Don't Make Me laugh

LoveReading Says

Ali becomes involved with the edges of the stand-up scene while being ambiguously involved with Ed, and those readers involved in comedy or theatre will enjoy its well-grounded settings in comedy venues and the Edinburgh fringe. But this is not so much a book about stand-up as a novel about manipulative men in a deeply problematic industry — which does not punish its perpetrators, but survives on the whisper network of women. 

I found this engaging and compulsive to read, with the reader always suspecting the awful things that will occur. It saddened me a little that the plot felt like it went quite extreme in some character’s pathological behaviour, and it felt almost in desire to have the reader take the women’s stories seriously there had to be a death — (I also felt uncomfortable that in describing a character’s villainy a lot of attention was given to his weight and this body being revolting, I understand this is a very ingrained trope in fiction but it is a shame to rely on fat shaming when this is something the character does with such violence too?). The most compelling parts for me were the complicated and nuanced depiction of one of the ‘other’ women involved with a manipulative man, and exploring the questions of ‘why did you stay’ with an abuser. 

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy Mae Martin’s FEEL GOOD tv show, which explores addiction and manipulation in the stand-up world from a different angle. 

Billy Lindon

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