Glossy new book of the comic's work

Joe Lycett is to release a ‘a colourful, shiny nonsense art book’ this autumn.

The comic says the title,  Joe Lycett’s Art Hole, ‘tells the extraordinary and completely unbelievable stories behind my paintings’.

In an email to fans, the stand-up explained: ‘I’ll be sharing more about the content of the book as the next few months go on but let’s just say it includes an unreleased painting I’ve done which I consider to be my greatest ever artwork, and which my friend Greg James looked at and said, "fucking hell, it’s genuinely beautiful, what a fucking piece".

Released on September 26,  the book features portraits of celebrities such as Harry Styles, Robert Peston, Nadine Dorries and Elaine Paige and will sell for £35.

There will also be 1,000 copies of a £130 special limited edition version, with  foiled cover and extra material including an exclusive A5 print, ‘Alan Sugar’s bank statement’ and Jacob Rees Mogg as an inflamed appendix.

The book is published by Trapeze, and some of the blurb reads: ‘Inside Joe Lycett's Art Hole you'll find his greatest artistic achievements and, for the first time, the salacious stories behind the portraits, some of them completely and utterly unbelievable.

‘Read how His Royal Highness Prince William, The Prince of Whales, sat for an exclusive portrait whilst extolling the virtues of the Phillips Air Fryer Series XXL Connected, which has 16 different cooking functions including fry, bake, grill, roast, dehydrate, toast, defrost, reheat, ferment and more. 

‘Enjoy a never-before-seen portrait of Priti Patel, done in a break from her hobby as one of the United Kingdom's greatest fly-tippers. And delight in the gob-smacking story of then-Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey averting an International Incident at Cadbury World.’

News of the book comes as Late Night Lycett returned to Channel 4 on Friday, in which the comic revealing how he had planted some fake news stories across the media.

They were: a five-a-side footballer having a bruise on his thigh that resembled Prince Harry’s face, research showing men from Birmingham have the longest penises in the UK, a mural of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz that was declared to be a Banksy, and a statue of H from Steps being erected in Cowbridge. Aside from this last one, all allegedly happened in Lycett’s Birmingham hometown.

The is also guest editing The Observer’s New Review magazine today, putting more focus on the city.

He interviewed Robbie Williams for the issue and painted the cover depicting a bull – as in the Bull Ring Centre – alongside the words ‘reduced to clear’ – a reference to the huge budget cuts the overspending city council is having to make.

The issue includes an essay from journalist and cultural critic Nathalie Olah on the state of the city and contributions from comics Munya Chawawa, Katherine Ryan and Janice Connolly.

Lycett said ‘When I was asked to be the guest editor for this edition of the New Review I was astonished. "What is that?" I said to my PR manager whilst pouring Black Tower Pinot Noir into empty Châteauneuf-du-Pape bottles.  But then after my high-intensity prescription antihistamines kicked in, I agreed. 

‘My issue is all about my home town of Birmingham including an exclusive cover painted by me. Don’t worry, things will be back to normal next week.’

Last year, Lycett released a limited-edition art book celebrating  ‘the beautiful British bin’, featuring 78 images of his favourite receptacles and six original paintings of bits of trash. At the time he said: '‘I am obsessed with bins and have thousands of pictures of them. I’m not well. I hope other people also enjoy my pictures of bins.’

• Order Joe Lycett’s Art Hole from Amazon here.

Published: 13 Apr 2024