White Male Stand-Up

by Alan Davies

On the Waterstones Best Books of 2025 List

'Davies has done it again, damn him. Irritatingly good. Maddeningly funny. Annoyingly fine.' STEPHEN FRY

'Emotional, entertaining and startlingly honest. I was totally engrossed.' AMY LIPTROT, author of The Outrun.

'Really honest and really funny' Lorraine Kelly

Following Just Ignore Him, the bestselling memoir of his traumatic childhood, White Male Stand-Up is what happened next to Alan Davies.

It's the story of how he threw himself into the joyous and idealistic world of stand-up comedy, leading to a television career, but how echoes from the past, and the thought that everyone might prefer it if he disappeared, saw him repeatedly dismantle everything around him.

With a cast of well-known comedians, actors, agents and producers, Alan awkwardly navigates his life from the camaraderie of the comedy circuit via life-changing fame as TV's Jonathan Creek, to the unwelcome realisation that most people know him from a bank advert and think he's had a perm.

Often very funny and always honest, this very personal memoir is a rich tale of uplifting highs and painful lows, of success and excess, and the dangers of both. How Alan Davies survived it - and very nearly didn't - is the compelling tale of White Male Stand Up.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Comedy, Biography, Audiobook, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2025

About the author

Alan Davies is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He has played the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek since 1997, and has been the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since 2003.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was funny in parts in the latest in his memoir series from Alan Davies. he also expands on his childhood too. overall felt the book was okay

[Zoe Badcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good use of a structure between now - discovering bladder cancer - to weaving together his therapy and tales of life in the last approximately 40 years. It's a very sad story discovering how repressed abuse impacts behaviour and relationships.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and really quite sad, but not at all funny.

[Gareth Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Davies is honest and transparent in the second volume of autobiography. Interwoven with the story of his career and his showbusiness friends, is more about the parental sexual abuse he endured and, unknown to me, his experience of cancer and snippets of dialogue from years of therapy. The writing is straightforward, even conversational, and Davies has an authentic tone throughout.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great memoir, deserves to be on the shelf with all the good ones not the ghost written love island ones. Especially good if you saw his most recent stand up, some cool parallels in structure, flow, and a few hints of stories told in one then expanded in the other.

[Ben Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another incredibly honest book from one of my comedy heroes

[Vicki Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Just Ignore Him, I knew this would be a must read. This memoir flits between Alan’s cancer diagnosis and his attempts to process and move on from the abuse suffered as a child at the hands of his father.

Alan doesn’t hold back at the effect this has had on him as adult. We see excessive drinking, anger and at times a very difficult man to deal with.

It’s also interesting seeing how Alan navigates his career, trying to pursue stand up along side acting and writing.

I audiobooked this which I would recommend!

[Sarah O'Riordan | travelseatsreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d previously read & really enjoyed Alan’s first memoir, Just Ignore Him, but felt there was quite a lot left unsaid. So, I was very eager to read his follow up, White Male Stand-Up, in hope of filling in those gaps.

WMSU is another honest & more in depth look at Alan’s childhood, what happened to him & the lasting impact it has had on his life and his relationships. He quite often refers to the ‘The Angry Boy’ & gives readers an insight into the darker side of his personality that he has learned to live with & eventually control after many years in therapy.

This book also follows Alan as he faces into questioning his own mortality & longing for life after he receives his cancer diagnosis. Alan details his journey eloquently with plenty of moments that will give the reader moments for pause.

The only reason that I didn’t rate it 5 stars, was that there were times when I zoned out when he was name dropping fellow comedians and their anecdotes, but I know that will probably be a highlight for other readers with an interest in that scene and his earlier career.

White Male Stand-Up is a powerful & poignant memoir based on Alan’s many lived experiences, enriched with some well executed research. While it discusses many dark moments there is almost a feeling of lightness due to his candid humility & overflowing sense of humour. Overall, a very enjoyable and insightful read.

If you enjoyed this review come follow me on Instagram @TravelsEatsReads for more

[Graeme Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Male Stand-Up is a sharply honest, often very funny memoir that explores what happens after success arrives—and refuses to heal what came before. Following Just Ignore Him, Alan Davies turns his attention to adulthood, fame, and the emotional aftershocks of a traumatic childhood that continue to shape his inner life.

Davies captures the exhilaration of the stand-up circuit and early television success with warmth and self-awareness, but the book’s real strength lies in its refusal to romanticize achievement. The highs of recognition and creative momentum are matched by recurring patterns of self doubt, excess, and emotional sabotage. The humor is unmistakably Davies’ dry, self deprecating, and observational but it is consistently undercut by vulnerability rather than protected by it.

The memoir’s cast of comedians, agents, producers, and public figures adds texture without turning the narrative into industry gossip. Instead, these encounters highlight the dissonance between public identity and private fragility. Davies is particularly compelling when examining how fame can amplify unresolved pain rather than resolve it.

Ultimately, White Male Stand-Up is a reflective and humane account of survival, creativity, and reckoning. It will resonate strongly with readers who value memoirs that balance humor with emotional candor, and who appreciate stories that confront success as something complicated, not curative.

[Graeme Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Male Stand-Up is a raw, sharply funny, and deeply affecting continuation of Alan Davies’ life story, picking up after the revelations of Just Ignore Him and tracing the complicated aftermath of success, survival, and self doubt. This memoir balances humor and heartbreak with remarkable control, showing how laughter can coexist with lingering trauma.

Davies offers an unvarnished look at the stand up comedy circuit, early ambition, and sudden fame, capturing both the exhilaration of public success and the private instinct to self sabotage. His reflections on belonging, impostor syndrome, and the fear of disappearance give the book emotional weight beyond celebrity memoir conventions. The comedy world is rendered vividly, populated with recognizable figures, but the narrative always circles back to the internal cost of performing onstage and off.

What makes White Male Stand Up so compelling is its honesty. Davies neither romanticizes his career nor shields himself from uncomfortable truths. The humor is sharp and self aware, but it is the vulnerability beneath the jokes that lingers. This is a memoir about success, excess, and endurance, and about how survival is rarely neat or triumphant.

Thoughtful, entertaining, and quietly devastating in places, White Male Stand Up will resonate with readers who appreciate memoirs that confront fame, mental health, and identity with wit and emotional precision.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Davies delivers a powerful memoir that balances humour with heartbreak in White Male Stand-Up. This is the follow-up to Just Ignore Him which I have previously having listened to, have never forgotten. There is something even more moving as the narration is candid and compelling, drawing listeners into the chaotic, idealistic world of stand-up comedy while never shying away from the darker undercurrents of his personal life.

What makes this audiobook truly stand out is the way Alan Davies explores the long shadow cast by his father’s abuse. With insight and emotional clarity, he reflects on how those early experiences shaped his relationships and sense of self. This is such an important message, the trauma of his mother's death and the abuse can not be erased. It’s not just a story of survival this is the author coming to terms with the impact, told with wit, vulnerability, and a surprising tenderness.

I laughed and I cried, and I came away with a deeper respect for the resilience behind the performer. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates memoirs that don’t flinch from the truth.

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to buy this when I had discovered Alan Davies had written another book about his life. I have always been a fan of him since Jonathan Creek started but my respect for him increased after reading his last book "Just ignore him."

In this book, Davies oscillates between 2024 when he discovers he has bladder cancer and his earlier life starting from the late 1980s. It made me nostalgic for a time before mobile phones etc but also glad for the smoking ban!! I loved reading about his early gigs and some hilarious anecdotes but was also moved about the turmoil he was in. He really reflects on how abuse/trauma can effect you and how avoiding the issue only makes it worse over time. I really felt for him and it is amazing he became so successful. But of course fame isn't everything. I enjoyed reading about him meeting his wife and of course anecdotes from Jonathan Creek filming.

An excellent book capturing the 90s but quite intense at times. Still, I managed to race through it despite having a cold!

[Mike Bromell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking it was going to be non stop laughs, how wrong I was. Whilst there were plenty of laughs and funny anecdotes, the book was raw, really raw about Alan and his upbringing. I was shocked and impressed at the information that poured onto the page, especially with how open and honest Alan is with the reader, so much so that a book that would normally take me about a week to read was read in 3 days. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the high points and the low points as well.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow up to Alan's first book, following his stand up and acting career through the 90's and 2000's. It was delightful to hear some of the backstories of well loved characters from The Tuesday Club Arsenal podcast and how they influenced Alan's life, eventually became brothers to him. Davies shows tender introspection, recounting times where his anger got the better of him and harmed those around him. He deserved credit for the work he's put in to recovering from the trauma of his childhood and to make sure his own children are given the best start they can get.

[A.M. Swink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant and quite brutally honest memoir where Alan doesn’t shy away from recounting his worst, most asinine moments. Some moments of levity abound, but the book is far more an emotional look at the notion of family and Alan’s quest to find one that he doesn’t destroy. His encounter with bladder cancer provides quite a compelling parallel story to his remembrances. I breezed through this read as I found it quite hard to put down!

[Mrs E · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Just Ignore Him I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong.

At times I felt like I was just reading a list of other work colleagues and comedians at others I was getting a real insight into Alans struggles, then and now!

I did find it difficult to read to the end and almost abandond at the 3/4 mark because it just felt so same-y but persevered.

Not sure I would pick up another of his bios were he to write another, but then again.....

[Ann Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another excellent book from Alan Davies - his honesty in his previous books is admirable and I think hes praiseworthy for dealing with the harshest of situations. Worth reading and I hope he writes another

[Andrew Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only know Alan from what you see on the telly, this was a intriguing insight into the man himself. I think he seems to be little hard on himself but I wish him all the best in his life. Funny in parts, sad in others, well wrote and definitely worth reading. Hope he does more

[Hannah Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This felt fragmented at points and assumed knowledge of people that I didn’t know, but it was also enlightening and engaging. Shows how difficult ACEs are to process and how fame doesn’t equal understanding

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and very honest.
Davies admits what I’ve long suspected that he isn’t always a particularly nice person. But hopefully he’s got on top of that now.
Oh and who knew he was mates with Whoopie Goldberg???

[Jess Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Davies seamlessly transitions between humor and heartbreak, the author intertwines past and present as he confronts the lingering impact of childhood abuse on his adult life.

[Arina · Rating 5 out of 5]

.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and sad and a lovely follow on from just ignore him

[Susan Pilkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

emotional and entertaining. brilliant.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

He really doesnt hold back and you certainly see behind the curtain. very interesting, sad, and some of it resonated with me

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Andy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and startingly honest follow up.

[Ksenia]

always love whenever comedian's autobiographies have descriptions of 80s-90s standup acts bc it always sounds so terrible... you had to be there i guess

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to say. It was rather shocking reading this book but it was done so well.

[Cathy Neave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I preferred Just Ignore Him. Sorry, Alan 😔