Frank Skinner in conversation with Sylvia Patterson

Literary Arena

Perrier Award-winning comedian Frank Skinner discusses his life and work as featured in his new book, ‘Frank Skinner on the Road’, a follow-up to his critically acclaimed autobiography, ‘Frank Skinner’ – one of the bestselling autobiographies of all time.

Frank Skinner is one of the biggest names in British comedy. He has enjoyed unrivalled success, both as a phenomenally popular stand-up comic and with his hit TV series, ‘The Frank Skinner Show’, ‘Fantasy Football’ and ‘Baddiel & Skinner Unplanned’. He has also achieved two number one hits in the UK music charts with the football anthem ‘Three Lions’, alongside David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds.

Between 1992 and 1997 Frank sold out four UK tours, the last of which culminated in a performance at Battersea Power Station to what was then the largest ever audience for stand-up comedy in the UK. In 2007 Frank made a triumphant return to stand-up, performing a sell-out 69-date national tour with three sell-out dates at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. His latest book, ‘Frank Skinner on the Road,’ explores this stand-up comeback; from how an act is put together to the terrors and joys of trying to make a live audience laugh night after night, and the nature of comedy itself. 

Frank can be heard on Absolute Radio every Saturday morning from 8 until 10am. ‘Frank Skinner’s Credit Crunch Cabaret’ resumes in October in the West End, after a two-week run at the Edinburgh Festival, and ‘Frank Skinner – The Ultimate Collection’ will be released this autumn on DVD.

Frank will be in conversation with Sylvia Patterson, a freelance journalist specialising in what we call “celebrities”. She’s worked for Smash Hits pop gazette, NME, The Face, Guardian Guide, Spin, Interview, The Sunday Times, The Word and Q. She once got very drunk in Spike Milligan’s house where his wife supplied a posh bottle of wine for Spike and a box of wine for his interviewer guest. “You can see,” smiled the revolutionary, then-78-year-old comic, “we’ve left you with the crappy stuff.”