Some nice bathroom writing from the very funny Black Bag (2026) by Professor Luke Kennard: Her soap appears to have been carved raw out of the side of a cliff; shampoo and conditioner in two enormous apothecary bottles I cannot imagine transporting for refills. Perhaps they are left outside the front door and refilled by… Continue reading Horse-Drawn Vat
There’s no smoke in the room now, so you don’t go home stinking. Here’s a lengthy recorded chat with the charming and knowledgeable David Eastaugh of the C86 Show. We mostly talk about the Iceman and Melt It! but also about the changes we’ve witnessed on the comedy scene, a little bit about music, and… Continue reading C86
There are two things that I have always observed to be in singular accord: supercelestial thoughts and subterranean conduct. — Montaigne Now you’re talking.
It’s the second day of August 2026. I’m a writer and a happy man. I live in Glasgow with this weird gal. Projects I’m getting my shit together for a screening Melt It! The Film of the Iceman at the beautiful Cameo Picturehouse in Edinburgh. It’s on Saturday 8th August at 2:30pm if you’d like… Continue reading Nowness: August 2026
Cartwright and Wringham have given us a fine portrait here, quirky and absurd, human and moving. While it focuses on the Iceman the film also captures a particular era of comedy performance perfectly, and allows for its participants to reminisce fondly, and very articulately, on the hidden depths of the absurd. An extremely kind review… Continue reading A Fine Portrait
The comic novels I love are books that could just as easily have been tragedies. It is simply that the author has decided it’s funny. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s advice about writing. I’m not interested. I read a lot and I have my own voice. Fuck you. But I’ll make an… Continue reading Greer
I like what Stewart Lee said about Bill Oddie today: So sorry to hear of the death of Bill Oddie, a towering polymath who could have been a great jazz musician, but settled for being a brilliant comedian. The brutality of some of the Goodies‘ skewering and surreal social satire makes some episodes of their… Continue reading Oddie
Off we go then. Two silly boys, one niche film, eight days, north to south. Vroom-vroom. 12th July – Dundee A successful first screening, a gentle afternoon one to get things started. Mark drives the four of us — our partners, Samara and Helen, join us for the Scottish leg — from Glasgow to Dundee… Continue reading Wonderboys: A Tour Diary
LONDON: Saturday 22nd August 2026, 2:30pm, The Betsey Trotwood. I’ll be providing the voices of Derek Jarman and Samuel Pepys for Dickon Edwards’ salon about diaries. Victoria Redfern is bringing the Woolf. Travis Elborough hosts. FREE TICKETS.
Hey Rob, Greetings from the wilds of Canada. We came upon a waterfall during our camping trip this week and thought it a perfect occasion to tuck into a few pages of Tether — falling water being, of course, a central theme of this fantastic book. Hope your summer has some wet and wild experiences… Continue reading Wet and Wild
Alan Moore recites the pantheon in his new book. Munnery must be in the rest of that crew. People of taste will buy Dowie’s recent book and one-man play.
Ah, lovely! Issue 19 of New Escapologist is out now. New Escapologist is the magazine for pleasure seekers, dreamers, shoestring iconoclasts, tinkerers, skivers, believers, and dilettantes. We’re for those who don’t like conventional employment, unthinking consumerism, meetings, marketing, and default mediocrity. Join our mass exodus and be free. In this edition, we ask if “Do… Continue reading…
What’s seedy and goes up and down? A bagel in a kangaroo.
It’s here. The tenth anniversary edition of seminal text Escape Everything! in paperback. I’ll spend the next few days gradually shipping the copies ordered through the Kickstarter campaign. I should have some extra copies though, so if you’d like one here’s where to get it. The main idea behind bringing the book back into print… Continue reading Happy Anniversary! 🥳
It’s the first day of June 2026. I’m a writer and a happy man. I live in Glasgow with a small pikachu-like creature. Projects We’re taking Melt It! The Film of the Iceman on a ten-date summer tour. You should come. What better way to cool down? This will be ace. Also, check out our… Continue reading Nowness: June 2026
Touring comedian Doug Stanhope sells “stolen hotel bibles” as merch. He signs them. Nothing says ‘Fuck Easter!’ like skipping the collection tray and purchasing a Bible stolen from some horrible road hotel!
Top this: I received your wonderful piss-yellow book by mail the other day, and read it in one sitting, or perhaps I should say one lying, as I was very much horizontal in the act. What a treat! My incessant giggling was keeping my bed partner awake and so I was forced onto the couch… Continue reading Your Wonderful Piss-Yellow Book
Acceptance at last in my old stomping grounds. Nominated for Best Feature Documentary at Wolverhampton Film Fest.
A great philosopher once claimed that there are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who entertain and the ones who observe. At the time of this statement — which came via Britney Spears’ 2008 hit ‘Circus’ — Edwards had been keeping his online diary for over a decade, proving to be the… Continue reading The main event and the shrewd observer
There’s a pub called the Coy Carp Inn. I think it’s supposed to be a pun. “Coy” as in “shy” instead of “koi.” But it might just a spelling mistake. If you were going for a pun, you’d just call the place “The Coy Carp,” ideally with a picture of a bashful-looking fish in the… Continue reading Koi Fiasco
You just know there’s someone out there who thinks it’s a “can of lini beans.” Is it you? Have you found this by googling? Leave a comment. I want to know you.
There’s some truly excellent bathtub writing in Service, John Tottenham brand new novel. Here, illegally probably, is a sample: I slid into the tub as it was filling up and once submerged increased the flow of hot water until almost boiling. Then, and only then, did I know something resembling contentment. It is my duty… Continue reading Don’t Your Hands Get Wrinkled?
This funny cartoon by fine artist and producer of direct-to-landfill tat David Shrigley has strong Mister Bob vibes.
Stephen King lives with his wife in Maine. Bangor? Well, they do have three kids together.
What did the egg say to the tattie scone? We’re on a roll.