Humour

THE 3RD DEGREE: SERIES 11

by David Tyler & Steve Punt

read by Steve Punt

running time 3hrs

A quiz show hosted by Steve Punt where a team of three university students take on a team of three of their professors. The show is recorded on location at a different university each week, and it pits three undergraduates against three of their professors in a genuinely original and fresh take on an academic quiz. In this series, the universities are Southampton, Cumbria, Brasenose College (Oxford), Anglia Ruskin, Northampton and Nottingham Trent.

4 AT THE STORE

by Miscellaneous authors

read by Miscellaneous

running time 11hrs 30mins

Stand-up fans rejoice - this cracking collection contains a whole seven series of top-drawer comedy, recorded live at London and Manchester's legendary Comedy Store and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Enjoy over eleven hours of laughs from some of the biggest and best stand-ups on the circuit, hosted by three fantastically funny compères: Simon Bligh, Ross Noble and Adam Hills. Included here is an A-Z of top-drawer comic talent, from Richard Ayoade, John Bishop, Alan Carr, to Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Dara Ó Briain, Lucy Porter, Gina Yashere and a host of other peerless performers. It's all the fun of a comedy club, without the need to leave your armchair.

AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY: BREAKING STEREOTYPES OF MODERN AFRICA

by Dipo Faloyin

read by Dipo Faloyin

running time 9hrs 30mins

You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife. In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective, creating a fresh and multifaceted view of this vast continent. To unspool this inaccurate narrative, Africa Is Not a Country looks to a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of white saviourism and harmful stereotypes in popular culture.

BACK STORY

by David Mitchell

read by David Mitchell

running time 9hrs 30mins

David Mitchell, who you may know from Peep Show or his opinionated column in The Observer or as one half of That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life including meditations on: the pain of being denied a childhood birthday party at McDonalds, why it would be worse to bump into Michael Palin than Hitler on holiday and that he’s not David Mitchell the novelist, despite what David Miliband might think.

CALL ME MRS. BROWN

by Brendan O'Carroll

read by Brendan O'Carroll

running time 9hrs 30mins

Before he became the nation's favourite Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll was known, simply as Brendan. He's the youngest of eleven children from a poor family in Dublin, he's a boy whose father died when he was just nine years old; he's someone whose hope and determination meant he never gave up. Throughout the tough moments, Brendan always had humour and a good story to tell alongside the ever-guiding inspiration of his own Mammy, a formidable figure who became Ireland's first female Labour MP, all whilst raising eleven children by herself. Just like the show so brilliantly expresses, Brendan's first autobiography, the real story behind the man who became Mrs Brown, combines uplifting heart, warmth and hilarity.

DANNY WALLACE AND THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

by Danny Wallace

read by James Murphy

running time 2hrs

Danny Wallace heard about a manhole cover, on a small street, in a small town, tucked away in a remote part of Idaho. The manhole cover had been declared the Centre of the Universe. And the name of the town? Wallace. It was a cosmic coincidence Danny couldn't resist... Quick Reads.

ED REARDON'S WEEK: SERIES 1 - 4

by Andrew Nickolds & Christopher Douglas

read by Miscellaneous

running time 11hrs

The first four series of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 comedy. Welcome to the world of Ed Reardon, writer and liver of life at the cutting edge—well, above The Cutting Edge, in a one-bedroom flat over a hairdresser's in Berkhamsted that he shares with his his trusty feline companion, Elgar. Divorced, impoverished and embittered, he spends his time penny-pinching, freeloading and ranting at the modern world and the 'moronic 12-year-olds' who run the media. In these four series, we follow him as he tries to conquer the Christmas book market; falls in love; finds himself in hospital; attempts to secure his inheritance and comes up with a once-in-a-lifetime idea—only to forget where he put it...

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH CLERGY

by Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie

read by Bob Rollett

running time 5hrs 30mins

Judge not, lest ye be judged. This timeless wisdom has guided the Anglican Church for hundreds of years, fostering a certain tolerance of eccentricity among its members. This book celebrates the cream of the crop: the drinkers (and publicans), the inventors, the lion tamers, the suicidal missionaries, and even one piratical Archbishop. But despite their sometimes bizarre behaviour, many in the clergy saw the church as their true calling.

GIN O'CLOCK

by The Queen of Twitter

read by Elizabeth Charles

running time 5hrs 30mins

Taking in the momentous events of 2012, including the Jubilee celebrations and preparations for the London Olympics, these diaries reveal the seldom-seen workings of state and reveal how an octogenarian is quietly ruling the world and still has time for a gin.

HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR: SELECTED TV SOUNDTRACKS & MORE

by Alan Simpson & Ray Galton

read by Miscellaneous

running time 17hrs 30mins

Over 30 brilliant BBC recordings, including TV shows, radio highlights and a wealth of previously unreleased material. Tony Hancock was one of Britain's best-loved and most influential postwar comedians. Collected here are some of the very best radio and TV episodes from Hancock's Half Hour, plus celebrations, compilations, interviews, original dramas and documentaries - many of which have never before been available on audio.

IMAGINE MY SURPRISE…: UNPUBLISHED LETTERS TO THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

by Iain Hollingshead (editor)

read by Patricia Mumford

running time 4hrs

This collection of unpublished letters to the Daily Telegraph features opinions on everything from the London Olympics to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, as well as the rather more obscure concerns voiced by ‘M’, the habitual correspondent who believes himself to be the head of MI5 but writes from an internet café in Bristol.

JAMES HERRIOT'S DOG STORIES

by James Herriot

read by Jim Swingler

running time 18hrs 50mins

A compilation of some of the best dog stories from James Herriot. Read about the dogs that have a special place in his heart, and others who only their owners could love. If you like James Herriot’s books you will love this one. If you have never read one before then this is an ideal first read.

KEVIN ELDON WILL SEE YOU NOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES 1 - 4

by Kevin Eldon

read by Miscellaneous

running time 7hrs 30mins

Comic phenomenon Kevin Eldon has appeared in almost every hit comedy series in the last 25 years, and now he's decided to take it up a notch with his very own show. It features sketches, characters, sound effects, a bit of music and a lot of messin' about - as well as his all-important cast of stellar comedy names and special guests. In the first three series, Kevin goes into space, evokes the powerful gods of Ancient Egypt, extols the wonders of drink and sneezing, and finally discovers a use for avant-garde German film director Werner Herzog. The fourth series takes a narrative turn, as Kevin broadcasts from the family stately home, complete with his artistic genius Italian wife, Alessandra; his pair of adopted sons, Jacob and Rees; and their cat, Mogg.

LAST DAYS OF THE BUS CLUB

by Chris Stewart

read by Chris Stewart

running time 7hrs 45mins

It's two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm in the mountains of southern Spain and now a local literary celebrity, he is using his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip, recalling his own first foray into the adult world of work.

MACK THE LIFE

by Lee Mack

read by Lee Mack

running time 8hrs

Where do comedians come from? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too. Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention. After a somewhat random series of jobs, which included being Red Rum’s stableboy and a bingo hall barman, it was as a Great Yarmouth holiday camp entertainer that he had his first crack at telling jokes on stage. Now, as Lee Mack, he’s one of our best loved and most successful comedians, both as a live stand-up and on television. In Mack the Life, Lee tells the story of how he got there and gives extraordinary insight into what really makes comics tick. Hilarious and brilliant, it’s the kind of book which reminds you why you learned to read in the first place.

NARROW DOG TO INDIAN RIVER

by Terry Darlington

read by Steve Hodson

running time 8hrs 50mins

No-one had ever sailed an English narrowboat in the US before, but Terry and Monica Darlington and their whippet, Jim, take us on a dangerous, surprising and always entertaining journey. A thousand miles of the little-known South-East Seaboard unfold at six miles an hour- the golden marshes of the Carolinas, the incomparable cities of Charleston and Savannah, and the lost arcadias of Georgia and Florida.

OLD AGE AND HOW TO SURVIVE IT

by Edward Enfield

read by Bob Rollett

running time 2hrs 30mins

Old age comes to us all, and Edward Enfield wittily advises on how to survive its trickier obstacles, not least the people who suggest you must ‘do something’. One of the great delights of the golden years is doing less – from giving up DIY and ambition, to not inviting people to dinner!

PAM AYRES - DOWN THE LINE

by Pam Ayres

read by Pam Ayres

running time 3hrs

Blending Pam’s characteristically sharp wit with her warm, comic observations on everyday life, this hilariously funny collection is a must-have for seasoned fans and first time listeners alike. It also includes some of Pam’s more reflective poems including the title poem, Down the Line, which she wrote for the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War.

QUICKSAND TALES: THE MISADVENTURES OF KEGGIE CAREW

by Keggie Carew

read by Jilly Bond

running time 8hrs 15mins

Keggie Carew has an unerring instinct for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, of putting her foot in it, and making a hash of things. From the repercussions of a missing purse, to boiling a frog, or the holiday when the last thing you could possibly imagine happens, Keggie has been there. Here she shares her most embarrassing, awkward, uncomfortable, funny, true, terrible and all-too-relatable moments.

READING ALLOWED

by Chris Paling

read by David Thorpe

running time 8hrs 30mins

This is the true story of a small-town library, its staff, and the fascinating group of people who make up its ‘regulars’. We meet characters who are tragic, some amusing, some surreal, but together they paint a picture of the world we live in today, and of a library’s vital place within it.

THE SECRET TEACHER: DISPATCHES FROM THE CLASSROOM

by Anonymous

read by Paul Vates

running time 8hrs 30mins

In this vivid account of his first few years in the classroom, The Secret Teacher grapples with the complicated questions of how to teach, how we learn - and how little he actually knows. He celebrates the world’s greatest stories, the extraordinary teachers he has worked with, and the kids: bolshy, bright, funny and absolutely electric. The result is a book brimful of wit, insight and tenderness.

TALES OF THE COUNTRY

by Brian Viner

read by Bob Rollett

running time 10hrs 5mins

After eight years of living an enjoyable, city life, amongst like minded friends in Crouch End, Brian and Jane Viner move to deepest Hertfordshire with their three children. But why? Would they ever be more than a city family chasing a rural idyll?

UNDER THE PAW: CONFESSIONS OF A CAT MAN

by Tom Cox

read by Bob Rollett

running time 8hrs

Tom Cox, former rock critic, confesses that he is a closet cat lover. In fact, he owns seven of them. A hilarious and, at times heart-breaking story of feline obsession.

THE VIRGINIA MONOLOGUES: WHY GROWING OLD IS GREAT

by Virginia Ironside

read by Brenda White

running time 6hrs

Let Virginia Ironside take you through the top twenty reasons why getting old is good for you - and let the young and dumb keep their callow youth!

A WALK IN THE WOODS

by Bill Bryson

read by Richard Ratcliffe

running time 10hrs

The author and a friend hike the 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous footpath in the world which stretches along the East Coast of the United States through some of the most arresting landscapes in America. Their experiences are told in the author's hilarious style.

YE GODS!: TRAVELS IN GREECE

by Jill Dudley

read by Janet Alexander

running time 8hrs

A light and humorous read about Jill Dudley's travels around Greece, touching on the myths and legends of the old gods and how the early Greek Orthodox Church emerged from its pagan past. It is also about her own, sometimes comical, search for enlightenment.