Just Finished Reading: Funny Girl by Nick Hornby (FP: 2014) [342pp] 

Barbara Parker knew that she couldn’t stay in Blackpool. She could see her father’s version of her future – married to a local businessman – and wanted nothing to do with it. Barbara wanted something else, she wanted to be funny just like her hero Lucielle Ball. As a distraction, and hopefully to cool her ambitions, her father agreed to put her up for the 1964 Miss Blackpool beauty pageant thinking second or third place might be enough. When Barbara won a world of possibility opened up – in Blackpool, opening new shopping centers and the like. But Barbara would have none of it. She was off. Off to London to make her fortune. Only when she arrived did she realised that she had no clue where to start. The first thing she needed was a job. That was the easy part as she slipped into the role of the pretty girl at the perfume counter. Some of the girls used the role to pick up a husband (if they were lucky), Barbara just needed it to pay the rent. The next thing was to get an agent, but the one she got wasn’t really interested in sending her to comedy auditions. Who had heard of such a thing? Weeks went by and in an act of desperation she was sent to read for the role of a vicar’s daughter in a one-hour Sitcom on the BBC. When the writers asked her what she thought of the character she had nothing to lose – so she told them the truth. It was terrible. Then she told them why and then she told them how she would write the role. Hours later they were hooked. They had their play, they had their main character and the comedy actress known as Sophie Straw was born. 

I bought this for two reasons. One, as I often do, because it looked different. Two, it was by Nick Hornby who I’ve read before and enjoy. It was certainly different as we follow the decades long career of ‘Sophie Straw’ who broke the mold in British comedy which gave rise to the Golden Age of Comedy in the 60’s and 70’s. Fiction and history are nicely interwoven with references both to real actors and real TV shows Sophie met or competed with. ‘Swinging’ London was a fun backdrop and it did amuse me when the cast of Shopie’s show were invited round to No 10 to meet PM Harold Wilson who was clearly using them for political cache! Sophie herself was a great character (with only a faint hint of Mary Sue) who knew her own mind, was actually really funny, but who didn’t know much about life or the pitfalls of fame. Her relationships with her leading man, both of the show's writers and especially the producer (who I thought was brilliant) where a delight. Amusing throughout and with a fair number of laugh out loud moments I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this. It made a very pleasant change from the usual death and destruction reading I normal ‘consume’ as well as being wonderfully nostalgic about British Situation Comedy. Being at least familiar with British sitcoms and British humour will help but I think anyone can appreciate this charming work. Definitely recommended if you don’t mind being looked at strangely as you chuckle to yourself for a few days.