Jena Friedman: Not Funny
Book review of her 'Essays on Life, Comedy, Culture, Etcetera'
23/06/2023 … Like most women in comedy, American stand-up Jena Friedman tires of the ‘inane, distracting and sexist’ journalists’ question: What’s it…
Latest 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.
Fri 23 June 2023
Thu 18 May 2023
Harold by Steven Wright
18/05/2023 … Such is the distinctiveness of Steven Wright's stand-up – the bone-dry, deadpan delivery and the philosophical enquiry of his jokes – that…
Mon 27 February 2023
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
Review of the comedian's memoir about her undiagnosed autism
27/02/2023 … It will come as little surprise to those who know Fern Brady’s comedy that her memoir is brutally, sometimes uncomfortably, honest.
Mon 12 December 2022
Can I Have My Ball Back?
Review of Richard Herring's book about his testicular cancer
12/12/2022 … Twenty years ago, Richard Herring had a hit with Talking Cock, a stand-up show all about the penis that was licensed around the world and spawned a successful…
Tue 06 December 2022
© Steve Best Comedians, by Steve Best
Review of the comic turned photographer's new coffee table book
06/12/2022 … This is, quite simply, a gorgeous book: embossed, Bible-black cover and 236 heavy, glossy pages rich with atmospheric, monochrome images of comedians at work and…
Wed 23 November 2022
The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer
Review of the comedian's first novel
23/11/2022 … It’s an instant bestseller, thanks to the celebrity of its author, but The Satsuma Complex is also a cracking page-turner, shot through with Bob Mortimer’s…
Tue 25 October 2022
The Black Dog
Review of Kevin Bridges' debut novel
25/10/2022 … In Kevin Bridges’ debut novel, The Black Dog is the name of a restaurant, though more famously – and more pertinently – it was the nickname Winston…
Thu 13 October 2022
Lenny Henry: Rising To The Surface
Review of the second volume of the comedian's memoirs
13/10/2022 … Lenny Henry’s first biography, Who Am I Again? was a cracking read: a social history of a Jamaican immigrant family in a Britain that rarely made them…