It still surprises me that some people have not yet heard about James Acaster. I have, in the last couple of months introduced this comedy genius to at least 10 people, and that is without going from door to door selling him like a Jehovah. He is in my eyes one of the funniest guys around, with his non offensive, quirky, off the wall stand up shows, his nonsensical presence at panel shows, creative humour at it’s best, and dare I say - literary comedy genius. (I am of course only saying this as I have shot his two book covers and hope to have the book go down in history as literary milestone).
Reading James’ Wikipedia, especially the section under Music Career, reads like a part of James’ comedy, and probably is. James has turned his real life happenings into comedy gold and first came to my consciousness as a guest on the Josh Widdicombe show, where he told stories of incidents in his life. This later also became his first book, ‘Classic Scrapes’. For that first book cover, James brought in a lettuce head, something he used to get sent to him by fans relating to something he had mentioned on his podcast. This latter book cover went all out and created a window space for James. This was to give a nod to Leonard Cohen’s last album cover. And in this book - ‘Perfect Sound Whatever’ - James talks of unfortunate incidents in his life and the power of musical a tool of comfort.
Lastly, James is just a brilliant guy to work with. Chilled, funny, genuine and quirky - a perfect mix. You just can’t imagine him not being everyone’s best friend.
Shot for Headline Publishing