I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

By Robin Ince and Stewart Lee

Evening Standard's the Best Comedy Books of the Year
Skinny's Book of the Year

What better way to understand ourselves than through the eyes of comedians - those who professionally examine our quirks on stage daily?

Reviews for I'm a Joke and So Are You:

'Joyfully entertaining.' - Observer
'Funny, honest and heart-warming.' -Matt Haig
'a smart, laugh-out-loud book.' - Evening Standard
'Deceptively deep. Invaluable and inspiring.' - Stewart Lee

In this touching and witty book, award-winning presenter and comic Robin Ince uses the life of the stand-up as a way of exploring some of the biggest questions we all face:

Where does anxiety come from?

How do we overcome imposter syndrome?

What is the key to creativity?

How can we deal with grief?

Informed by personal insights from Robin as well as interviews with some of the world's top comedians, neuroscientists and psychologists, this is a hilarious and often moving primer to the mind. But it is also a powerful call to embrace the full breadth of our inner experience - no matter how strange we worry it may be!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Release date: Oct 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781786492609

Robin Ince

Robin Ince is a multi-award-winning comedian and author. His book Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club was based on his tour Bad Book Club. More recently he has toured Happiness Through Science, The Importance of Being Interested and is currently touring Robin Ince Is In And Out Of His Mind and Blooming Buzzing Confusion.

Reviews for I'm a Joke and So Are You

[alisony-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Robin Ince is an English comedian, but I have to admit not one that I'm familiar with. I believe he's done a lot on the live comedy circuit and the likes of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but more latterly is known for his radio work. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to getting my hands on this fairly new release, as from The Times review it sounded really interesting, and the Amazon reviews - although only in double figures - were very favourable.What did I think I was going to get out of this? Perhaps an alternative introspection on some of the most common human frailties, such as anxiety. However, I'm afraid I don't share the plaudits on the jacket cover. If I was a stand up comedian, then yes - no doubt I'd find this book particularly interesting, so perhaps that's where the fellow comedian glowing recommendations are coming from. Ince looks at many of the common emotions and characteristics that fuel comedians, such as how they find their creativity, the difficult marriage of the on-stage persona versus the real persona, and imposter syndrome. Whilst it was all well written, I have not been, nor am I planning to be any time soon, a stand up comic, therefore I can't say I overly care too much about why comedians feel the need to follow that line of work and their emotional issues (which - spoiler alert - are exactly the same ones the rest of us face). Would we devour a book on the human frailties of insurance underwriters? I therefore don't see why I should be any more interested in comedians just because some of them are well known and have bigger egos to polish.I'm not sure who this book is for, beyond those employed in the arena of comedy (that's possibly where the 43 mostly rave reviews on Amazon come from). The last chapter was probably the strongest, in which Ince looks at death and grief and examines how comedians differ in their approaches to how they use comedy to deal with (or not deal with) the death of a close relative, but it wasn't enough to win me back.2.5 stars - well written but just mind-numbingly uninteresting for large swathes for me.