Straight up fun with Jim Smith
By Saskia Calliste
Jim Smith author of Barry Loser is coming to Barnes Festival to indulge us in non-stop laughter. Join the Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner for an afternoon of storytelling and a workshop on how to draw his iconic characters, it's not to be missed!
What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read?
Probably Adrian Mole, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much while reading a book as I did while reading that book, which I read while laughing a lot – more than any other book I’ve ever read, in fact.
If you could meet any literary character, who would it be and what would you say to them?
Adrian Mole. I’d tell him how much I laughed while reading the book about him I’d read while laughing really quite a lot.
What’s your top tip for writing funny characters?
Make them funny. If they’re not funny, it won’t make people laugh a lot while they’re reading the book that they are supposed to be funny in.
What’s your favourite Barry Loser quote?
I can’t remember, but I thought one up today about how people have bad tempers, except they say they lose their tempers like that’s a bad thing. Wouldn’t it be good to lose your temper if you had a bad one?
Tell us a joke?
Q. Why is it good when someone loses their temper?
A. Because tempers are bad, so it’s in the interest of the people around the person who has lost his/her temper that they lose said temper.
