4:07pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
COMEDIAN Robin Ince celebrates the best of the worst in his Bad Book Club show, which will be in Bolton on September 17 and Manchester on October 21.
THERE is real joy in Robin Ince’s voice when he talks about the terrible books he has collected over the years.
The comedian celebrates the best of the worst, from giant killer crabs to vets in love, in his Bad Book Club show.
“They’re beautiful books — they’re wonderfully terrible,” he says.
“Most books available in book shops are just bland.
"But with the giant killer crab novels, which are probably my favourite genre, there’s a real passion in that.
“When you read about someone being dismembered by a giant crab after eating a prawn cocktail in his bedsit just that morning, or two vets who are looking for love with each other but who also have to have this long conversation about the best cure for arthritis in horses — that’s what I love.”
Robin’s obsession was born of long days touring when he would trawl through charity shops to pass the time and find something to read between shows.
He soon found he was amassing a collection of truly weird and wonderful titles, and started to share them with audiences as part of his act.
“It became a thing for me to find the weirdest book in town,” he says.
“I think my favourite was called The Secret Of Picking Up Sexy Girls.
"It was written in the Seventies, and the first chapter was titled What Is A Girl?, which pretty much tells you all you need to know.
“Unfortunately, someone pinched it at a festival, and, try as I might, I can’t find any evidence of it existing anywhere — apart from mentions of me talking about it in my shows.
"So it’s become this mythical, made-up book.”
Another favourite, written in the early 20th century, addresses common problems, such as should a manager enter into a relationship with one of his factory staff.
“Of course the answer is no he shouldn’t”, says Robin, “because of her terrible speech.”
He says the key to the books is that they are intended to be perfectly serious by their authors.
“I think it’s a very hard thing to write a good one,” he says.
“I think you have to write them genuinely, you can’t do it tongue in cheek.
“Mills and Boon novels, for example, they’re so carefully crafted, each chapter has to hit its mark — they’re like a great B movie.”
* Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club is at the Albert Halls in Bolton on Friday, September 17; and XS Malarkey in Manchester on Thursday, October 21.
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