'Audience with' format

David Mitchell is to hit the road for a series of live appearances.

The comedian will be appearing live in support of his new book, Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse, a compilation of his Observer columns and new material.

His publisher, Faber & Faber, confirmed that he would not simply be reading from the book, described as 'a tour of the absurdities of modern life', and that his appearances would have an 'audience with' format instead.

Five initial dates have been confirmed in the run up to Christmas, with the possibility of more to be added in November and more planned for literary festivals in spring.

The existing dates are: Topping & Company booksellers in Bath, November 10; Dulwich Books in London, November 11; The Royal Geographical Society in London, November 12; the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill November 22; Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, November 25. Tickets for Bath and Bexhill are already on sale. (Bexhill link)

Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse is Mitchell's third book, following 2009's This Mitchell and Webb Book, written with Robert Webb, and his 2012 autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir.

The latter was part of a two-book deal Mitchell signed with Harper Collins and its imprint Fourth Estate which also included an agreement for him to write a novel.

Mitchell will shortly be seen reading on screen as a guest narrator on the second series of Crackanory on Dave this autumn. And he is expected to return as a team captain on BBC One's Would I Lie To You? when its eighth series airs next year.

By Jay Richardson

Published: 21 Jul 2014