This book, a companion to the author's Pierrot: A Critical History of a Mask (Princeton, 1978), provides a detailed history of nineteenth-century French pantomime, from the feeries of Jean-Gaspard Deburau at the Theatre des Funambules to the cabaret entertainments of Georges Wague at the height of la Belle Epoque.
The Magpie and the Wardrobe A Curiosity of Folklore, Magic and Spells, is a lovingly curated compendium of time-honoured traditions and curious customs that have bewitched us for generations.
As with many performing arts in Asia, neither the highly stylized images of the Javanese shadow play nor its musical complexity detracts from its wide popularity.
A Waterstones Best Book of 2024'Marriage to Mike Leigh, the minutiae of working on Gavin and Stacey: it's a tribute to her range that there's something here to interest everybody' TelegraphThe first memoir from the national treasure, critically acclaimed actress and much-loved Gavin and Stacey star.
From simple to advanced, and using household and inexpensive props, Knack Magic Tricks includes tricks using cards, coins, handkerchiefs, and fruit, as well as mental tricks, anytime tricks, standup tricks, and tricks especially for kids (to be performed bothfor them and by them).
From simple to advanced, and using household and inexpensive props, Knack Magic Tricks includes tricks using cards, coins, handkerchiefs, and fruit, as well as mental tricks, anytime tricks, standup tricks, and tricks especially for kids (to be performed bothfor them and by them).
For centuries, crowds gathered beneath painted banners, inside travelling tents, outside fairground booths, and along the noisy midways of circuses and dime museums to stare at human beings advertised as wonders, marvels, monsters, curiosities, living miracles, and strange mistakes of nature.
A coming of age memoir of growing up as a Hijabi torn between two cultures - by British Sudanese comedian on the up, Ola Labib'Growing up as the only Black, hijab-wearing girl in a white seaside town, with strict African Muslim parents, I was stuck between a world I didn't feel part of and one I wasn't allowed to fully embrace.
A Glittering Tale of Sisterhood, Sacrifice, and Love Set in the Heart of 1920s Berlin From the author of That Green Eyed Girl - Perfect for fans of City of Girls and Sunday Times bestseller, The Whalebone Theatre!
';One of the best making-of books to hit the shelves' BooklistFor the first time, the director and co-creators of This is Spinal Tap provide the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of the groundbreaking mockumentary.
A brilliant comic novel about love, marriage, parenthood and the million tiny little things that conspire to trip you up on the rocky road to all three.
David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.
The inside story of the one of the most successful British stand-up comedians, as told by the person best qualified to reveal all about the man behind the comic, his wife of over 20 years - Pamela Stephenson.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERFrom international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing to date-a brutally honest and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance and self-acceptance.
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE Based on a real-life seventeenth century Danish witch trial, The Wax Child tells in vivid prose the story of Christenze Kruckow, a noblewoman long pursued by a scandal of sorcery.