The Collected Wisdom of Frank Skinner

Dispatches From the Sofa

A riotously funny and wickedly sharp collection of Frank Skinner's columns written for The Times, along with never before seen material.

Born in January 1957 Frank Skinner grew up in Oldbury and Smethwick; West Midlands. After various jobs, he performed his first stand up gig in December 1987 and went on to win the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He is currently a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio and host of the BBC2 talk show Opinionated. 
 
Frank has written two previous books, the first of which was Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner, the top selling autobiography of 2002, spending 46 weeks in The Sunday Times Bestseller List. His second book, the Richard &amp; Judy Book Club Award-winning Frank Skinner On The Road, chronicled his 2007, sell-out return to stand-up, a decade after his then record-breaking 6,000-seater gig at Battersea Power Station.

A collection of Frank Skinner's most brilliant, biting, gut-bustingly funny columns for The Times. 
 
For several years, legendary comedian Frank Skinner wrote a weekly column for The Times. Without fail, he sat down and wracked his brain to think of something to write 900 words about, frequently giving up and writing about football instead. Dispatches from the Sofa is the brilliant result. 
 
Pondering such random topics as the potential demise of Margaret Thatcher, the love-hate relationship with your football club, the banking crisis and the evil phenomenon of Jedward, this is wit and wisdom, and a fine sense of the absurd, all rolled into one.

Love, Stand-up Comedy and The Queen Of The Night

Frank Skinner on the Road

'Quite possibly the best book about stand-up ever written' GQ

I cannot recall a book that so entertainingly lays bare the neediness, self-consciousness and weirdness of the professional comic's life. His one-liners are immaculate, too

Skinner is insightful, erudite and, naturally, funny when dissecting the craft of writing and performing successful stand-up comedy

He manages to provide a fascinating insight into the world, and the insecure mind, of a stand-up comedian . . . This is a real, honest account of life on the road. And you can't expect more from a tour diary than that

Quite possibly the best book about stand-up ever written

One of the most frank (excuse the pun), funny and best written books ever about being a comedian. Surprisingly brilliant

It's f**king brilliant. The best book about stand-up I've ever read, hands-down. So, f**king well done, I didn't want it to end. Thank you and f**k you and congratulations. Great great great great

A fascinating insight into the world, and the insecure mind, of a stand-up comedian

Frank Skinner performed his first stand-up gig in December 1987, and four years later went on to win the prestigious Perrier Award. Frank has established himself as a major name in entertainment - both in live comedy and on television. Frank has created and starred in a succession of hit comedy shows, including The Frank Skinner Show, Fantasy Football and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. Frank has attained three number one hits with the iconic football anthem Three Lions alongside David Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds. He has starred in the West End in both Art and Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis; and his critically acclaimed first book Frank Skinner was the bestselling autobiography of 2002, spending a total of 46 weeks in the Sunday Times bestsellers' list. In 2007 Frank Skinner returned to stand-up with another sell-out tour of the UK.

In this new volume of memoirs, Frank Skinner describes his experience of going back on the road doing stand-up again, after many years spent working mainly on television. His adventures on tour are by turns funny and moving as he meditates on growing older, the terrors and joys of trying to make a live audience laugh night after night and on the nature of comedy itself. 
 
For the first time we read a comedian's account, in his own words, of how his act is put together; his return to a world of dark little clubs and the strange encounters he has there. But what is perhaps most startling and original about Frank Skinner's writing is his honesty nbout not only the highs and lows of his career, but more intimate and personal issues - male sexuality and matters of the heart.

Frank Skinner Autobiography

The hilarious and shocking autobiography of one of Britain's most famous comedians, TV presenters and football fans: Frank Skinner.

Skinner tells this amazing story in a rapid and murky manner

A rattling good read, written with humour and honesty

Skinner has a pathological need to tell the truth and that can only be to the advantage of any autobiography

Skinner has written his own life story - and it's a minor masterpiece . . . although his stand-up revelations are far more fun than anything in the tabloids, it's his poignant portrait of his working-class youth that makes it a classic of its kind

Born in January 1957 Frank Skinner grew up in Oldbury and Smethwick in the West Midlands. After various jobs, he performed his first stand up gig in December 1987 and went on to win the Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He often works with his best friend and fellow comedian, David Baddiel; they hosted the incredibly popular Fantasy Football League TV programme and comedy chat show Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. Together they penned the lyrics for the 1996 English football anthem, 'Three Lions', performed by The Lightening Seeds. Frank is the host of his eponymous and highly popular TV comedy chat show, Frank Skinner's Opinionated.

A hilarious autobiography from one of Britain's funniest and most successful comedians. 
 
Born Chris Collins in 1957, Frank Skinner he grew up in the West Midlands where he inherited his father's passion for football - and alcohol. 
 
Expelled from school at 16, Frank had been nurturing a serious drink problem from the age of 14, but managed to go teetotal in 1987. 
 
Along with personal revelations, it helped turn his life around. His first television appearance in 1988 was met with raucous laughter from the audience - and 131 complaints, including one from cabinet minister Edwina Currie. 
 
He met fellow comedian David Baddiel in 1990, and the two went on to share a flat throughout the early 90s and to create the hit TV series Fantasy Football League. Winner of the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival, Skinner's comedy is a groundbreaking mix of laddish and philosophical humour, one which has helped shape the British comedy scene ever since. 
 
From The Frank Skinner Show to co-writing the football's-coming-home classic Three Lions, his career has never been boring. Here, for the first time, Frank candidly tells us of the highs and lows of his fascinating life.

Frank Skinner

Jason Hazeley

Simon Evans

Various

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Panel Game

Frank Skinner hosts the series where a celebrity panel delve into the bizarre world of online shopping 
 
Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. One Person Found This Helpful is the panel game that invites an all-star line-up to celebrate the good, the bad and the baffling. 
 
Over the course of six episodes, the celebrity guests are presented with a selection of hilarious reviews and tasked with working out what exactly is being described. Maybe they'll even have a go at writing their own reviews along the way... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as ‘Very steep and too high’, this show salutes you! 
 
In the first episode of the series, Frank and the team find out what you think about mead, Poirot and a stinky brontosaurus. With guests Simon Evans, Jessica Fostekew, Amy Gledhill and Ahir Shah. 
 
In Episode Two, we discover what you, the public, said about a dodgy snow globe and a risky waffle. Frank is joined by guests Desiree Burch, Simon Evans, Kerry Godliman and Andrew Maxwell. 
 
In the third episode, Frank and the team hear what you said about a sparkly tower, the M1 and some hot lava. The guests are Sara Barron, Marcus Brigstocke, Pierre Novellie and Laura Smyth. 
 
In Episode Four, we get your views on lemons, sharks and a very painful ladder. Frank is joined by guests Catherine Bohart, Daliso Chaponda, Shaparak Khorsandi and Ian Smith. 
 
In the fifth episode, Frank and the team find out what you thought about a scenic fishfinger and a wobbly cupcake. With guests Scott Bennett, Jo Caulfield, Simon Evans and Esther Manito. 
 
And finally in Episode Six, we discover what the world had to say about sharp carpets and a keg with a difference. Frank is joined by guests Simon Evans, Ania Magliano, Sunil Patel and Kiri Pritchard-McLean. 
 
Production credits 
Hosted by Frank Skinner 
Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simons Evans with David Tyler 
Produced by David Tyler 
Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer and Peter Tellouche 
 
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4 
www.pozzitive.co.uk 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 19 February - 25 March 2024 (Series 1) 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Frank Skinner

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