Stand-up Watson pens two novels

Stand-up Mark Watson has signed a two-book deal with publishing giant Random House.

His first book, Bullet Points, will be out in February 2004 with the follow-up - which he's still writing - out some time in 2005.

But Watson, a former member of the Cambridge Footlights team, who won the Daily Telegraph Open Mic award last year, says his literary success won't mean an end to his stand-up career.

He said his debut book was "about the life of a psychiatrist, written as mock memoirs with a series of case studies - but with a twist, obviously".

"It's a fairly serious novel," he added. "Not what you might expect, but hopefully not too heavy."

The new deal, struck by "very canny literary agent" will allow Watson to move to London from Cambridge and split his time between performing and writing.

Published: 21 May 2003