All posts tagged steve coogan

CCC blogger Sam Watkins returns with his review of the most important comedy book release of the year. Image by Lucy Wragg, read more about her in our next CCC blog post.  

From my rather garbled and gushing pre-amble to the release of ‘I Partridge, We need to talk about Alan’, it might have appeared that I had a certain predilection for Norfolk’s finest ever broadcaster. Even so, my intention is to write a measured and objective review, trying to steer clear of the hyperbole that seems to have become the most prominent feature of my blog posts for this website thus far.

‘I, Partridge’ is the funniest book I, or anybody else has/have ever read in my/their entire lives.

It’s absolutely everything any Alan Partridge fan could possibly want. Intimately personal information shrouded in awful euphemism, numerous references to Bill Oddie and Sue Cook, consumer advice on Head-mics….I don’t think a book has ever left me so completely satisfied.

Via lost evenings in Tokyo with Sally Gunnell and a crippling Toblerone addiction, to the Titan of North Norfolk radio we know today, Steve Coogan, Armando Ianucci, Neil Gibbons and Rob Gibbons have imagined a very complete history for Alan Partridge. From his ‘neglect’ as a child, his unfulfilled University days, a doomed marriage to the ever enigmatic Carole to the unbearably funny story of the day his son Fernando was born.

The book has wide enough appeal to stand on its own as a parody of the ubiquitous “Celebrity autobiography” and there are genuine laugh out loud moments on every page. That said, those who have ingested everything that Alan Partridge has to offer, from ‘On The Hour’ all the way through to ‘Mid-Morning Matters’ will probably take more enjoyment from the exaggerated recollections of stories from ‘I’m Alan Partridge’ and the fleshing out of some of his most memorable TV show ideas (see chapter 23 – Swallow). Either way, in terms of comic writing, it doesn’t get any better.

If I had a criticism, it’s that I wanted more on Alan’s childhood and school days. As a character for whom it is incredibly difficult to feel any empathy toward, there are moments in the early chapters when you (almost) feel genuinely sorry for him and I felt this could have been given more than just a couple of chapters. Not really a criticism, I just felt there was much more to learn about why Alan is, the way Alan is.

Considering Alan Partridge is a character developed for a radio show almost twenty years ago, the writing is still incredibly fresh and the book, if anything, seems a wonderful way to celebrate one of Britain’s finest ever comic creations.

Lovely stuff.