I quite clearly never learn with books written by comedians, do I? I asked for the Jack Dee autobiography for Christmas, and actually got it. Another disappointment. I like Dee, and, as a, ugh, 'student of comedy', thought it would be all about his way in to the world of stand-up with his life story thrown in.Oh no it isn't. What you get is this trend these days for stretching autobiographies out over more than one volume. Now I could understand it if it was by, say, David Attenborough; someone whose lead a full and varied life. Not for a moderately successful comedian and sitcom writer/actor.
So to pad the book out you get Dee's opinion on everything from football (he doesn't like it), to people who claim not to watch television (he doesn't like them), to people who use Facebook and Twitter (he doesn't like them).
Am I being old-fashioned, or is it wrong of me to expect an autobiography to follow a pattern as laid down by The Godfathers on their excellent single of the late 80s, ie birth, school, work, death? I know the death bit's pretty difficult as he's not dead and would find that bit hard to write anyway, what with not being dead and everything. But there's very little of his formative years, apart form being sent to boarding school (he didn't like it) and a load of stuff about working as a waiter/chef/restaurant manager (he didn't like it).
The parts where he tries stand-up on open spots at The Comedy Store, decides on his miserable persona and being contacted by his future manager, Addison Cresswell, are dashed off in the last thirty pages as though he realised he was approaching his word limit and he had to hurry things along.
If he wants a true guide as to how to do multiple autobiographical volumes then I suggest he reads Vic Reeves's Me Moir. It's a straight autobiography that's thoroughly entertaining and leaves the reader at the point he gets on the train to London in the late 70s. It also contains one of the funniest stories about attending prog rock concerts I've ever read. It's a pity he never got round to writing volume two...
So Dee's book's a wasted opportunity from the man who came up with this, one of my favourite stand-up routines ever. Made even better by the fact that I used to work for a company called Mojo, and I've eaten more Mojos than you can shake a stick at in my time.
