#BlogTour ‘Don’t Make Me Laugh’ by Julia Raeside

About the book…

‘A great book, an important book that will start a discussion that needs to be had…my heart was in my mouth’ -Marian Keyes

“It’s wonderful. It’s furious. It’s true. I loved it.”- Russell T Davies

‘Exhilarating, viscerally thrilling and SO timely – an ambitious dark comedy that really delivers. Hugely smart, with so much emotional depth and resonance’ Daisy Buchanan

‘More relevant with every day that passes, Don’t Make Me Laugh is written with a comedy insider’s knowledge and a woman’s rage. Sharp, dark and outrageously funny, it’s the #MeToo book we’ve all been waiting for‘- Marianne Levy

‘This is an honest, funny, devastating and timely book‘-Jenny Colgan

‘Don’t Make Me Laugh’ balances anger and humour with the deftest of touches. It is a story about power and control and manipulation, about gendered roles in both the workplace and our personal lives, and about how women are set up in competition with each other. And ultimately – satisfyingly – it’s a story about fighting back.

Hugest of thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers and Bedford Square Publishing for the opportunity to read this incredible debut novel, which is out NOW, please get a copy from your local bookshop/library because hinestly, you will not regret it.

Julia brings her knowledge from her careers in both journalism and broadcasting to bear on the story of Ali Lauder, birthday girl, fatherless daughter, bit on the side of a man who doesn’t really love her.

But Ali is not a trope, she is clever enough to know she is a person who tries to be the person she believes you want her to be, and whilst she tries to keep her essential self safe inside, she inevitably ends up being hurt, abandoned and feeling far from good enough.

Working for digital radio station, Zone Digital, the book opens with an uncomfortable scene at a stand up comedy show where Ali has been sent by her boss to talk comedian of the moment, Paul Bonatti, into doing the breakfast show.

We have all been there, desperately trying to avoid the audience participation part of the show, willing to laugh at others but not put our most glaring flaws up for use as material by the talent.

It was an incredibly relatable start which puts you in Ali’s shoes, her discomfort is palpable and uncomfortable, the hints that not all is as it seems subtle, but picked up on if you are a woman in a world where the majority of power lies in the hands of men.

This is painfully prescient with the stories circulating onlh last week about beloved comic/national treasure , Peter Kay, and previously about ‘comedian/broadcaster/self styled guru’ Russell Brand ,James Acaster, Louis C.K and too many others to list here. Women are the currency they trade in, use for their punchlines and to validate their status.

The focus is on women in the book, female comedians and the way they ‘have’ to compromise in order to proceed. Whether that is playing an adjunct role to a male comic, male boss, or being emotionally and sexually available (consent not always sought), these are brightly hilarious and clever women being made to feel like they need to be broken down in order to know their place.

The power play is massively stacked against them.

So you almost breathe a sigh of relief that Ali doesn’t snag Paul, makes friends with the fabulous Sid, and meets Ed Catchpole, another comedian on the bill who is more than keen to establish a friendship with her.

She seems to have dodged something subtly hinted at but which pings that instinct in women that has them threading keys through their fingers whilst walking alone, has you checking everyone got in safe after a night out .

Raw, vulnerable but determined to do her best, you fiercely want to take Ali and hide her away from the predatory males that stalk her life. She becomes embroiled in the comedy circuit of London , Ali is certain she can finally make it and be seen as worthy-but is someone else using her to advance their own interests?

How long, if ever, will it take for Ali to realise that self deprecation is a masking technique to get her to let her guard down , and become material for the comic who has sidled into her life?

And how will the casual remarks, red flags pinging and survival instinct need to register before Ali and her her female friends get to the point where they strike back?

AND HOW!!!!

This is an incredible , moving and hilarious novel where the humour paradoxically intensifies the underlying angst of being the only woman in the room. What makes you vulnerable makes you a commodity and up for sale…so how do you turn this around and retain that power to elevate, warn and inform others?

It is a debut novel but never feels like it, this is writer who brings readers into her world and lets you go when she feels the story is finished-it is neither overlong nor brought up short, it is exactly the right length for Ali’s tale to be told and my regret is that now I have read it, I can’t experience it again for the first time. It was such a privilege to read, and if you like podcasts, Julia is the guest on one of my favourites , Drunk Women Solving Crime

Check it out, it’s the reason I am constantly getting the side eye on the daily routes because I am laughing so much!

About the author….

Julia Raeside is a journalist and broadcaster who has written for the Guardian, Times, Observer and The Big Issue among many others.

She makes regular contributions to BBC Radio, including review spots on Radio 4’s Front Row and Lauren Laverne’s 6Music show. She lives in London with her husband, kid and cat.

Links-https://juliaraeside.com/

Twitter @Tr4cyF3nt0n @bedsqpublishers

Instagram @juliaraesideauthor @thebookdealer @bedfordsq.publishers