The Independent Saturday 5th May, 2012 When I read that the award-winning comedian and frenetic brainbox Russell Kane had secured a book deal for a tale about a misanthropic, anhedonistic comedy critic, my first reaction was “Really? And he doesn’t even know me that well…” I realised a few pages into the book, however, that […]
Read MoreReviewed by Julian Hall The Independent Friday, 14 October 2011 The title of Steve Coogan’s maligned live comeback tour of 2009, “Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters”, told you everything you needed to know about its variable quality. The lingering affection for the headline act, his bumptious broadcaster from Norwich, was enough to save […]
Read MoreReality is Broken By Jane McGonigal Reviewed by Julian Hall Independent on Sunday 30 January 2011 Engaging with the argument that gamers are our future feels a bit like a game itself. It’s one in which I pit my wits against the California-based alternative-reality guru and academic Jane McGonigal and her characters, the Super-Empowered Hopeful […]
Read MoreReviewed by Julian Hall Independent on Sunday 20th June 2010 Even if you consider many accounts of middle-class drug addiction as tending towards a self-imposed mess, you’d be hard pressed not to be captivated by the prose of Bill Clegg, a fallen angel (now redeemed – not least by this book) of the New York […]
Read MoreReviewed by Julian Hall Independent on Sunday, 6th June 2010 The World Cup beginning in South Africa this week is the icing on the cake of African football’s contribution to the global game. It is a contribution that was heralded so memorably by Roger Milla’s World Cup goal celebration “wiggle” in 1990, after he scored […]
Read MoreIndependent on Sunday, 14th February 2010 If you are the kind of person who generally wears (and is worn down by) a metaphorical sandwich-board proclaiming that “The End is Nigh”, then you will no doubt enjoy reading prophecies of doom, be they in works of science fiction, fantasy or in The Daily Mail. For a […]
Read MoreThe grumpy old man of comedy surveys his career Reviewed by Julian Hall Independent on on Sunday, 24th May 2009 Arthur Smith once helped me to promote a book I wrote by taking a BBC reporter for a wander around his self-proclaimed fiefdom of Balham. That he did more for my book than its publishers […]
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