Performing Arts
Steve Nallon’s Ghost Stories
Prepare to scream… with horror and mirth!
By Steve Nallon – with illustrations by Scott Brooker
Comedy writer, actor and founding Spitting Image cast member Steve Nallon presents twelve Spooky Tales of Supernatural Strangeness …and Weirdly Wonderful Goings On.
‘These ghost tales are vivid, grotesque, funny and curiously believable. Compelling reading for the young, old and in-betweens… The Oath of Aesculapius is a lovely, twisty, gothic horror story about a dining club – think Bullingdon – where rich men eat rich food and – hallelujah! – get their just desserts.’ Jonny Maitland, Tonight television presenter and author of the play The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson
‘These are absolute GENIUS! Perfectly formed, individually wrapped treats, to be consumed by the fireside, a large sherry in hand, the fingers of long branches scraping across a window. A mixture of Wodehouse, Conan Doyle and fresh Nallon, these spooky tales chill and thrill in equal amounts.’ James Dreyfus, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and The Thin Blue Line
‘With a fine grasp of character and idiolect, Steve Nallon conjures up worlds with a great sense of authenticity and an even greater sense of imagination… Steve has an uncanny ability to find fresh and disturbing images – of life and death – in what we think are familiar worlds.’ Alistair McGowan, BAFTA winning comedian and actor
Phil Cool – Stand Up Chameleon
Ever wondered what happened to one-of-a-kind comedian Phil Cool?
Well now you can find out, as told by the man himself…
Young Mick, next door, played drums and bagpipes. Separately, of course, but it still annoyed our neighbours. He’d say stuff like: ‘I’m quitting my band. They’re a bunch of big-heads; not one of them is as talented as I am.’
Then one day, in the early 1970s, he said something sensible. ‘Phil, if you don’t start doing proper gigs now, you’ll be too old and it won’t happen.’ So I made a decision to get serious, leave my job and make the transition from wage to stage. By 1985, after playing every dive in the UK, I’d honed a few hours of decent stand-up and landed a series on BBC2. Game-changer. After that I landed another, which won a Royal Television Award for originality.
A third series, a special and two ITV series followed. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the phone didn’t stop ringing; my memorable face was everywhere. I had realised a dream. Then, as far as most viewers knew, I all but vanished. It’s true big theatres progressively grew smaller, but in fact I carried on walking the boards until my retirement, aged 65.
I am now 76. So here’s the book. I think you’ll like it. For a fair price, you get the head … the tale … the whole damn thing.
Pleasantly Disturbed
by Lee Stuart Evans
The late 1980s.
Robin dreams of becoming Jim Kerr, singer in the best band in the world, Simple Minds, despite having no talent whatsoever.
Fliss is a musical genius, perhaps the East Midlands’ answer to Kate Bush, if only she had more confidence.
Until rock stardom inevitably descends upon him, Robin takes a job at the local garage, where for the first time in his life he finds a sense of purpose; while Fliss, pushed by her mother, reluctantly auditions for TV’s biggest talent show and proves an instant hit.
When dozens of fast cars are stolen, old mechanic Vern recruits Robin to help him investigate suspicious goings-on at a derelict railway yard on the edge of Sherwood Forest.
It’s all a bit of a lark until somebody gets killed and Robin and Fliss find themselves entangled in a police investigation.
But does death mean the end of their romantic and musical dreams, or is it only just the beginning?
‘Alive and kicking with big laughs and an even bigger heart…’ – Patrick Kielty
‘My favourite funny writer…’ – Harry Hill
Revelations of a TV Director – Royston Mayoh
by Royston Mayoh
Beware of the Bull – PAPERBACK
(NB: THIS IS PAPERBACK VERSION. HARDBACK CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE)
The labour and the love seep from every page. For Old Molly Metcalfe, for Leopold Alcocks, for Sister Josephine, but mostly for yourself, if your hands aren’t too encumbered, gather a book or two for Jake…” – Jon Richardson
“A timely paean to a velvet larynxed, storytelling wonderman…” – Cerys Matthews
by Paul Thompson and John Watterson
Beware of the Bull – The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray is the critically-acclaimed first biography of the late, great singer-songwriter.
Admired by Neil Gaiman, Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner and Thea Gilmore, among others, Jake was one of the greatest and most original artists of the twentieth century; a unique talent and master storyteller whose songs are full of wit, poetry, irreverence and humanity.
The book reveals a life as extraordinary as his writing: difficult upbringing in the terraces of Leeds; strict Catholic education; transformative experiences in France and Algeria; time as an inspirational, unorthodox and highly creative teacher; meteoric development as a writer and performer; subsequent discovery by the BBC; Abbey Road recordings and influence on The Beatles; fame, fortune and remarkable television career… and Jake’s rejection of it all.
It is a story of a complex, charismatic and self-effacing man whom many loved, but few understood. Beware of the Bull was written with the full support of the Thackray family. Exclusive access to personal papers has allowed for the inclusion of a wealth of rare poems, photographs and ‘lost’ lyrics.
This paperback edition comes with a new foreword by the comedian Jon Richardson, an afterword by the authors, and further appendices with author Neil Gaiman and the distinguished conductor and composer Sir William Southgate.
*Among the Daily Telegraph‘s pick of the best music books of 2022*
Paperback – 512 pages
*Postage and packing included with UK orders only. Overseas customers may call us direct on 00 44 113 225 9797 during UK office hours, or order via this site and we will then reply to quote the required amount of postage for your country
