How I Escaped My Certain Fate

By Stewart Lee,

Book cover of How I Escaped My Certain Fate

Book description

Experience how it feels to be the subject of a blasphemy prosecution! Find out why 'wool' is a funny word! See how jokes work, their inner mechanisms revealed, before your astonished face!

In 2001, after over a decade in the business, Stewart Lee quit stand-up, disillusioned and drained, and went…

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Why read it?

1 author picked How I Escaped My Certain Fate as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It is part memoir, part commentary on the art of stand-up comedy, offering insight into Stewart Lee’s career as a comedian, his relationship with the industry, and his personal development as a performer. The title refers to his “escape” from the confines of mainstream comedy and a comedic style he no longer found fulfilling. It also alludes to the gaggle of bible-thumpers who managed to cancel his multi-award-winning show, Jerry Springer: The Opera.

The book is structured around transcripts of Lee’s live performances, annotated with his reflections on each routine. He occasionally and hilariously rips into his own flaws…

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