Book description
Beyond a Joke is a celebration of comedy - one of the modern
world's most dominant and compelling art forms - but it is also the
story of comedy's dark side, homing in on the scandals that have
surrounded some of light entertainment's biggest stars, and telling it
as it is, featuring insight from one who was there at the time.
While Beyond a Joke explores the extremes of this world it
also addresses another question. Are comedians naturally
dysfunctional, or does the stress and pressure of the job make them
dysfunctional? Ruby Wax once told the author that she had builders in
her house who were just as emotionally unstable as most stand-up
comedians she had worked with. But they don't want to go on stage and
plead with an audience to love them.
Bruce Dessau is the only person who could write this book. From
Russell Brand slashing his chest onstage to Jo Brand trashing a
friend's car on the motorway, he has heard it all. Bruce Dessau knows
where the bodies are buried.
Bruce Dessau is the king of comedy critics. He cut his critical teeth
during the 1980s Alternative Comedy explosion in smoky rooms in the arse
end of London, from Malcolm Hardee's infamous Tunnel Club to The Comedy
Store before it became part of the respectable establishment. He has
chaired the Edinburgh Comedy Awards panel twice - once when it was the
Perrier Award, once when it was the if. comedy Award - and has regularly
served on the judging committee, spending dawn to dusk to dawn again
seeing stand-up comedy.
