A must read for the
Bake-Off fan, it is bitter sweet as we await the new Mel & Sue
free version of that show.
There is always a
bit of tension about reading the “successful” explain their
personality flaws, you want to say that is all very well for you, but
think how bad it is to live with all those flaws and not have the
comfort of “success” as a small compensation package. This is
not a criticism of Sue Perkins in particular but it is a trend in
many memoirs – it is almost the cliché that the comedian has
become a performer in order to distract attention from their true
self, it is their coping strategy for crippling shyness – and it is
one we find in part here as well.
But even with all
that said, this is an enjoyable read – there were plenty on moments
of social failure with which I had a familiarity that is a bit to
close for comfort. Certain failure modes she recounts that I was
pleased to know were not unique feature of me, or my nearest and
dearest.
One of the great
strengths of Mel & Sue is there authenticity – it is definitely
what made Bake Off was watchable – the puns might have been
terrible but you believed that they bubbled up spontaneously and were
not contrived, as is so often the case on TV, the product of hours
dark in the script-writers room. This is trick that Claudia Winkleman
manages on Strictly while Tess doesn't quite...
This same
authenticity comes through this memoir, an insight into the
big-hearted life of Sue :-)
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