Book description
'My name is Arthur Smith, unless there's anybody here from the
Streatham tax office. In which case, I'm Daphne Fairfax.' This has
been Arthur's opening line at hundreds of stand-up comedy
performances. In fact, he is neither Daphne nor Arthur. Friends and
family know him as Brian.
One of the 'alternative comedians' who shook up light entertainment
in the eighties and nineties, Arthur (and Brian) is also a
broadcaster, an opening bat for Grumpy Old Men, a West End
playwright (his plays include An Evening with Gary Lineker) and
a guest on innumerable radio and TV panel shows.
In My Name is Daphne Fairfax he reflects on the nature of
comedy and his days as a scruffy kid on the bombsites of Bermondsey, a
wild-haired undergraduate, a roadsweeper, an English teacher, a failed
rock star, a boozed-up sexual adventurer and an intensive care patient
who has been told never to drink again.
Hilarious, scandalous and rude, his memoir incorporates a tender
tribute to his parents and a vigorous account of the peculiar business
of being alive.
Arthur lives in South London with his beautiful partner Beth and is
the mayor of Balham (self-proclaimed). He is still seen on the stages
around Britain and at the Edinburgh Festival where he has been reviled,
revered and arrested. In 2007 he won the 'Spirit of the Fringe' award
and if you want to know any more about me you can buy the sodding book.
