Look Who It Is! Alan Carr, My Story

by Alan Carr

Hello and welcome to my life.

Oh, and what a life! From the grimness of doing data entry for Mr Dog to the dizzy heights of The Friday Night Project and performing for Her Majesty at the Royal Variety Performance. My life's been like a log flume, up and down with a couple of damp patches in the middle.

Take my hand, I want to lead you through my life. Within these pages you will come face to face with my parents, my dog Minstral, my friends, and a whole load of waifs and strays that have helped to make my journey that little bit more memorable. When you read "Look Who It Is!", I'm sure you'll agree - it's just been one thing after another.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Comedy, Memoir, Humor, Audiobook

301 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Alan Graham Carr is an English comedian and television personality.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Carr!

What a guy, as someone who doesn't generally enjoy a biography, I did get quite into this.

A decent read.

Three stars.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working in a hospital means the staff room is full of old Heat, Now and OK magazines... mags I'd rather poke my own eyeballs out with than read! So I was horrified to find I'd forgotten my book and faced 30 minutes of Jordan & Peter or Kerry Katona's thin/Kerry Katona's fat stories. I went to the newsagent on site and it was slim pickings. Michael Jackson has just died, so it was pretty much wall to (off the) wall Michael Biographys, with that rubbish book Twilight which subsequently became a rubbish film and this "Look Who It Is! My Story by Alan Carr" thrown in for good measure.

Now I'm 33 and while I think my life has been utterly engaging and facinating, I imagine to everyone else it's only been mildly or moderately interesting. I wouldn't write a book of my life, so why do 'celebs' feel the need to put pen to paper every 5 minutes? When I saw this, I rolled my eyes, then thought of his stand up and radio show (which I enjoy) and thought "at the very least it's got to fill 30 mins better than bloody Heat magazine"... ironically the front of the book had a quote from Heat "easily the funniest book of the year" which totally put me off wanting to buy it. But what the hell, it was part of a "buy one get one half price" offer.

I was really surprised to find I really enjoyed this book. He's become a bit of a camp icon, but doesn't bang on about being gay in this book, in fact reading about his own revealation that he was gay was very touching and amusing. Unlike most Comedians, it wasn't a 'woe is me', 'tears of a clown' type biography. He's very upbeat about everything, even the most bazaar situations have resulted in fabulous material. He charts his 'rise' in the world of comedy with hilarious anecdotes about his private life and career that make no attempt to hide his anxiety and fear and have you appreciating how cut throat it is to succeed as a comic. He works hard, faces rejection and takes financial gambles. Alan Carr is such a natural story teller, he comes across as a genuinely nice guy and you're soon cheering him on to succeed, even though you already know what happens at the end.

I'd heartily recommend this to anyone who want's a light hearted heartwarming read and a bit of a giggle.

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dare say that most Australians would not have heard of Alan Carr. I happened upon him by accident online. I saw a few episodes of his show "Chatty Man" and enjoyed it. Usually I find campness to be rather irritating but Alan is genuinely funny. His autobiography is funny, as you would expect, but also rather honest and sobering in regards to his dealing with his sexuality, growing up. He is often self effacing and not afraid to talk about the terrible attack of anxiety he gets before shows. I had no idea that he lived and worked in Australia. The parts about his travels as a tourist were amusing. All round, an entertaining read.

[Lil's Vintage World · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hilarious book with some laugh out loud one liners!

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

From cradle to Royal Variety Performance, the often funny, life and times of Alan Carr. This was a tough call, as I can't stand the performer on TV/film, but I quote enjoyed this biography! 6 out of 12.

[Lainy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 301

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Bought copy

Blurb from Goodreads

The brilliantly funny and inimitable Alan Carr tells his life story in his own words, from growing up in a football-mad family in Northampton to his rise to become one of Britain's best-loved comedians.


My Review

I love Alan Carr, put him on the tele and you are bound to be in stitches, his voice, facial expressions, I could listen to him all day. So when I saw this book years ago I bought it and it has stayed on my TBRM for years. I finally got round to it. I read it all in his voice which just adds to the humour.

He takes us on his lifes journey, from being a kid, growing up, problems with his appearance, figuring out who he was. His father is big in football and many people expected a young Alan would follow in his footsteps. He goes through his time growing up, education onto his career and how he got into comedy.

I don't do a lot of non fiction, autobiographies but I really did enjoy this one. I also saw he has another book, Alanatomy out and bought it a few weeks back, it will not sit on the shelves for years! If you like learning more about celebs, humour and all things Alan Carr this is for you, 4/5 for me this time. I am looking forward to reading his next book and may re watch his dvds, I just love listening to him, guy is hilar!

[JK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't tend to enjoy non-fiction much, and in particular find autobiographies somewhat stale. I'd bought this one years ago, due to a real love for Alan Carr and his comedy. Being the only comedian who can make me cry real tears of laughter was the motivation for buying it, and my utter lack of enthusiasm for autobiographies was my excuse for putting it off until now.

Alan remains unforgivably himself throughout the pages. Autobiographies I've read in the past paint an entirely unrealistic picture of a celebrity's struggles to get where they are today. There's tears, there's woe, there's self-deprecation. Although Alan successfully describes his struggles, he illuminates them with his relatable wit, not making me cry real tears of laughter, but provoking a giggle nonetheless.

With any other story, I'd be irritated by the author going off on a tangent. Alan does this here, but it's so endearing and true to life that I loved it. He'd be in full flow one minute, before veering off to talk about something else that reminded him of that situation. It was like hearing a story from a friend, and I embraced it. His memories are incredibly personal, and I was pleased to share these with him, much preferring his stories from childhood and his hilarious call centre tales to reading about the ins and outs of the comedy circuit. I must admit, however, he didn't go into heavy detail about what happens behind the scenes; I've read comedy autobiographies before which have totally over-cranked this.

I'm of the opinion now, after reading this and also the autobiography of Scottish national treasure Kevin Bridges, that perhaps books by comedians are best absorbed as audio books. Timing is everything, after all, and with both of these comedians, it's their voice, personality, and sarcasm I love most of all; difficult to convey through the printed word.

I laughed, I liked it, but it's an autobiography. A nice lighthearted read for fans of Alan, or fans of autobiographies. I love you, Alan, it's been great, but I'm diving back into fiction now.

[Jelena Nemet · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were rumours Dame Shirley had demanded more sequins for her dress, so they had sent it back to India to have more sewn on and it was in the process of being flown back first class to Heathrow just in time for the show. Oh the drama! Can you imagine getting them to fly a dress from another continent just for you?
I wouldn't mind, but they looked pissed off when I asked them to get me a cheese baguette and can of Tango, and that was only downstairs.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Carr isnt really a man who needs and review you either love or hate him. Written from Alans few this is as funny as you would expect it to be. Light reading for when you need a laugh & have no time for intense concentration.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to read this as I really enjoy Alan Carr's comedy, fortunately this book has the same humour you find in his acts. He writes very much as he speaks, you can almost hear him in your head as you read it. For anyone who likes Alan Carr it's a must read.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me laugh, out loud, on the beach like a loser.
:)

[Danni The Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Alan Carr's story, he actually worked hard and went through a lot of crap to be where he is today, good read, I'd recommend.

[Francesca Pashby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I left GB in 2001 so I don't really know who Alan Carr is, but his book made me laugh out loud in quite a few places ... and he has a very winning smile!

[Sarah AF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having come to know Alan more through his "TV personality" work, it was actually a bit of a jolt to be reminded that he was a stand-up comedian! In comedy, he found a passion that had been lacking as he drifted through previous professions, feeding off an environment that accepted him for who he was. What he struggled with though was the monotony and travel, as much as he found genuine joy in the creativity and performance so you can see why his "act" has transitioned away from predominantly stand-up performance.

The most heartfelt and raw parts of this autobiography were the reflections on Alan's childhood - as much as this autobiography was written and narrated with his cheeky tone - and growing up in the shadow of his football manager father. With his father so known, there were always expectations about what his son *should* be, expectations which Alan never fit and was inadvertently punished for. Trying to come to terms with this burden and recognising that his sexuality was not "just a phase", Alan gave a real sense of the imposter syndrome that he experienced in his adolescence and how he gradually moved through that with the freedom of university and travel (via some particularly mundane jobs, who knew that Alan Carr has witnessed so many historically-significant Tesco moment?!?).

Some of the language is a bit outdated now - particularly with regards to the LGBTQIA+ community - and much has obviously happened in Alan's life and career since writing this, but I really enjoyed hearing about his origins and how he found his way into the entertainment industry.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining read. Written over 15 years ago and knowing now that Alan Carr has himself, now become the national treasure he admiringly describes others as, makes it all the more interesting. As one would expect Laugh out loud funny, I spilt my hot chocolate down myself and the cat.

[Vicky Templeton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funniest book I’ve ever read, truly a pleasure to read.

[Shea Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Freddie Tuson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty funny, you can really tell it was written in 2008, genuinely one of the worst book covers ever made

[Dawn Probert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely autobiography. It was a sunny romp through wet and dingy 1980’s summers. Camp and sweet just like Alan himself.

[Rebekah May · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried really hard to finish this but I just can't do it. I quit at page 181. I wanted to finish this because a colleague lent this to me thinking I'd love it and I don't have the heart to tell her how much I hate it, so I wanted to know all the anecdotes so that I can pretend-laugh about stuff with her. But I just can't do it. I thought I'd love this because I like Alan Carr and I laugh all the way through Chatty Man. It started off great but after about 30 pages it went rapidly downhill.

I usually don't rate books I haven't finished but I have done with this for a couple of reasons. Not only is this not great writing, but most of it isn't funny. But then there's just so much that I found offensive. As someone who has family with learning difficulties and disabilities, and who works with young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, Alan Carr constantly using people with learning difficulties as the butt of jokes, and using the word r*****ed on several occasions, made me feel a bit sick. I don't think it's funny to shit on people with learning difficulties, or go on and on and on (for three pages, for example), about how they're 'simple', hindering your progress, bringing you down, and stopping you from integrating with other people. I think it's grossly offensive.

I also felt like he was constantly shitting on what he deemed to be jobs that were beneath him. Again and again he talked about dead-end jobs and about how shit jobs in offices, shops and factories are. I understand that not everyone wants to work in places like that but some people do, and not all jobs in those environments are dead-end jobs. I know a lot of people who have worked in a supermarket their whole working lives and are still loving it. I know people who have climbed from a Business Admin apprentice to a manager for two departments in the office. Talking down jobs like that is so hurtful, it totally demeans all the people who love those jobs.

I just don't see how this can be redeemed in the next 120 pages. I'm honestly so done.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love Alan Carr but I wasn’t sure I could see him as an author, even of his own autobiography. I picked up Look who it is!: My Story by Alan Carr as I do all autobiographies because I like the person or they interest me.

The book follows Alan’s life as an awkward child to just when his comedy career is really taking off. Of which he is very honest about – which I love.
He shares his school days with a distinctive comic loathing, doesn’t try to hide the fact at all that he was lazy at university even by student standards and the following 9-5 jobs that almost (literally in some cases) drove him insane. Not to mention those eccentric house mates along the way.

What I loved the most was seeing the extremes of Alan – from extremely nervous to travelling the world for a year. Seeing him see himself just as he had done before, even when success hit And even when things didn’t go so well – he still writes with such humour and wit about it.

The book is really well written and I found it surprisingly inspiring – which is why I would recommend it to anyone, not just Alan Carr fans – you might not appreciate the humour, but I think you’ll find some inspiration – it’s not exactly a rags to riches story, but even if you get knocked down – you gotta get back up.

I loved reading this comic wit dashed account of this portion of his life and rather hope he’ll write another book in the future – but that remains to be seen.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because somebody that I know recommended it to me last year. I’ve just managed to get round to reading it, and overall I would say that it has left a mixed impression behind.

I have to confess that when somebody recommended this, I didn’t know who Alan Carr was. But now that I’ve seen Alan Carr on the Jonathan Ross show a lot of what he says about his mannerisms clicked into place.

He is obviously somebody that grew up in a football mad family and this is emphasised not only by who his father is but also how he has named the chapter headings. With some chapters I have failed to see how they correspond to the chapter content.

While reading this book I particularly enjoyed the parts where he talks about his childhood, his pushy father, his school days, life at University, temp work and then when he goes travelling. However, I found the later chapters after this much less enjoyable.

I thought that this could be due to the fact that he comes across as a bit whiny-moany especially when talking about his time at BarclayCard and then when he was struggling in the comedy circuits. Although this insight that he does give into life in the comedy circuit is very interesting. I wouldn’t have said that this book made me laugh-out-loud but it did make me smile in places and cringe (accident with his teeth and ripping his toe-nails out) here and there.

Overall, to borrow a footballing cliche, instead of a match of two halves this book was for me a book of two halves.

[Cara Byrne]

Alan Carr's autobiography. I have only just recently become a fan of Alan Carr (unfortunately I never delved into the delights of 'Friday Night Project') - nevertheless, I find him extremely funny and was expecting the book to be a 'laugh-a-minute' book. It wasn't but that didn't really spoil things as the whole book was still enjoyable to read.



At the moment, my baby daughter shares our bedroom and bedtime is the only time I get to read....I found it quite impossible at times NOT to laugh out loud for risk of waking her! I also found myself snorting and sniggering at the book whilst in the dentist's waiting room and people looking at me oddly probably wondering what I was laughing at.



If you've seen 'The Tooth Fairy Live' then you will recognise some of the anecdotes but it's still funny and what makes it even better is that whilst reading it, you can hear his unique voice in your head.



I would recommend it to most people but maybe not to homophobics as there are a few mentions about his sex life (nothing too graphic though!)



There's also some photographs which Alan has added some witty comments to.



A good read.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as funny as the likes of Peter Kay's and Michael McIntyre's books but just as informative. I loved reading about how hard it is to break into professional stand up comedy and that if you're not sucesful you could be forever condemend to the likes of the comedy club and jongluers. It was also interesting to read just how uptight a lot of comedians actually are behind the scenes, especially the ones who still haven't made it onto the professional circuit. Also treading about the Edingburgh festival was quite interesting and judging by all the stand ups biograpghies that I've read this too is a tough nut to crack and one that can also have a huge finacial burden. It would appear that the circle of profesional standups is quite small judjing by the names that re-appear regularly throughout the likes of this book and Peter Kay's and Michael McIntyre's. Names like Off The Kurb and Agroman - The Human Anogram and it is intersting to read these people's different experiences with these mutual people. Like I said not quite the laugh out loud book that I thought this'd be but a nice quick read not-the-less.

[Nicolle Kane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had one of those days where my brain wouldn't work and my eyes wouldn't work across a page. So picked this up - it had been left in my room by a housemate.

I thought wow I can't believe I'm doing this - I don't particularly like Alan Carr as a comedian (just isn't my kinda comedy). However I must admit I was secretly surprised, while not the nest written autobiography I have read. It was funny, engaging and I find myself liking Alan Carr - just him not his comedy still.

I was thinking when picking it up wow yet another autobiography from someone a few years older than me - but generally I'm really impressed with how hard he worked and how even after so many knock backs, bad nights and endless journeys. He persevered and now has a career to be proud of (not on that was just handed to him)!

[chucklesthescot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read.I don't watch Alan Carr on TV but I still loved this.Lots of us can relate to being the geeky outsider that nobody liked,stuck in crappy jobs while you dream of stardom and glory,going on holidays from hell and suffering the dodgy stomach that inevitably happens while you are on a long bus trip.I laughed like mad when he talked about trying not to appear gay while working in industrial factories and screwing it up by drooling at a French lorry driver and dancing to YMCA on the radio!His tasks at Barclaycard included finding out who was doing shits out in the corridor which I found so vomit inducing that my eyes started to water!GROSS!Lots of laughs in this book and well woth reading.

[Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd never seen the Friday Night Project or anything else with Alan Carr, but was dragged to his live show (Tooth Fairy tour) by our nephew. Absolutely brilliant night of comedy ensued and I am now a fan.

With any "celeb" autobiography you probably need to be a fan to pick it up in the first place. Certainly Carr's childhood and upbringing weren't particularly exceptional, nor his time at university and gap year travel. It's not at all introspective, although he writes quite touchingly about realising he was gay. He also talks about his "shit jobs" in factories and call centres - perhaps rather tactlessly at times, given that half his audience probably work in one or the other!

So not a thoughtful tome nor deep insight, but a quick and mildly amusing read.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Story follows Alan's early life up to him getting on the Friday Night Project. Most of it is about him growing up - his football crazy dad, family holidays and uni life. It also charts some of his highs - going travelling - to the lows - demeaning jobs. It then goes onto his first forays into comedy and some really cringe-worthy gigs (including seeing Russell Brand's willy on stage!)But gradually through perseverance and a strong spine he manages to get a name for himself in comedy. Alan comes across as a really lovely bloke, very tongue in cheek and able to laugh at himself. He is very down to earth and almost seems to lack confidence - there#s certainly no arrogance here. He has a knack of making even the smallest things come across as very funny.

[Andrew Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, warm and honest story of Alan Carrs' early days. From unambitious student, through soul destroying call centre jobs to television personality and presenter. This autobiography stops at the point of his first presenting job on the Friday Night Project.
This is the first such book that I have read and I'm now likely to read others. I found it lovely to take a trip down someone's very personal memory lane. I feel honoured that anybody would be willing to share such personal memories at all, let alone write them down. I love how, with this book, I was brought to laughter by Alan as he described some very depressing times he lived through.
I class this as a good read and will probably return to it in the future.

[Sian Wadey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was both surprised and disappointed by this book. To begin with I was a little disappoined because I didn't find it as funny as I thought I would. Having read other autobiographies where I found myself laughing out loud frequently, this only happened once or twice during Alan Carr's. I think mainly that's because with some comedians it's the way they tell their jokes, rather than just the words they use. On the other hand, I found it really interesting reading about all the jobs he's had and the travelling he did and how he got to where he is now. So overall, a brilliant autobiography, and with a few more laughs it would have been five stars.