James Acaster's Classic Scrapes - The Hilarious Sunday Times Bestseller

Let me start this by saying I love James Acaster. I will seriously watch anything he’s in. He might actually be my ultimate favourite comedian, which made picking up his memoir a no-brainer. 301 pages of Acaster hilarity? Yes, please. Unfortunately, being such an Acaster fan meant that I was already familiar with a large bulk of the stories recounted in this book. Having binge-listened to Josh Widdicombe’s podcast on my morning commutes to college when studying A-Levels, I greatly enjoyed Acaster’s segment on it where he would recount an embarrassing anecdote dubbed by Widdicombe and listeners as ‘Classic Scrapes’. I’d often have to stifle in my laughter so as to not look absolutely crazy when out in public. That being said, Acaster’s Classic Scrapes book does have a lot of new stories as well as old favourites he’s told on the podcast. It’s written in such an engaging tone that captures Acaster’s awkward appeal. There were so many times whilst reading that I would genuinely giggle out loud or face palm at Acaster’s terrible yet utterly hilarious life decisions. A personal favourite of mine is the story of how James jazzed up the old nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpy to the tune of the hit song ‘La Bamba’ in a music lesson and thus becoming a classroom popstar sensation. I did really enjoy James Acaster’s Classic Scrapes, it reminded me just why I adore him. There’s quite honestly never a dull moment in the book, but it’s not one I would recommend devouring in one sitting. It’s a bit of a pick-me-up read that you come back to every so often for a good laugh. Some of the stories, whether you’ve heard them on Widdicombe’s podcast or not, are just sheer comedic genius that you just want to savour them. However, I heartily recommend that you also purchase the book in audio format as I don’t think you can beat really listening to James tell them in his usual quirky, comedic manner.