, from early viewing experiences to then making the brilliant content we know. Of course I would have loved more about Car Share but there was so much I didn’t know about previous shows and how a lot of the characters and stories link together… it was really great and very entertaining, a must listen.

I really loved this book. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and it’s just such a wonderful, difficult, moving story about someone trying to find themselves, understand themselves, make their way in a world where they don’t necessarily fit into ‘normal’ (whatever that is). Tom is hilarious all the way through, obviously, and I recognised bits from his standup too, but there’s also a lot of heart and sharing difficult things which really make you think.

Oh wow, I really loved this book. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, so enjoyed Fern’s amazing accent throughout, but it was the content that really shone. The way Fern describes what she’s faced and been through before and after a late autism diagnosis and her difficulties with her family, and how she interacts with the world… it’s brilliant and funny and moving and startlingly honest and just wonderful.

I only really know of Phil Wang from Taskmaster (this is true of so many comedians these days!) but he was funny on that so I thought it would be interesting to hear what he has to say. This has elements of memoir in it but is actually more a perspective on life as someone who straddles two worlds, two countries, two cultures. It’s a really refreshing, honest, and, naturally, a very funny book with a sensible approach to life, race, and the many forms of hatred that people can heap upon each other. The chapter talking of cultural appropriation has particularly stuck in my mind. A great read.

The festive holidays have previously been a time when stand up comedians release some of their recent content for the public to buy. It used to be DVDs that could be given as gifts, but of course, more recently that has been a show popping up on streaming services to be enjoyed from the sofa. The pandemic put a bit of a hold on stand up comedians doing what they do best but it feels like the humour train is rolling back into action.

Did you know there’s stand up comedy on Apple Music? I just found some recently, stumbled across it by complete accident, and I was surprised. Although, when I really thought about it, it does make sense. Old school stand up comedy used to be released on records, didn’t it, with people happily playing their favourite stand up on repeat.

This is more of a self-help book than I was imagining, although it made a nice change from the traditional memoir that follows a chronological story from birth to school to success. Instead, Jimmy kicks off with advice right from the start, and whilst structuring it around his journey through life so far - including the death of his mother, taking over Bruce Springsteen’s dressing room, and of course, that tax situation. It was really good, very readable, and with plenty of wisdom that you want to take on board.

I listened to Peter Kay’s newly released audiobook of this, his autobiography from about ten years ago. It’s a great story, well told, and with all the extra bits thrown in, it really was just like sitting down and having a chat with him. I liked the moments where he ended up reviewing his own work, or adding some notes on what has happened since the book was first published. It always makes me laugh how much real life stuff ends up in the TV shows - all that supermarket stuff, some of the conversations like for like those that he had with Kayleigh in Car Share. Loved it.

I felt like I was walking a tightrope reading this book. Joe Lycett is a great comedian, and I love his approach to life, but there are times when this wobbled a bit for me. I’m not big on pranks, and so had to feel like the recipient of these messages and emails really deserved it… the spam festival one was great, whereas the woman just trying to keep pets out of her workplace didn’t seem so funny. But that’s my problem, not Joe’s, and I really like the way the book is laid out, the way it’s written, and the general feeling of positivity it gives you - you don’t just have to take things lying down, Lycett’s got your back!

I feel like I’ve read this before but I don’t have a review of it anywhere so I figured I’d give it another go. Whether I’ve read it before or not, I’m glad I got to experience it again. Mack deep dives into what drives a comedian to choose this career, and what makes someone funny, by examining his own history in a unique and hilarious way. Usually dipping too much into childhood and early days can be dull but this was never boring.

Ah, lovely Sarah Millican. This book is just like sitting down with someone brilliant and listening to their stories, their advice, their lists. I have so much affinity with Sarah that I didn’t realise - the love of stationery, the lack of interest in having kids, the battle with self-esteem. Much to learn and love in this book. And actually, what’s great about it is that it’s not the kind of book that just says ’everything will be fine, get on with it’, but is more like, ‘you know what, everything isn’t fine but you are and you can cope, and if you can’t, I’ll be here to help.’ Which is just lovely.

I’ve listened to this before but realised I hadn’t reviewed it which was an oversight. And in the current tense climate of confusion and general overwhelming-ness, I figured listening to some guy telling stories of him being a bit silly during his life is exactly the right thing. This book is based on a feature in Josh Widdicombe’s radio show, which I’ve never heard, but has James recounting moments from his past where he’s gotten into a scrape.

As is often the way, the first part of my December downtime has been spent curled up under a duvet desperately waiting for the hour I can have my next Lemsip. This year, I tried a new tactic of supplementing the real medicine with that other thing that’s supposedly even better: laughter. There were a few new stand up shows available on iTunes, those that have presumably also been released on DVD in time for Christmas, and I was very entranced by Dylan Moran’s live show Off the Hook.

On Monday night, Mr C and I rocked up to Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena to watch Michael McIntyre do his thing. It’s been on my Life List for a while to watch a comedian live, because it turns out I have never done that before. I don’t remember why it was Mr McIntyre that received the privilege of being my first comedian (there may have been alcohol involved when purchasing the tickets), but he seemed like a pretty safe bet.