Friday 10 April 2015

AUTOBIOGRAPHY REVIEW: We Need to Talk About... - Kevin Bridges

Release Date: 09/10/15
Publisher:  Penguin UK

SYNOPSIS:

This is the comic autobiography of 2014. A comedian's autobiography? I wonder if he's ever used humour to deflect from his insecurities? To avoid being bullied? Is there heartache behind the humour? I wonder if he's a manic-depressive? Tears of a clown? Yes, all of that. Discover the hilarious life-story of one of Britain's best-loved comedians in Kevin Bridges' brilliant memoir. 'First of all, I have never written a book before, you probably haven't either, so there we have it; a connection is established between reader and writer...' Aged just 17, Kevin Bridges walked on stage for the first time in a Glasgow comedy club and brought the house down. He only had a five-minute set but in that short time he discovered that he really could earn a living from making people laugh. Kevin began life as a shy, nerve-ridden school-boy, whose weekly highlights included a cake-bombing attack by the local youths. Reaching his teens, he followed his true calling as the class clown, and was soon after arrested for kidnapping Hugh Grant from his local cinema on a quiet Saturday night. This was a guy going somewhere - off the rails seeming most likely. Kevin's trademark social commentary, sharp one-liners and laugh-out-loud humour blend with his reflections on his Glaswegian childhood and the journey he's taken to become one of the most-loved comedians of our time. '...Hopefully now you'll take this over to the till and I can accompany you for the next wee while. That's the benefit of book shops, reading the little bit and then deciding if the author deserves to be part of your carefully selected 3 for 2 deal, or part of your plane journey, train journey, your next bath, your next shite.'



REVIEW:

I originally came across Kevin on one of the Comedy Channel’s shows and his sense of humour hit me as a lot of the stuff he was saying about growing up struck a chord. He’s funny, his humour takes a poke at life so I thought I’d give his book a go and whilst it did contain some jokes, Kevin really took a long honest look at his life and laid some quite emotional things bare for the reader.

Its written pretty well and whilst you can tell he had a hard time starting, as the book progresses the patter becomes more of a friendly chat with each subsequent chapter. All round, a book that I was pleased I read and whilst I don’t go through many autobiographies, this one more than showed me I should give a few more a go.


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