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, Autobiography, Audiobook, Biography, Biography Memoir

387 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.

[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.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[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!

[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!

[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

[Becky Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Alan. Follows on from just ignore him. Funny and follows on with Alan’s career in the early 90s