Book review: 'And away...' by Bob Mortimer

What’s a health festival website doing reviewing a comedian's autobiography?

They say laughter is the best medicine, but that’s not the reason.

‘And Away…’ by the comedian Bob Mortimer is as funny and entertaining as you’d expect it to be, but it’s also a book offering a window into numerous men’s health issues.

Many will be familiar with Bob's work spanning 30 years or so and including Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out, Shooting Stars, and Catterick, to name just a few shows he’s starred in.

Latterly he’s achieved national treasure status for his ‘Gone Fishing’ show in partnership with fellow comedian Paul Whitehouse - a show that emerged from Bob’s recovery from major heart surgery.

But aside from Bob’s well publicised cardiac issues, the book deals with other common men’s health issues, including loneliness, depression and anxiety as well as the power of friendship to support us through difficult times.

A running thread throughout the book may come as a surprise to anyone who has seen Bob Mortimer the comedy performer - there are frequent references to his shyness, and struggles to make friends at various stages throughout his life.

He writes: “University is full of strangers. Strangers are my biggest fear and my greatest challenge - a challenge I’m afraid I was not up to. I shared my flat with seven other students and my initial basic survival tactic was to avoid them at all costs.”

A misguided experiment with drugs led to him feeling he had “destroyed the Robert Mortimer I knew” and led to a prolonged bout of depression.

He writes: “I was deeply and painfully depressed. I pretended to laugh; I pretended to enjoy people’s company; I pretended to be happy. As time passed I got more and more used to it, so much so that I forgot what it felt like to be happy and therefore didn’t miss it quite so much.”

Qualifying as a solicitor and moving to London led to the fateful night that Bob accepted an invitation to see a comedy show in a pub - where he first met the comedian Jim Moir (better known as Vic Reeves) and started his own journey to becoming a professional entertainer.

Although there’s a sense that Bob’s underlying shyness never completely goes away (and at times is masked through his comic interactions with strangers), finding his vocation as a comedian is key to him feeling comfortable with himself and finding happiness.

In 2015 he is told that he needs a heart bypass operation: “After the angiogram my world became tiny. All it contained was my home, my partner Lisa and thoughts of my two sons, Harry and Tom … my mind started to focus on all the little trinkets and frou-frou that usually went unnoticed and unthanked in my kitchen. My favourite mug; my favourite egg cup; the teaspoon with the bent handle; the tea towel we bought on holiday; the mat that my cats slept on; the picture of me and Lisa in Paris when we first met. All of them made me feel incredibly sad, and I burst into tears. I hadn’t felt this vulnerable in a long, long time.”

Following successful surgery, Bob retreated to his home life, avoiding speaking friends or focusing on recovery. 

Persistence from his old friend and fellow comedian Paul Whitehouse encouraged him to go on a fishing trip - a decision that helped his mental and physical recovery as well as launching a new stage of his career: “Something about that fishing trip gave me the kick I needed. Sitting on my sofa no longer felt enough. I knew what needed to be done … it was a lovely act of care that Paul showed me by taking me on that trip.”

Elsewhere in the book he writes fondly of his enduring friendship with Jim Moir: “Thirty years on and we still enjoy nothing more than making each other laugh. It’s the best game you can play.”

Maybe laughter is the best medicine after all.