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The Audacity of Hype
In THE AUDACITY OF HYPE, Armando Iannucci cuts straight to the heart of the insanity and sherbet-headed nonsense of modern life. THE AUDACITY OF HYPE brings together his views on diverse subjects, ranging from wickedly funny pen portraits of the sometimes loveable, usually despicable chumps who like to think of themselves as our political elite, and their bonkers schemes to save the world that are in fact likely to do us more harm than a pile of witches, to WMD, disaster movies, the pitfalls of 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' and the high and mighty rhetoric of Obama, this is an absurdly entertaining and utterly indispensable collection from one of Britain's most brilliant satirists.
311 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Armando Iannucci
20 books53 followersArmando Giovanni Iannucci, OBE ( born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, television director and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy.
Rising quickly through BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour was transferred to television as The Day Today. A character from this series, Alan Partridge, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes including Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. In the meantime, Iannucci also fronted the satirical Armistice review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4.[2]
Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom The Thick of It as well as the spoof documentary Time Trumpet in 2006. Winning funding from the UK Film Council, he directed a critically acclaimed feature film In the Loop featuring characters from The Thick of It in 2009. As a result of these works, he has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire". Other works during this period include an operetta libretto, Skin Deep and his radio series Charm Offensive.
Iannucci's latest television project is the HBO political satire Veep. In March 2012 it was announced that he is working on his first novel, Tongue International, described as 'a satirical fantasy about a privatised language'.
Rising quickly through BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour was transferred to television as The Day Today. A character from this series, Alan Partridge, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes including Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. In the meantime, Iannucci also fronted the satirical Armistice review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4.[2]
Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom The Thick of It as well as the spoof documentary Time Trumpet in 2006. Winning funding from the UK Film Council, he directed a critically acclaimed feature film In the Loop featuring characters from The Thick of It in 2009. As a result of these works, he has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire". Other works during this period include an operetta libretto, Skin Deep and his radio series Charm Offensive.
Iannucci's latest television project is the HBO political satire Veep. In March 2012 it was announced that he is working on his first novel, Tongue International, described as 'a satirical fantasy about a privatised language'.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 11, 2012
Iannucci’s book collects ‘columns’ he wrote for UK papers The Observer and The Telegraph between 2002-8. The focus here is on maximum silliness and exhaustive surreal humour over humorous articles. The silliness usually takes the form of lists and made-up panel show rounds—clearly Iannucci needed an outlet for this stuff since leaving The 99p Challenge and Charm Offensive (Radio 4 panel shows)—so the collection overall becomes tiresome and tends toward bathroom reading. His ‘proper’ articles are actually quite insightful and hilarious in their own right—more would have been welcome! Anywho, this is still better than most ‘humour’ books made in this country. While we’re here, here are my proposals for ten humour books Michael O’Mara might wish to publish:
1) World’s Funniest Teacosies
2) World’s Dumbest Mental Defectives
3) Spain’s Weirdest Paella Enthusiasts
4) Luxembourg’s Wackiest Hillocks
5) Kathleen Hanna’s Hairiest Militant Feminist Friends
6) Nicole Ritchie’s Cutest Poodle Turds
7) Michael O’Mara’s Smuggest Smirks At Getting Rich Pedalling Cheap Toilet Books
8) Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Craziest Ankle Socks
9) Elaine Kraf’s Oddest Bicycle Pump Retailer Polaroids
10) World’s Funniest Guide to Pulping ‘World’s Funniest Guide’ Books
(£111,999 advance, please).
1) World’s Funniest Teacosies
2) World’s Dumbest Mental Defectives
3) Spain’s Weirdest Paella Enthusiasts
4) Luxembourg’s Wackiest Hillocks
5) Kathleen Hanna’s Hairiest Militant Feminist Friends
6) Nicole Ritchie’s Cutest Poodle Turds
7) Michael O’Mara’s Smuggest Smirks At Getting Rich Pedalling Cheap Toilet Books
8) Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Craziest Ankle Socks
9) Elaine Kraf’s Oddest Bicycle Pump Retailer Polaroids
10) World’s Funniest Guide to Pulping ‘World’s Funniest Guide’ Books
(£111,999 advance, please).
September 9, 2010
It is funneh! Makes me laugh out loud much to the bewilderment and slight annoyance probably of my fellow train / tube / bus passengers.
March 23, 2010
Very funny at times, in a style reminiscent of The Day Today. However, it does go on a bit too long - more satirical 'comment' pieces would have made it a more rewarding read. Still good fun, though.
August 21, 2021
It's pretty good, but I can't, in good conscience give it more than 3 stars... because it's basically comprised of random nonsense. There are elements of satire, and it's a useful way of remembering what life was like in the innocent days between 2002 and 2008 - basically before the housing crisis, Brexit and a global pandemic made it seem like the only thing left that could happen that might be worse (and probably will happen) is an alien future war in the present (like The Tomorrow War) - but it's mostly another example of pointless, made-up shit. So I feel like reading it was ultimately wasting my time. And that's a shame. My time is short and getting shorter. And the shorter it gets, the more valuable it is. Shame really, because Armando Ianucci is one of the comedy pioneers of recent decades. He maybe just doesn't work all that well in book form.
April 26, 2018
Not at all what I was expecting so perhaps I should learn to read blurbs more closely.
This is a collection of half-baked ideas sporadically jotted down in no particular order or semblance of logic. While some are amusing and tickled me, most of it is just the ramblings of an annoyed middle-aged man. It's a shame as I genuinely love the Thick of It, Alan Partridge and Death of Stalin so was hoping for something a bit more engaging, something I could sink my teeth into. I guess this would make a wonderful toilet book, for dipping in and out of when one is trying to pass the time (and other things!) on the porcelain throne.
This is a collection of half-baked ideas sporadically jotted down in no particular order or semblance of logic. While some are amusing and tickled me, most of it is just the ramblings of an annoyed middle-aged man. It's a shame as I genuinely love the Thick of It, Alan Partridge and Death of Stalin so was hoping for something a bit more engaging, something I could sink my teeth into. I guess this would make a wonderful toilet book, for dipping in and out of when one is trying to pass the time (and other things!) on the porcelain throne.
July 3, 2023
Published in 2009 and based on columns written between 2002 and 2008 (some of which I read at the time) this is a very specific slice of satire which still manages to be timely.
The general writings on the stupidity of humankind are, if anything, even more relevant today. The era specific stuff made me almost nostalgic at times - and there was a lot of Gordon Brown stuff. I swear he was only Prime Minister for half an hour but from the amount of coverage he gets in here it must have been a lot longer!
The general writings on the stupidity of humankind are, if anything, even more relevant today. The era specific stuff made me almost nostalgic at times - and there was a lot of Gordon Brown stuff. I swear he was only Prime Minister for half an hour but from the amount of coverage he gets in here it must have been a lot longer!
November 3, 2024
Didn’t love this. It felt quite mean spirited in places, and some of it was really not my taste in comedy at all. I preferred the (relatively infrequent) pieces that were commentary on current events rather than the sketch style pieces (can see how some of the latter might have worked on tv but they felt a bit tortuous as written pieces).
November 22, 2017
Bewildered is right
Increasing how I feel about the world - bewildered by it. Iannucci hits it right on the head the world has gone mad and us with it. Brilliant read and very funny.
Increasing how I feel about the world - bewildered by it. Iannucci hits it right on the head the world has gone mad and us with it. Brilliant read and very funny.
September 19, 2017
Dull!
Dull!
Did I say, 'Dull'!
Dull!
Did I say, 'Dull'!
November 28, 2017
Funny in parts, but he has done a lot of amazing things since writing this book. So needs to do another( he has more wisdom now)
April 17, 2018
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very funny and that's it, it's very funny.
Though special mention, the disclaimer at the front is very good i thought.
Though special mention, the disclaimer at the front is very good i thought.
April 22, 2019
Out of date now, I'm afraid 😨
December 3, 2019
Read the Thick of It scripts instead
February 23, 2022
Jolly good commentary on modern life from one of its most successful chroniclers.
March 24, 2010
Armando Iannucci is one of the UK's best and brightest voices in contemporary comedy and this enjoyable collection of daft bits of Onion-like drollery (things like fake listings for future TV programs and local events) and well observed essays about real life experiences is a portable companion best read in your head in his voice and inflection. Listen to some of his appearances on the radio, or get the DVD of "The Armando Iannucci Shows" to perfect your inner Iannucci impersonation, then have it.
December 31, 2011
I'm a big fan of Armando's work - but this was a book I couldn't get into. After repeated attempts I found myself reading this more as a chore and not an enjoyment. Very frustrating. One of the few book for me where the effort was not commensurate to the reward.
Perhaps I had the wrong end of the stick, but reading it alongside Stewart Lee's "How I Escaped my Certain Fate", it didn't stand much of a chance. Certainly something to dip into, but not good for prolonged reading.
Perhaps I had the wrong end of the stick, but reading it alongside Stewart Lee's "How I Escaped my Certain Fate", it didn't stand much of a chance. Certainly something to dip into, but not good for prolonged reading.
October 26, 2020
Very funny and very clever, some key moments:
-That's enough entertainment, thanks. p:32
-Brave new world of Murdoch. p:44
-The War Prayer. p:166
-The confession of Anabel de souza. p:180
-Dialogue of the deities. p:304
The middle section covering, brown, cameron, obama and the Iraq was at times a little tedious though.
-That's enough entertainment, thanks. p:32
-Brave new world of Murdoch. p:44
-The War Prayer. p:166
-The confession of Anabel de souza. p:180
-Dialogue of the deities. p:304
The middle section covering, brown, cameron, obama and the Iraq was at times a little tedious though.
April 18, 2011
Not a patch on Facts & Fallacies, possibly because the uniform (short) length of these pieces doesn't allow for more than obvious whimsy. I still read them with Armando's distinctive Scottish accent in my head though.
February 2, 2012
Quite what inspires Iannucci to write some of these articles, nobody will ever know. But I'm glad that whatever it is does inspire him to do so. Only getting 4 out of 5 'cause it started to drag a bit near the end but otherwise a hilarious read.
October 16, 2013
Racist Bingo, presented by Jon Snow and Dr David Starkey.
Things Gordon Brown can say to David Cameron to put an end to Punch and Judy politics: Piss in a toaster, you fart breathed bum gobbler.
Brilliant stuff!
Things Gordon Brown can say to David Cameron to put an end to Punch and Judy politics: Piss in a toaster, you fart breathed bum gobbler.
Brilliant stuff!
July 28, 2011
Great satirist, great writer for TV and for others...however this was just not good enough for what I would have expected. Such a shame.
August 22, 2013
There's a few funny pieces and gags that amused me in this book, but overall I wasn't particularly impressed.
May 12, 2011
Good fun - but, as one you need to dip into and come back, it seems to last forever!
January 30, 2012
A bit cobbled together from leftover newspaper columns and research for In the Loop.
Read
February 15, 2018Abandoned at page 67. It became quickly clear this was a collection of old columns, and despite being a hardcore Iannucci fan, ten year old political musings weren't holding my attention. Might return some day but basically for completists only.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews