Michael McIntyre has become Britain's biggest comedy star. His debut stand-up DVD was the fastest selling of all time, only to be eclipsed by his second that sold over 1.4 million copies and was the 2009 Christmas number one. He hosts his own BAFTA nominated BBC1 series, "Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow", and won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-up in 2009 following his record breaking fifty-four date Arena tour. But how did he get there? Michael reveals all in his remarkably honest and hilarious autobiography "Life and Laughing". His showbiz roots, his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, his fish-out-of-water move from public to state school and his astonishing journey from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to selling half a million tickets on his last tour. Michael's story is riveting, poignant, romantic and above all very, very funny.
- "The months following were a bit of a whirlwind. My dad was cremated, and Holly brought his ashes over from America. We didn’t really know what to do with them. Holly, Lucy and I decided to go to Scotland, where his parents were originally from before emigrating to Canada. We went to Edinburgh and wa"
- "‘Memoirs’ just sounds a lot sexier than ‘autobiography’. Not all words are better in French. ‘Swimming pool’ in French is piscine, which obviously sounds like ‘piss in’. ‘Do you piscine the piscine?’ was as funny as French lessons at school ever got for me. Only writing BOOB on a calculator using 80"
- "I was in Montreal for the Comedy Festival a few years ago. Montreal is split into French- and English-speakers, and as you can imagine, they don’t really get on. My first introduction to French in Montreal was an unfortunate incident in my hotel shower. When the letter ‘C’ is on a tap, I normally fe"
- "Steve was pretty much the same age as my mum and looked almost identical to Patrick Swayze. Much to his embarrassment, his mother entered him into a Patrick Swayze look-alike contest by sending in a photo. He came second. I genuinely don’t know how he didn’t win; either it was rigged or the real Pat"
- "I left Arnold House and headed to a public school called Merchant Taylors’ in a place named Northwood, outside London in Middlesex. My parents thought it would be good for me to go to a school in the sticks, lots of beautiful grounds, sports and fresh air. It took me ages to get there, and when I go"
- "At some time during my first year, I watched a Woody Allen film. I had never heard of Woody Allen, but this was the epiphany I had been waiting for. It wasn’t even one of his better films – I think it was Crimes and Misdemeanors – but I was transfixed. I then rented every one of his films every day "
- "The holy grail of stand-up for a new act is playing the Comedy Store in Piccadilly Circus. The Comedy Store has an amazing history. Everyone starts out at the Store: Lee Evans, Jack Dee, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Eddie Izzard, Clive Anderson. Robin Williams has played there. For me, just walki"
- "The truth is, I wasn’t very good. I couldn’t compete with Jimmy and Daniel. Daniel was honest and open and naturally funny, and Jimmy had wonderfully written material. I was naturally funny, but didn’t know how to replicate this onstage, and my material was average. If I were an agent, I wouldn’t ha"