Books
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‘I WADDLE OFF INTO A CAFÉ AND WRITE FREELY AND STUPIDLY’ Hitlist THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS*
✽✽ Alan Bissett and Doug Johnstone Two of Scotland’s young literary talents discuss and read from their vivid works. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Thu 3 Dec. ✽✽ Bernard MacLaverty The prolific Glasgow-based Ulsterman chats about his favourite verse. Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh, Thu 3 Dec. ✽✽ Neil Oliver The much- mimicked telly historian scribbles on copies of his all- encompassing A History of Scotland. Waterstone’s, Edinburgh, Sat 5 Dec. ✽✽ Alasdair Gray Here comes the launch of A Gray Play Book, which features some short plays, an unused opera libretto, a film script and excerpts from the Lanark storyboard. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 8 Dec. ✽✽ Don’t Eat the Mic An evening of poetry performance in association with ToadinMud.co.uk. Tchai Ovna, Glasgow, Wed 16 Dec. ✽✽ The Golden Hour A cabaret night par excellence with Rodge Glass and Anneliese Mackintosh among the literary types appearing. Forest Café, Edinburgh, Wed 16 Dec. ✽✽ Tim Key See preview, left. Invisible Dot. ✽✽ Cathi Unsworth With Bad Penny Blues, Unsworth cements her reputation as she delves into the oft-murky world of ‘60s London. See review, page 37. Serpent’s Tail. ✽✽ CJ Box A US star who is set to make waves on this side of the puddle with a stirring crime tale, Three Weeks to Say Goodbye. See review, page 37. Corvus. ✽✽ Oliver Postgate The small-scale TV animator behind Bagpuss and Noggin the Nog has his posthumous memoirs published. See review, page 37. Canongate.
Turning point
It’s been a whirlwind year for poet and stand-up Tim Key, what with him grabbing with the biggest prize in comedy. Brian Donaldson hears him dispel a few myths
C ountering the many positive aspects to this digital age, there are the odd downsides which spoil it for everyone. When Tim Key recently perused his Wikipedia page, he was aghast to see some glaring errors. So, for the record, he will not be collaborating with Banksy and RZA on a new rap version of Wagner’s Parsifal and it’s safe to assume that the ITV sitcom he is reputed to be starring in about an SAS officer suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and the plans of NASA to rocket some of his poems to Mars in a ‘culture capsule’ are quite probably a little off the mark. ‘I’ve got a slight problem with that page because there’s someone who tinkers with it. I don’t think it’s one of my friends, I don’t think its vindictive, it’s someone well-meaning and just having a bit of fun, but there’s a swathe of it that’s not true. Some are obvious falsehoods while others make you wonder; when there’s stuff in there that’s not quite true, you start to question everything.’ What is undoubtedly true is that 2009 has seen a turning point in Key’s career. In August he starred in Tom Basden’s very funny play, Party, about a bunch of clueless political campaigners, while his own show, The Slutcracker, beat off competition from Russell Kane and Jon Richardson to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award. A new BBC4 series of We Need Answers (the game show he appears in alongside Mark Watson and Alex Horne) is underway and he is frantically writing the Christmas special for his Radio 4 comedy, All Bar Luke. And he has just published Instructions, Guidelines, Tutelage, Suggestions, Other Suggestions and Examples Etc, a
36 THE LIST 3–17 Dec 2009
comic book which relies as much on the design from Ryan Ras as it does on Key’s wildly inventive and highly hilarious writing brain. ‘It’s much like the (Edinburgh) show really, where I waddle off into a café and write freely and stupidly for an hour and file that away. Gradually over a year it all slowly forms into this desperate pit of material which I then try to crowbar into a beautifully designed book.’ So, within we get an inventory of ‘What’s Been Inside Anne’s Mouth Just Recently’, ‘Snippets from a Conversation Between an 18-Year- Old Plumber and a Vicar’ and ‘Some Thoughts on the Consequences of Banning Stoves’. It has the urbane surrealism of Woody Allen’s writing in his 70s books such as Without Feathers and Getting Even though Key cites Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Tony Hancock and Blackadder among his formative influences.
Heading off to Sydney in January for a fortnight of Party, Key is determined to return to Edinburgh next August. But will he do as so many others have in the past and show up as the holder of the biggest prize in comedy to simply do a couple of dates at a bigger venue? ‘We’re looking at the Castle at the moment,’ he jests. ‘We usually decide in about January and see where I am and if I have half an hour of new stuff and a vague idea of how that could work in a show. I really, really want to go because I love doing it, but there’s no point in going with something half-cooked.’
Instructions, Guidelines, Tutelage . . . is out now published by Invisible Dot.