Stand-Up for Books: Romantic Misadventures

Posted on July 16, 2012 in Uncategorized

At the end of June we all gathered at the Water Poet in Shoreditch along with the Society of Authors to hear comedy tales of misadventures from four authors. The evening was compered by the hilarious Bim Adewunmi, a freelance journalist and writer who had us all in stitches with her own tales of romantic misfortunes and teenage road trips to a Britney and Justin Timberlake soundtrack.

First up to the stage was Deborah Frances-White, a stand-up comic best known for her West End show How to Get Almost Anyone. Deborah treated us to her short story about a woman who has just come out of a long and rather tedious relationship and is set to throw herself out into the world and hopefully into the arms of an adoring man. Changing her rather mundane name to Zahara, Deborah’s protagonist sets out to  prove to just about anyone that she is a desirable woman with a carefree attitude but sadly she realises that her wish to be extraordinary only makes her seem more extra ordinary. Deborah was really witty and her timing was perfect, she had us all laughing from the get-go.

Next up on to the stage was Matt Dunn, author of romantic comedy novels Best Man, The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook and most recently The Accidental Proposal. Matt read an excerpt from The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook whereby his protagonist is dumped by his girlfriend who wishes to travel the world and ‘find herself’. He realises that in order to ‘find himself’ and be ready for her anticipated return, he must first meet up with his past ex-girlfriend who he dumped in order to get with his current ex-girlfriend, just so he can work out where he went wrong. Matt’s reading consisted of a hilarious scenario where his protagonist plans to meet his past ex-girlfriend at Victoria Station, agreeing to be holding a magazine so she will recognise him. Only he unwisely chooses to hold The Big Issue and finds himself in a pickle when a stranger tries to buy the magazine off him. As you can tell a brilliantly timed misunderstanding ensues and the said ex-girlfriend gets a dubious first-impression of her ex-boyfriend as a down and out homeless guy who is seeking romantic advice and arguing with commuters.

The third author to regale us with tales of woeful misadventures was short story competition winner Rob Ganley, a magazine editor by day whose short stories have appeared in print, online and in audio – and he read from his iPad, a man of varying modes of media! His story of meeting an old flame ten years after their initial fling on his gap year was both humourous and poignant. Rob’s protagonist reflects on their brief encounter and how much has changed over the years, he now has a pregnant wife and his old flame laments that she wants him back – but is a short fling really enough time to know that you are meant to be with someone? This short story was both romantic, darkly funny and thoughtful which gives it all the ingredients to be a fantastic novel!

Last but by no means least, we heard from author Kate Harrison, the author of nine novels including The Boot Camp and the young adult trilogy Soul Beach, which touches on the power of social media and how it could be a tool used in the afterlife. Soul Beach is published this summer and Kate read us an exclusive excerpt. Heroine Alice logs in to a social media website after her sister has died, only to find that she has a message waiting for her from her sister. She soon makes friends with a very cool and slightly dead character called Danny and he gives her a tour of the online universe that the dead can use to contact their loved ones. The only problem with this online community is that no-one there logs out, they are eternally stuck and stuggle to come to terms with their new existence. It does sound like quite an intriguing read for the YA audience and we were all keen to hear more from the book!

Overall we had a great evening and we’re looking forward to our next event with The Society of Authors!