Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human Being
- Downloads：2645
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-11-23 06:53:04
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Romesh Ranganathan
- ISBN：0552173703
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
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Straight Outta Crawley is the hilarious and irreverent autobiography from comedian Romesh Ranganathan。
At the age of 9， Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's holiday camp talent competition， smashing the other competitor， a young girl playing the kazoo。
The gig went so well that Romesh retired his comic genius for twenty-two years， hiding behind the guise of a maths teacher， before finally revealing himself again （no， not like that） at the tender age of 31。 In 2010， Ranganathan staged his epic comeback gig to an almost silent room， and has since gone on to earn his place as the most in-demand overweight vegan Sri Lankan comedian in Britain。
Now， for the first time， he tells the full story of how he got here。 From the delights of Sri Lankan hospitality to his struggles as a child， teacher and now parent， to his adolescent flirtation with a rap career and his attempts to make it in comedy， Straight Outta Crawley is Ranganathan's hilarious and irreverent autobiography。
____________
Straight Outta Crawley is the hilarious and irreverent autobiography from comedian Romesh Ranganathan。
At the age of 9， Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's holiday camp talent competition， smashing the other competitor， a young girl playing the kazoo。
The gig went so well that Romesh retired his comic genius for twenty-two years， hiding behind the guise of a maths teacher， before finally revealing himself again （no， not like that） at the tender age of 31。 In 2010， Ranganathan staged his epic comeback gig to an almost silent room， and has since gone on to earn his place as the most in-demand overweight vegan Sri Lankan comedian in Britain。
Now， for the first time， he tells the full story of how he got here。 From the delights of Sri Lankan hospitality to his struggles as a child， teacher and now parent， to his adolescent flirtation with a rap career and his attempts to make it in comedy， Straight Outta Crawley is Ranganathan's hilarious and irreverent autobiography。
Reviews
Jonny Brick
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Interesting memoir with plenty of humanity， humility and life lessons。 Particularly good on his hiphop fandom and his scheming rogue of a father。
Katrina
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I really enjoyed this， I read his other book first and liked how it is clearly written in his voice。 His humour comes through and it’s like I can hear him saying the words。 It was funny making me laugh a few times and really interesting hearing about his time as a teacher and trying to get into comedy。 I particularly liked the chapter on Asian provocateur since I loved the show， especially the blessing with the chickens which made me cry with laughter
Kayla LR
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5。5/10
Jack Youd
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As one of my favourite comedians on Tv I was excited to read this and it didn't disappoint， it had me laughing on every page。 It was very interesting to learn about his pre comedian life and the journey he went on and sacrifices he took to get where he is today was really inspiring。 Never give up on your dreams。 Great read。 As one of my favourite comedians on Tv I was excited to read this and it didn't disappoint， it had me laughing on every page。 It was very interesting to learn about his pre comedian life and the journey he went on and sacrifices he took to get where he is today was really inspiring。 Never give up on your dreams。 Great read。 。。。more
Claire Ingram
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Very funny memoir about a funny comedian。 The anecdotes were amusing and interesting。 He tells stories of his family and how he got to were he is in comedy。 I already found Romesh’s stand up funny so was really looking forward to this book and wasn’t disappointed。 I’m so glad he stuck with comedy and kept going even through the tough times。 It’s inspirational and comical as he regales the audiences with ups and downs and downright awkward and embarrassing moments。 Will be reading his next book， Very funny memoir about a funny comedian。 The anecdotes were amusing and interesting。 He tells stories of his family and how he got to were he is in comedy。 I already found Romesh’s stand up funny so was really looking forward to this book and wasn’t disappointed。 I’m so glad he stuck with comedy and kept going even through the tough times。 It’s inspirational and comical as he regales the audiences with ups and downs and downright awkward and embarrassing moments。 Will be reading his next book， great job 。。。more
mancdaz
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Made me actually lol in places。 A bit rambling， and mostly unstructured， but that's his style so it's all good。 Made me actually lol in places。 A bit rambling， and mostly unstructured， but that's his style so it's all good。 。。。more
Rain
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Witty， charming， honest and endearing。 I’ve become big fan of Romesh this year after watching Rob & Romesh v’s and listening to the wolf & the owl podcast。 It’s true that I had heard most of these comical stories before but how many times do you expect someone to piss their pants for your entertainment。 What was new to me was quite how difficult his childhood had been or how desperate it had got when he was trying to make it as a comic。 And as we know the swan is a saint。
Katie
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A bit all over the place but some good stories。
Roxanne
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Very few laughs。 His upbringing was averagely interesting。
Nisha Markanday
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This book had me in stitches from cover to cover！ Personally， I think it’s a must read， as it’s an easy book to get through and you won’t stop laughing！
John Rutherford
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Awesome read and a great look at the guy from the tele。 Definitely a must read and hard to put down。
Amber （amberinbookland）
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Just a fun， quick read by a comedian I really enjoy :）
Mark
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Hilarious
Smint100
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An interesting read as to how Romesh began his stand up career。 I bit disjointed time-wise， but lovely to hear of the relationship with his wife and family and how they supported him。
Roo
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A really funny memoir。 By page 4 I was crying laughing！！A really great read with lots of bits guaranteed to have you laughing。
Alina
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30th book of 2021。 really liked this， as expected。 not a great deal to say other than it was an entertaining and easy read。 I enjoyed this about as much as I enjoyed the sequel， which I read before this because I am a reckless hooligan
Justine Ganadi
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If a book makes me laugh out loud it is worthy of 5 stars。 It’s not laugh a minute （whose life is？） but I love his way of slipping in his signature dry spin where possible。 Didn’t even skim read certain parts as is my common approach to autobiographies。 He might not be to everyone’s taste but he definitely is to mine。
Bookthesp1
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Easy read rise to comedic power - school days to hey days - hip hop to career top。I haven’t read that many comedian writes book tomes。 Frank Skinner is very good at this as is Alexi Sayle。 I picked up Romeshs book in a charity shop （ I can hear him moaning now） because I was curious and he’s in everything on the box at the moment - I particularly like his show The Ranganation which post dates this take on his earlier career rise。 He’s likeable， funny and as an ex teacher knows how to work a crow Easy read rise to comedic power - school days to hey days - hip hop to career top。I haven’t read that many comedian writes book tomes。 Frank Skinner is very good at this as is Alexi Sayle。 I picked up Romeshs book in a charity shop （ I can hear him moaning now） because I was curious and he’s in everything on the box at the moment - I particularly like his show The Ranganation which post dates this take on his earlier career rise。 He’s likeable， funny and as an ex teacher knows how to work a crowd or in this case a reader。There could be a slight uneasy mismatch between his jaunty self deprecation and jokey prose and the more serious heartfelt bits about his late dads faults and flaws and family stuff。 Still he gets away with it having that anecdotally funny tone that keeps the pages turning - its a very easy read。His career rise is interesting enough especially the bits when he was gigging and teaching at the same time- he wasn’t just a teacher of Maths but did much more than this and clearly had charisma as a teacher。 His apprenticeship and the rise to TV fame are all covered as are his marriage to Leesa and the kids that followed。 He hates the Edinburgh Fringe; loves hip hop and tried to break America。 The latter reflects a fairly ambitious， driven comedian who is still， in this book at least in the process of a big rise in stardom and comedic status。An enjoyable read and obviously a work in progress - he might be straight out of Crawley but the world is very much his oyster。 。。。more
Chris Bowley
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I first became aware of Romesh on some tv comedy shows and later through Asian Provocateur。 In Straight Outta Crawley， Romesh is much the same: funny， down to earth， honest。 As you'd expect with a comedian's autobiography， it's funny in places。 However， a lot of it is dedicated to serious events in Romesh's life including the death of his father。 I found a lot of value in this approach and came out of this experience with a lot of respect for Romesh。 He comes across as a very hard worker （perhap I first became aware of Romesh on some tv comedy shows and later through Asian Provocateur。 In Straight Outta Crawley， Romesh is much the same: funny， down to earth， honest。 As you'd expect with a comedian's autobiography， it's funny in places。 However， a lot of it is dedicated to serious events in Romesh's life including the death of his father。 I found a lot of value in this approach and came out of this experience with a lot of respect for Romesh。 He comes across as a very hard worker （perhaps contrary to his beliefs） and a genuine and even inspirational person。 I'm happy he achieved （and continues to achieve） success in the comedy world。I'll happily be checking out some of his other works。 。。。more
Natasha Perry
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Very good read and very funny
Tom Boniface-Webb
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A great readDon’t read this expecting a deep， in depth biog about his life， it’s more of a jumpy around memoir thing， which I love！
Jeremy Peirson
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Entertaining， but he's not old enough to warrant an autobiography！ Entertaining， but he's not old enough to warrant an autobiography！ 。。。more
Sarah G
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Enjoyed it， but a rather abrupt ending！ （Audiobook）
Isn't She Bookish
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Exactly what I hoped it would be from Romesh。 Made me laugh out loud many times。
Wayne Webb
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Easy read， listened as an audiobook。 But it felt like a long stand up rather than a book per se。 It’s funny， self deprecating and a good insight into the process and reality of being a comedian with impostor syndrome。 Aka being a comedian。 Jokes are telegraphed well and deliver on expectations。 But just a bit lite and short by end of it all。
Christine Barthelmes
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Honestly quite an enjoyable read， but mainly lots of little anecdotes and less of a story line （ guess that’s a memoir for you ）。 I loved the stories from his time teaching。 Also amazing how brutally honest he is in the times he messed up。
Sharon L
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Entertaining， but not quiet as funny as his stand-up or appearance on Task Master。
Annie Strong
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Meh。 Liked hearing more about the hardship of trying to break into comedy however there wasn't a beginning， middle or end of the book apart from the physical page numbers。 Would have probably been better in an audio book as it felt more "chat show" stories than a book。 Meh。 Liked hearing more about the hardship of trying to break into comedy however there wasn't a beginning， middle or end of the book apart from the physical page numbers。 Would have probably been better in an audio book as it felt more "chat show" stories than a book。 。。。more
Andreea
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I don't know how I ended up reading this book since I have no idea who Romesh Ranganathan is - well， now I do。 I suppose it looked like the story of the underdog making it in the comedy world and that's what got me。The book is mediocre: the writing is bland and， ironically， it's not very funny even though it tries hard to deliver comedic moments。 But I did quite enjoy the story of how he managed to start a career as a stand-up comedian。 I don't know how I ended up reading this book since I have no idea who Romesh Ranganathan is - well， now I do。 I suppose it looked like the story of the underdog making it in the comedy world and that's what got me。The book is mediocre: the writing is bland and， ironically， it's not very funny even though it tries hard to deliver comedic moments。 But I did quite enjoy the story of how he managed to start a career as a stand-up comedian。 。。。more
Rebecca Cook
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