Alan Carr is now well on the way to the rarefied status of a national treasure, but this autobiography goes back to his roots as an awkward teenager and fledgling standup comedian. I was interested to read it after watching the entertaining sitcom Changing Ends which is loosely based on Carr's experiences of growing up in Northampton in the shadow of his father Graham who was manager of Northampton Town Football Club (aka the Cobblers) in the 80s and took them to the dizzy heights of the third division for a season.
The book covers this formative period of being bullied for being effeminate and rubbish at sports, before moving on to studying (in the loosest sense of the word) for a drama degree, a series of dead end call centre jobs, a bit of travelling before finally knuckling down and discovering his calling as a standup comic and chatty man.
The early chapters are almost painfully honest, but the latter sections lose a bit of steam with some star struck celebrity anecdotes and occasional waspish asides, and a steady rise to his own stardom, finishing as he is about to start hosting his breakthrough show The Friday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins, who has now turned out to be a massive wrong 'un.
An entertaining read in the most part.
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