THE BEST STAND-UP AND COMEDY ROUTINES...
Behind the scenes with the artists and routines that revolutionised comedy
What is the connection between Pete and Dud, Mark Thomas, Steve Coogan and Eddie Izzard?
Which Nobel Prize -winning playwright wrote pauses into his sketches for Peter Cook because he was paid by the minute, not the gag ?
The answer to these and many other questions can be found in a revealing new book by comedy insiders Mike O’Brien - the man who signed Bill Hicks in the UK - and award-winning critic & journalist Bruce Dessau.
With more than thirty exclusive transcripts and in depth profiles, this book promises to be this Christmas’s comedy read.
Based on a best selling comedy CD released by O’Brien’s comedy label Laughing Stock, the book lays bare the genius of Pete & Dud, Eddie Izzard, Lenny Henry, Rory Bremner, Steve Coogan, Monty Python, Bill Hicks and many more.
“ When you see these scripts simply as words on a page, you fully appreciate the skill of the comics who wrote and delivered them. Combined with the in depth -profiles and interviews with the artists that shaped modern comedy this book is a must for any fan of comedy” says editor Mike O Brien
And as a comedy first, the book comes with a CD containing live routines by all of the artists.
From Rowan Atkinson’s ground-breaking performance with the Pythons in ‘The Four Yorkshiremen’ to Bill Hicks’s ‘Pornography’ and Mark Thomas’s ‘The War On Terror’ this 13 track CD traces the history of comedy in the UK from the mid-sixties to the millennium.
Mike O’Brien co-founded Laughing Stock Productions which has become the leading independent producer and distributor of comedy recordings in the UK.
Bruce Dessau has written several books on comedy and is currently the comedy critic for the London Evening Standard.
Available on Amazon and all good bookshops.
A Unique Comedy Box with Bumper Book and Audio CD
Published by Constable on 16th October 2006 at £14.99
Compiled by Mike O’Brien with profiles
and interviews by Bruce Dessau
