Episode 1

Comedian Arthur Smith reads from his autobiography, which reflects on the nature of comedy and his days as a scruffy kid on the bombsites of Bermondsey, a wild-haired undergraduate, a road sweeper, an English teacher, a failed rock star, a boozed-up sexual adventurer and an intensive care patient who has been told never to drink again.

Arthur's thoughts on the nature of stand-up comedy and how his desire to perform led to mirthless disaster in the rough and tumble of the emerging alternative comedy circuit - a world of sharp, political and angry jesters, directing their ire at the tired old dinosaurs of light entertainment.

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.