James Acaster – författare

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**''I don''t think I''ve ever read a book that has made me cry with laughter as much as this one. It was very difficult reading it in public as I looked like a madman'' - Richard Herring James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like TASKMASTER, MOCK THE WEEK, LIVE AT THE APOLLO and WOULD I LIE TO YOU?But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it''s disappointing a skydiving instructor mid-flight, hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, or annoying the Kettering Board Games club, a didgeridoo-playing conspiracy theorist and some bemused Christians, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.Appearing on Josh Widdicombe''s radio show to recount these stories, the feature was christened ''James Acaster''s classic scrapes''. Here, in his first book, James recounts these tales (including never-before-heard stories) along with self-penned drawings, in all their glorious stupidity.

*The Sunday Times Bestseller*The brand new memoir from James Acaster: cult comedian, bestselling author of Classic Scrapes, undercover cop, receiver of cabbages.

PERFECT SOUND WHATEVER is a love letter to the healing power of music, and how one man''s obsessive quest saw him defeat the bullshit of one year with the beauty of another. Because that one man is James Acaster, it also includes tales of befouling himself in a Los Angeles steakhouse, stealing a cookie from Clint Eastwood, and giving drunk, unsolicited pep talks to urinating strangers. January, 2017James Acaster wakes up heartbroken and alone in New York, his relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings leading him to wonder if comedy is really what he wants to be doing any more.

A constant comfort in James''s life has been music, but he''s not listened to anything new for a very long time. Idly browsing ''best of the year'' lists, it dawns on him that 2016 may have been a grim year for a lot of reasons, but that it seemed to be an iconic year for music. And so begins a life-changing musical odyssey, as James finds himself desperately seeking solace in the music of 2016, setting himself the task of only listening to music released that year, ending up with 500 albums in his collection.

Looking back on this year-long obsession, parallels begin to grow between the music and James''s own life: his relationship history, the highs and lows of human connection, residual Christian guilt, and mental health issues that have been bubbling under the surface for years. Some albums are life-changing masterpieces, others are ''Howdilly Doodilly'' by Okilly Dokilly, a metalcore album devoted to The Simpsons'' character Ned Flanders, but all of them play a part the year that helped James Acaster get his life back on track.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThis is a self-help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you.In 2019, James quit all forms of social media - covering his phone in tar and driving it to a lock-up in Rhyl, before setting up home in a castle he''d built himself called Castle Anti-Net. But when the withdrawal symptoms hit him, he realised in order to stay clean he''d have to replace everything social media gave him with three-dimensional, real-life activities. Employing the help of a mysterious, wealthy benefactor named Clancy Dellahue, and an ever-growing gang of misfits (aka the Tangfastic Crew), James found ways to replace his online friends (he joined the scouts) and spy on his exes (climbing ropes, zip lines, fake moustache) as well as anonymously bullying strangers, seeing photos of everyone''s dogs, getting public figures fired, arguing with everybody about everything, and so much more. His life is amazing and yours could be too if you buy JAMES ACASTER''S GUIDE TO QUITTING SOCIAL MEDIA, BEING THE BEST YOU YOU CAN BE AND SAVING YOURSELF FROM LONELINESS VOL. 1.

Award-winning comedian and Hypothetical host James Acaster presents the remarkable results of his researchYou may know him from his Netflix series Repertoire, his podcasts Off Menu or James Acaster''s Perfect Sounds, but before all of that James Acaster was one of the top researchers working in the UK today. In these five shows, he probes deeply into a variety of subjects - and shares his eye-opening conclusions. Accompanied by agreeable assistant Nathaniel Metcalfe (Fresh From the Fringe) and Donna from the Complaints Department (Call the Midwife''s Bryony Hannah) he tackles the big questions on the topics of Bread, Wood, Fruit, Wheels and Paint.Pilot show ''Bread'' reveals why the French struggle to come up with a snappy slogan to advertise brioche. Plus, we learn why the bagel is so trendy, and discover the hidden anti-bread propaganda pushed at children through the medium of fairytales.In ''Wood'', James goes to a lumberjack optician to find out if they can see the wood for the trees, experiments with toothpicks and termites, and investigates the difference between the xylophone and the glockenspiel - all while wearing his patented Clegg Clogs.''Fruit'' finds him disagreeing violently with Nathaniel on the subject of orange juice with bits in, recalling a formative childhood experience with a brown banana and explaining why it''s fine to bring an apple to an orchard.''Wheels'' (powered by Picnic the hamster) sees James analysing the stylistic perfection of ''The Wheels on the Bus'', refusing to divulge his roulette wheel exploits (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...) and reinventing the Ferris wheel so it''s proportionally more thrilling.And in ''Paint'', James gets his portrait painted, speculates on the identity of Banksy (top three suspects: Jamie Oliver, Gordon Banks and Nathaniel Metcalfe) and strips down to his pants to play paintball, just like on Jackass...Also included is a bonus short story, ''Sorry for Your Loss'', recorded in front of a live audience at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.Written and performed by James AcasterFeaturing Nathaniel Metcalfe and Bryony HannahProduced by Lyndsay Fenner (James Acaster''s Findings) and Kirsteen Cameron (''Sorry for Your Loss'') First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 March 2013 (''Bread''), 5-26 November 2014 (Series 1), 26 August 2012 (''Sorry for Your Loss'')