The Short Review No1

And Away by Bob Mortimer

I’ve just finished listening to ‘And Away’ the autobiography, written and narrated by Bob Mortimer, and I must say I loved it.

When I was 17 I happened across a new Channel 4 comedy show called ‘Vic Reeves Big Night Out’.

It was bizarre, surreal and unlike anything I’d seen before. All the kids were talking about it at school and it felt like the beginning of something. I can’t say I always understood what the hell was going on but I joined in with the rest of the viewers shouting

‘What’s on the end of your stick, Vic?’ and ‘Spin, spin, spin the wheel of justice.’

Since then Bob and Vic, or indeed Vic and Bob have been part of TV life, so I was interested to read about how it all started.

The book starts with Bob’s bypass heart surgery in 2015 and flips back to his childhood in Middlesborough, through his college years and training to become a Solicitor to one day happening across an ‘alternative’ comedian in a room above a Camberwell pub, called Vic Reeves.

The book is littered with sad, funny and heartwarming stories. My favourite anecdote was definitely the one with Jarvis Cocker and his infamous ‘bottom flick’ at Michael Jackson at the Brits. An episode I remember well. I also enjoyed hearing about his endearing relationship with his mother, the long list of things she taught him and the orange kitchen which as a child of the 70s myself, is very familiar.

Above all, this book is honest and a very enjoyable listen. Thanks Bob.

(All views are my own)

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