Review: Life & Laughing

Title: Life & Laughing: My Story
Author: Michael McIntyre
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Year published: 2010
How I got this book: Listened to it as an audiobook on the app Storytel
My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
Michael McIntyre has become Britain's biggest comedy star. His debut stand-up DVD was the fastest selling of all time, only to be eclipsed by his second that sold over 1.4 million copies and was the 2009 Christmas number one. He hosts his own BAFTA nominated BBC1 series, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, and won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-up in 2009 following his record breaking fifty-four date Arena tour.

But how did he get there?

Michael reveals all in his remarkably honest and hilarious autobiography Life and Laughing. His showbiz roots, his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, his fish-out-of-water move from public to state school and his astonishing journey from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to selling half a million tickets on his last tour. Michael's story is riveting, poignant, romantic and above all very, very funny.

My thoughts:
This is definitely a book that works extremely well as an audiobook. I laughed so much whilst listening to this, just chuckling to myself. When listening to this as an audiobook, instead of just reading it, you get to hear McIntyre read it himself. He does impressions and really engages with the reader and the story. It's probably funny reading it by yourself as well, but I would recommend listening to it if you have the chance.

If you read my blog regularly, you might have noticed that I've read quite a bit of autobiographies lately, and I am really enjoying it. McIntyre's is the funniest book I've read so far, but he is also one of my favourite comedians.

As a fan of British comedy, I knew this book would be right up my alley. Both my mother and me are fans of McIntyre, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. I have no regrets, and have also encouraged my mother to read this. It's interesting to listen to his story, because I'm used to him being this big, successful comedian, and forget that he hasn't always been that.

I don't know if this is a book everybody is going to enjoy, but if you like comedy you should at least try it. I would recommend maybe watching some of McIntyre's work before going in to this book, so you get used to his humour and style, but that's just what I'd do.

Buy this book?
Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
BookDepository (worldwide, affiliate link)
AdLibris (Norway)