Performing Arts

Back in 1922, when Howard Carter first smashed his way into the tomb of long-dead Egyptian King Tutankhamun, the guttering candle in his hand illuminated a scene of unimaginable splendour. “Can you see anything?” asked Lord Carnarvon.“Yes! Wonderful things!” responded a breathless Carter.

Fast forward just over a century, and any adventurer opening a copy of Viz – The Barber’s Pole will be similarly astounded by the comedy gold they will find haphazardly piled up within its covers. Because just like the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, the 226 pages within its stout and glossy covers are packed with priceless treasures.

It’s the sort of 24-carrot comedy gold that has made Viz the country’s fourth* or fifth** favourite humorous magazine (* ** possibly sixth) for well over four decades… 

* Edge-of-seat Adventures: Jack Black and His Dog Silver, Who’s Who in a Medieval Plague Village, Motorhead’s Christmas Adventure, and Bad Bob the Randy Wonderdog.

* Shocking scandals  about your favourite showbiz stars, Scotch eggs, Deepfake Porn, Tony Blair, and your chance to become a Crypto-Billionaire.

* Cartoons: The Fat Slags, Sid the Sexist, Biffa Bacon, Mrs Brady Old Lady, Johnny Fartpants, The Real Ale Twats, Roger Mellie, and Raffles the Gentleman Thug

* Readers’ letters and Top Tips, spoof ads, quizzes, games, things to cut out and make, and much more. 

Obviously, at this point we would like to point out that, unlike King Tut’s burial place, there is no real evidence that Viz has ever been the subject of a deadly curse, placed upon it three thousand years ago by a sinister, hooded priest of the God Thoth. And we consider it very unlikely indeed that anyone who dares to break open the cover of Viz – The Barber’s Pole will simply drop dead from unexplained causes – as Lord Carnarvon did a year to the day after breaking the seal on Tutunkhamun’s tomb. 

Sorry, no refunds.

 

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‘Made me laugh while punching me in the gut. Loved this book’ AISLING BEA

‘This is the greatest. You’ll cry and laugh. I read it though the night. And I never, ever avoid sleep’ CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN

‘I award it 13/10 on my QWJ scale (stands for Queasy With Jealousy that I didn’t write it)’ MARIAN KEYES

—

Every relationship has one beginning.
This one has two endings.

Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy.
And he can’t work out why she stopped.

Now he is. . .
1. Without a home
2. Waiting for his stand-up career to take off
3. Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn’t looking

Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak at a time when everything he thought he knew about women, and flat-sharing, and his friendships has transformed beyond recognition, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of their broken relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him.

Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend’s side of the story.

From the bestselling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About Love: a sharply funny, beautifully observed and exquisitely relatable story of heartbreak and friendship, and how to survive both.

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