Pardon this small plug, but it was brought to my attention by a listener on Sunday. Apparently I am available as a podcast! Not only that, but a video podcast, and it's free! On January 17, Ebury, who publish my books, threw a special evening of comedy in a basement in London's Soho. It was a private function, there to butter up the "book trade" ie. those nice people from the book chains who decide, hmmmmmmmm, whether or not to put Ebury books in their shops. Authors love these people. That's why we all turned out to do five minutes each of comedy on a stage - perhaps no surprise that I would leap at the chance, nor my friend Stuart Maconie (although he was quite nervous, needlessly so), nor fellow authors-but-not-comedians like Will Storr or Michael Simkin, but they also had Tony Hawks, Julian Clary, Rhona Cameron and Mark Thomas on the bill. Not a bad bill for a bunch of trade freeloaders! Anyway, they filmed it, and it's now being released in instalments as a podcast.



I downloaded it this afternoon and was quite surprised at how well I kept the audience fixed in my gaze, as I have a bad habit of not making eye contact unless I spot it and correct myself. You can download me, or Danny Wallace, or Tony Hawks, or Rhona. The others will be added week by week into a podcast collection that you and your family will treasure for minutes. Free binder with podcast 1.



Actually, not your family. As these casts are marked EXPLICIT. My routine, for instance, involves me saying "fuck" a few times. (Hey, it was the roar of the crowd!) This may frighten certain horses. It's also about my top ten serial killers, which some may find in questionable taste. Hey, I didn't know it would one day be available to own - nor that somebody who knew one of Harold Shipman's victims was in the audience, but he spoke to me afterwards and said he was pleased I didn't put Shipman in my top ten. He was very nice about it, actually. To sample the controversial comedy, either go to iTunes and put "Ebury" in the podcast search, or go to the Ebury Goes Live website. (The podcast of me had not been added to that when Iast looked, but it's definitely on iTunes.)

Remember: I am not a stand-up comedian.