Comedian Frank Skinner to publish book with Hodder Faith

Hodder Faith will publish A Comedian’s Prayer Book by Frank Skinner in April 2021. Katherine Venn, editorial director, acquired world rights from Jon Thoday at Avalon. 

The writer, comedian, and TV and radio presenter, has previously published two autobiographies, Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner (Century, 2001) and Frank Skinner on the Road: Love, Stand-up Comedy and the Queen of the Night (Century, 2008). He also authored Dispatches from the Sofa, a collection of columns he wrote for the Times (Century, 2011) and How To Enjoy Poetry (Quercus, 2020).

In A Comedian’s Prayer Book, Skinner has taken his convictions, questions, fears, doubts and elations and presented them in what he calls "an eavesdropper-friendly form".  The author explained: "Hell, judgement, atheism, money, faith and the X-Men all feature. It’s a bit like reading the Bible, except you only get one side of the conversation and all the jokes are left in. Is there a place for comedy in prayer? If there’s a place for comedy in life, there’s a place for comedy in prayer. God is a tough audience as far as audible response is concerned, but I love that I don’t have to explain the references."

Venn commented: "I’ve been dying to read what Frank has to say about faith ever since I saw him take the stage singing the Gaudete. What would such a famously funny, thoughtful person have to say about something so personal, and which is often seen as a bit remote? In A Comedian’s Prayer Book we’re treated to a peek into the mind of someone who takes religion seriously but is happy to poke at a few sacred cows. By turns hilarious, poignant, and quietly heart-breaking, this book is bound to raise eyebrows and ruffle feathers. I can’t wait to get it into readers’ hands."

Skinner added: "The thing about praying twice a day is that even though you produce a lot of top-notch material the feedback can be relatively muted. So, I decided to share some of my kneeling-talk with a wider and slightly less enigmatic audience. It is, I admit, a risky enterprise but imagine being able to drop into casual conversation ‘Oh, by the way, my prayer book comes out in the spring’. It’s one of the great left-field boasts and I intend to totally overuse it."