Entertainment & Performing Arts

From the Academy Award-winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction....

A memoir and self-help manual by one of the country's most treasured comedians - for anyone who feels stuck in a rut but doesn't have the tools or self-belief to shake things up....

Get the kettle on, the biscuits out and settle in for a belting listen....

At the age of 9, Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's Holiday Camp talent competition, smashing the only other competitor, a young girl playing the kazoo.... 

May I Have Your Attention Please? is the warm, cheeky, surprisingly honest and hilarious story of one of our most popular comedy talents....

This is a self help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you....

David Mitchell has written a book about his life....

Join Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android in their first series of adventures as they witness the destruction of Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass....

The long-awaited, rambling, tender and very funny memoir from Adam Buxton....

Listen up chumps, basically the Vicar asked us to edit the parish newsletter this month, we weren't gonna do it at first cos the vicar said 'I want you to channel your energy into doing something creative'....

Jennifer Saunders' comic creations have brought joy to millions....

At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words....

Lee Evans is one of the best-loved comedians in the country; a Hollywood star able to sell out arenas in the blink of eye....

Star of stage and screen. Tireless supporter of charity. Runner. Political campaigner. Fashion icon. Human. There is no one quite like Eddie Izzard....

From a childhood spent making smoke bombs, killing wasps and carving soap in '70s Kent, Harry Hill then found himself in charge of hundreds of sick people as a junior doctor....

A stunning collection of Just William stories, narrated by Martin Jarvis. These BBC radio readings of the adventures of William have come to be some of the most loved adaptations....

Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in the radio dramatisations of Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, Five Red Herrings and Have His Carcase....

Bryan Cranston landed his first role at seven, when his father, a struggling actor and director, cast him in a commercial....

Beneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere....

Stephanie Cole ("Doc Martin"), Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam ("The Thick Of It") star in the complete second series of the hit sitcom....

Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from....

Peopled with a wonderful collection of warm, wicked, and weird characters, Vic Reeves' memoir is an enchanting, surreal, and utterly hilarious comic gem....

In the olden days, people used to learn about things from encyclopedias. And that was really good, because you could read it, and learn it, then you could stop worrying about thinking....  

A sharp eye for detail and a wicked ear for the absurdities of life, Dawn French shows just how an RAF girl from the West Country dreaming of becoming a ballerina/bridesmaid/thief rose to become one of the best-loved comedy actresses of our time.

Stranded on Prehistoric Earth since the end of the first series, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are once again trying to hitch their way off the planet.... 

Becoming a director is not just about making a film, webseries, commercial, or music video. The opportunity to direct for television is not a given because you’ve successfully completed a project in another medium. Turning your passion into your profession requires the ability to make transitions at the exact moment a pivot is needed, with creativity and confidence. This book helps directors across all mediums shape their career with targeted anecdotes, worksheets, and other resources, all of which fall into three designated categories: how-to, self-help, and inspiration.

Harry Cohn was the cofounder and president of Columbia Pictures, which he ran from the 1930s through the 1950s. Cohn—who abhorred personal publicity—left no writings, made no speeches, and rarely submitted to interviews. Despite this, acclaimed biographer Bob Thomas brilliantly illuminates the life of the powerful but elusive studio head in King Cohn: The Life and Times of Hollywood Mogul Harry Cohn. Thomas details the studio head's rise from a New York City song-plugger to a Poverty Row impresario, highlighting his reign as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

Whether it is a director insisting on a final cut, a star demanding a bigger motor home, a producer holding the line on a budget, or a grip with a gripe, it seems that the world of moviemaking is nothing but Sturm und Drang. Shoot Out presents a raucous look at how movies get made and the players involved, from writers, producers, directors, and stars to agents and marketers. For film buffs, aspiring filmmakers, students, and anyone else intrigued by the inner workings of Hollywood, this is the quintessential take on the how, who, what, and why of the film business.

From one of the most successful and influential producers in the entertainment industry—responsible for such classics as Roots, The Thorn Birds, and L.A. Confidential—comes a fascinating memoir of life at the very hub of Hollywood. Wolper enjoyed staggering success yet remained down-to-earth. By combining flexibility, resourcefulness, and determination, Wolper produced landmark documentaries, films, miniseries, and other cultural touchstones of the twentieth century. Producer is the engaging and inspiring memoir of a true entertainment pioneer.

Performance-studies scholar and acclaimed burlesque artist Lynn Sally offers an inside look at the history, culture, and philosophy of New York’s neo-burlesque scene. Revealing how 21st-century neo-burlesque is in constant dialogue with the classic burlesque of the 19th and 20th centuries, she considers how today’s performers use camp to comment on preconceived notions of femininity. She also explores how the striptease performer directs the audience’s gaze, putting on layers of meaning while taking off layers of clothing. 

The true story of a theatrical dream—or nightmare—come true…the making of the Spider-Man musical. 

In Pure Evil, Balaji Vittal examines, in delicious detail, the misdeeds of the gangster, the sly relative, the corrupt policeman, the psychopathic killer.... A roller-coaster ride looking at the changing face of the Hindi film villain. 

A history about the invention of the motion picture and the mysterious man behind it—detailing his life, work, disappearance and legacy. The year is 1888, and Louis Le Prince is finally testing his 'taker' or 'receiver' device for his family on their front lawn. The device is meant to capture 10 to 12 images per second on film, creating a reproduction of reality that can be replayed as many times as desired. In an otherwise separate and detached world, occurrences from one end of the globe could now be viewable with only a few days delay on the other side of the world. 

Is any superhero cooler than Batman? He’s a crime-fighting vigilante with a tragic past, a lawless attitude, and a seemingly endless supply of high-tech gadgetry. In this memoir, author Michael E. Uslan recalls his journey from early childhood fandom through to the decades he spent on a caped crusade of his own: to bring Batman to the silver screen as the dark, serious character he was at heart.

The work of Stanley Kubrick amounts to a sustained reflection on the male condition: past, present, and future. The persistent theme of his filmmaking is less violence or sex than it is the pressurized exertion of masculinity in unusual or extreme circumstances, where it may be taxed or exaggerated to various effects, tragic and comic—or metamorphosed, distorted, and even undone.

The American theater was not ignorant of the developments brought on by World War II, and actively addressed and debated timely, controversial topics for the duration of the war, including neutrality and isolationism, racism and genocide, and heroism and battle fatigue. McLaughlin and Parry's work fills a significant gap in the history of theater and popular culture, showing that American society was more divided and less idealistic than the received histories of the WWII home front and the entertainment industry recognize.

Honest, raw and very funny, Selin Sevinç's musings on the art of screenwriting shine light on the illusive craft which plays such a pivotal role in the movie making process. In-between recollecting on her efforts to make unique stories in a industry seemingly interested only in identikit movies, Sevinç blends in darkly amusing tales of homelife and motherhood in Oregon, US, and reminisces on her own childhood growing up in Turkey. In the latter sections, Sevinç shares guidance with the listener on how to make thought-provoking and meaningful screenplays.

In Buddha and the Dancing Girl, Catherine Ann Jones generously shares experiences most of us will never have: acting on the stage and screen, living for years in a South Indian hut, writing award-winning plays and screenplays, and lecturing internationally. Yet her memoir offers a deeper gift: spiritual and psychological wisdom distilled from a lifetime of reflection 

Academy Award-winning director Michael Curtiz—whose best-known films include Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas—was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his 27-year tenure at Warner Bros., he directed swashbuckling adventures, Westerns, musicals, war epics, romances, historical dramas, horror films, tearjerkers, melodramas, comedies, and film noir masterpieces. In the first biography of this colorful, instinctual artist, Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industry's most complex figures.

In Five Minutes to Kill, actor and comedian Fred Stoller tells the story of the Young Comedians Special in 1989. He and five other talented, then-unknown comics took the stage with the hopes that their five-minute sets would propel them to fame and fortune. Some, like David Spade and Rob Schneider, hit it big; others didn’t. By turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, Five Minutes to Kill is the bittersweet story of what happened to six of America’s funniest people after their first big breaks.