Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
Harry Hill has been one of my favourite comedians for a long time now, and I was excited to see that he had managed to transfer his comedic talents to primetime TV without too much compromise with TV Burp.
Of course when you get to the point of being part of Saturday tea-time viewing, nearly every opportunity for merchandising is taken. So last year we had the compilation DVD, this year we’ll get another one of those in November, plus this book released tomorrow (8th October).
Being a fan of Harry and TV Burp I was skeptical of how the humour would translate to the Annual format. I feel I was mostly right to be wary.
The hilarious ideas are still there like the many comic mentions of Paul Burrell, the cartoon Adventures of Ant & Dec, Derek Acorah’s Spooky Tales (in the original Scouse), and Jamie’s Misery of Food. But so few of them have the same impact that they would do if delivered by Harry live or on telly.
So you get a lower laugh count than other TV Burp products, which is a shame as it makes it smack of being just a cash-in despite the list of impressive comedy writers involved.
The RRP of £12.99 is pretty steep for what it is, but you are bound to find it discounted somewhere at which point it’s a personal decision.
Posted in Books, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Sunday, October 19th, 2008
I think it’s best to start this review out with an admission of possible bias. I’ve known Mark Thomas for what must be over a decade now. From being involved in an affiliated mailing list, to running an unofficially official Mark Thomas website, and getting involved in pranks, it’s been an interesting, fun and enriching friendship.
The above does not however mean I will be suspending my critical faculties for this review because as Mark says in this book “[a]ll of us have psychological ticks, and mine is that I find enemies easier to work with than friends.”
“Belching Out The Devil: Global adventures with Coca Cola” is the best piece of work that Thomas has done so far. Spanning a number of years of research, travel, investigation and doing the PR dance with Coca Cola, the book picks out the real stories behind the making of a sugary drink. (more…)
Posted in Books, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
“Belching the Devil” is campaigning comedian Mark Thomas’ excellent in-depth investigation into the power wielded by a company that sells flavoured sugary water…
And we have two copies to be won – all you have to do is go to our contact page, leave your name and email address, and as the message write “I WANT THE BELCH!”
We will pick two winners at random after the closing date of 1st October 2008, and will let you know by email.
If you want to just buy the book and turn your back on lady luck, buy a copy from the link here, or get along to one of Mark’s book-signing/reading events that are listed on MarkThomasInfo.
Posted in Books, Competition, Exclusives | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Danny Wallace knows how to put together a story, and also how to live it.
He’s perfected this through such successful books as “Yes Man” (movie version starring Jim Carrey out this year) and “Join Me”. He has his adventures, works them through and writes accessible, intriguing books from them.
“Friends Like These” comes from the common crisis of people approaching thirty, asking what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what has happened to their youth. (more…)
Posted in Books, Reviews | 1 Comment »
