The Now Show Book of World Records

With the start of the new series of the satirical comedy radio programme The Now Show on Radio 4 tonight, it’s a good time to look at the gang’s extra-curricular activities. Handily they come in the form of a new book – The Now Show Book of World Records – which is rather a good read.

Unlike a similar book released by Mock the Week, of which Hugh Dennis is also a part, this book is actually written by the show's stars (Steve Punt, “HimOffOutnumbered”, Jon Holmes, Marcus Brigstocke and Mitch Benn). The book's humour suffers somewhat by lacking the crew's trademark delivery, but whether it's written or shouted, Punt ‘n’ Dennis and their colleagues always have something funny to say.

Of course, it’s not really about actual world records (if you want that, go the Guinness route) but it brings you records that are more useful, and ones which actually relate to everyday life, such as the “Most Ridiculous Olympic Event”, the “Least Child-Friendly Nursery Rhymes” and the brilliantly wide-reaching category, “Most Annoying Things”.

The reality is that it will be mainly already-established fans of The Now Show who enjoy this book the most and will get the in-jokes that are carried over from the radio show. But for those who don’t this is still an entertaining book. There is surprising attention to detail in the book’s layout, with the font for the “Biggest TV Detective Cliché” being the actual font used in the titles for the Agatha Christie’s Poirot TV series, and the page on Twitter set out like the website.

The self-effacing humour, the bright colours and the relatable jokes make this one of the best books you will find in Waterstone's' ‘Humour’ section, and will make a good Christmas present for any Now Show fans. (Apparently there are two million of them, so if everyone buys it the book will do pretty well.)

The Now Show is on Fridays at 6:30pm on Radio 4, or available as a podcast from the BBC wesbite.

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