Cack-Handed: A Memoir

by Gina Yashere

The British comedian and co-creator, co-producer, writer, and series regular on the CBS hit series Bob Hearts Abishola chronicles her odyssey to get to America and break into Hollywood in this lively and humorous memoir.

According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. The powerful first wife of a wealthy businessman, Patience was poisoned by her jealous sister-wives and marked with a spot on her neck. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark—a sign that she was her grandmother’s chosen heir, and would fulfill Patience’s dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’s job, and travel the world with a free spirit.

Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe. Gina isn’t ruling anything out. In Cack-Handed, she recalls her intergenerational journey to success foretold by her grandmother and fulfilled thousands of miles from home. This hilarious memoir tells the story of how from growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working class London, running from skinheads, and her overprotective Mom, Gina went on to become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she’d had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes.

A collection of eccentric, addictive, and uproarious stories that combine family, race, gender, class, and country, Cack-Handed reveals how Gina’s unconventional upbringing became the foundation of her successful career as an international comedian. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Biography, Humor, Autobiography, Africa

Audible Audio

First published June 8, 2021

Reviews

[Vicky "phenkos" · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't know who Gina Yashere is, you're missing out! I didn't have a clue and only picked up this book after reading an article in anewspaper about Gina's career as a stand-up comedian. I'm not a massive fan of stand-up comedy, in fact until recently I only knew three stand-up comedians (all women): Ellen Degeneres, Margaret Cho and a friend who attended a weekend course in stand-up and did a gig before returning to her country of origin and diseappearing from my life forever. Well, I've now added a fourth to my paltry list!

Gina Yashere is daughter to Nigerian parents who arrived in the UK in the late 60s for better jobs and education. This particular dream of theirs did not end well. Her mother was unable to make use of her teaching qualifications due to mounting racism in the UK and her father had few prospects of getting a job that matched his qualifications. When her father received a call from his sister in Nigeria asking him to go back home on the grounds that he would be much better off there, he didn't waste time. But her mother refused to go back with him. She had made her home in London and was determined to make the most of the opportunities available for herself and her three children, Gina and her two boys, Dele and Sheyi. This book is Gina and her family's journey from the council flats of Bethnal Green to international fame in the US as a comedian and writer.

To say that the Yashere family had it hard in the UK would be an understatement. An incident that highlights racist attitudes at the time really poignantly is the following: when Gina was 9 years old she happened to be leaning on a car when a grown man's voice was heard: 'Get the fuck off my car, you black bastard!" Despite being very young, Gina replied in kind: "Piss off you white bastard". The man chased her and beat her up really badly. Young Gina tried to find refuge in her school but the gate was closed and she banged on the door while a teacher inside was trying to open it, all the while the man hitting and punching her! He was arrested and cautioned. Gina's mother pursued a private prosecution against him but the judge gave the man an absolute discharge. It was like saying none of this happened, and if it did, well, it's not a big deal. Perhaps the child deserved it!

Gina's childhood and adolesence are described in vivid detail, and although my own experience of growing up was very different from Gina's, there were so many themes and cultural motifs I recognised! A strict parent not allowing you to go to friends' parties because they saw risks everywhere! Bullying and alienation at school, made worse in Gina's case by racism and even by rivalries between Carribean and African people owing to internalising the white narrative of lazy blacks. Despite the difficulties, Gina was very resourceful and enterprising and managed to get small crumbs of freedom wherever she could, for example by arranging to go on a trip to France as an A-Level student without her mother knowing she would be unaccompanied.

Her account of racism in the BBC is sobering. She was always treated as a 'token' Black, and therefore had few hopes of moving up despite being very talented and popular among viewers. She explains that she thought that if she worked hard, played by the rules and proved her popularity, she would get her own show, get to make her own decisions about her programmes. The reality coudn't have been more different. Despite working her back off and being ambitious and determined, Gina was suffocating in the UK. The decision to move to the US was a gamble because she would be starting from scratch but one that paid off.

A couple of niggles I had with the book: Gina starts off with an account of the history of Benin (which I am very familiar with and I believe showcases poignantly the deeply racist and colonial attitudes of the British in the 19th century) but which is told in an overly simplified language as if the book is addressed to an audience that can barely read. Fortunately, this eases off as we move on to Gina's birth and upbringing. Another niggle was that some characters are introduced at odd points in the story. Gina's step-father, for example, is introduced long after we've read about Gina's childhood with her two brothers and have formed a mental image of how they all lived at home. This disrupts the reader's expectations somewhat, but I can see that the narrative might have been too messy otherwise. Finally, the title: cack-handed. 'Cack-handed' means left-handed but also, a Gina explains in the Foreword, clumsy and awkward, which, she says, she is. 'It also represents the unconventional track [her] life and career have taken'. Fair enough. Gina also explains in the book that her left-handedness caused her a fair amount of trouble when she was a child because her mother tried to knock it out of her. Why? Because we eat with the right hand and use the left hand to ... you guessed it! Ok, not the most appealing title!

Having said all this, I loved this book to bits! Gina has a talent for story-telling and this comes through very clearly. I read the book in two sittings and really wished there was more! I learnt so much about African culture in the UK in the 70s and 80s (the time when Gina was growing up). I also got reminded of funny little details most of us have now probably forgotten, such as the removable cassette-players people used to have in their cars and take out with them for fear of theft! Overall, I highly recommend this, it's well-written, it's poignant and it's huge fun!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I just met Gina Yashere last week when I watched Netflix's Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration (a powerhouse of a special if you haven't seen it) and when I saw she had written a memoir I swooped it right up.

If you've read my reviews you know there's nothing I love more than a comedian narrating their own audiobook. Sure I could have read the printed version, but I can't do a Cockney accent even in my head. Gina's delivery was hilarious, engaging, and passionate.

I appreciate how patiently Gina inserts littles lessons on West African culture and history throughout the book, knowing that Western schools and media often get the narrative wrong.

[Monica **can't read fast enough** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and funny. I'm glad that I had an opportunity to read this memoir. I knew very little about Gina Yashere beforehand but after reading this I'd want to be a fan of hers even if I weren't familiar with her professional work.

I received an ARC from the publisher

Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monica Is Reading*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful memoir by Gina Yashere, Nigerian-Brit with a cockney accent, stand-up comic, writer, and actress/executive producer of Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS). I highly recommend listening to Gina narrate her life story on Audible.com.

[Agla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Gina Yashere's stand up and that's why I picked up this book. I don't usually read memoirs but I was intrigued by the story of the daughter of Nigerians who immigrated to the UK. I know a lot about the US and race relation there but not that much about the UK so I was in. This aspect did not disappoint. It is the story of growing up as an outsider in a place that is your birth country but that is rejecting you. I won't explain too much because I don't want to spoil anything but her childhood was not that nice. Her home life was borderline abusive and she was subjected to blatant racism at every turn, from whites but also non-African blacks which was interesting as well. The story was engaging but I felt that some threads were not fully complete. For example, she talks about her older sister and how she was abusive to her and then says that she left the home (because she was an adult) but that's about it. What did she do? How is their relationship now? We don't really know. Same with her sexual discovery (she is a lesbian, I knew that going in), she talks about questioning her sexuality and slowly discovering it but we don't really get to know how or when she really accepted herself (she clearly does if you have seen her stand up or follow her social media). She has lead a very interesting life that's for sure but this memoir felt very much like book 1 and I'm not sure we are getting book 2. If so I'm here for it because it kind of ends on a cliffhanger or at least abruptly. I would still very much recommend this book!

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gina Yashere's Cack-Handed: A Memoir is a mostly-hilarious and stealthily serious read. It's part stand-up routine but also a sober commentary for up and comers on the structural racism and sexism of the world in general and in particular as developed here, in the entertainment world--esp. as relates to a willbe actor and standup comic (trust me, there is no would be about Ms. Yashere).

I won an uncorrected proof of this book as a Firstreads giveaway and would like to note to the publisher that in trawling through the daily list of giveaways, it was the title that first caught my attention. Then, I recalled that I'd seen Gina on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah where she'd killed. The book arrived within a day or two of my notification (h/t HarperCollins!) and was a superfast and highly enjoyable read.

If your Mom is cool, might I recommend that you get her this book for Mother's Day? She'll love Gina's Mom, possibly even finding a little of herself in there, particularly if she sacrificed for you and your siblings and placed enormous expectations on you. Of course, you'll want to read it yourself, first, so that when Mom starts citing some of the random lines at you you'll get the jokes. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get caught up on her appearance in Season 2 of The Standups on Netflix.

Bottom line: funny, timely, and informative book. Read it.

[Alex Colvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back of the book describes it as ‘humorous’ and ‘hilarious’, which I found odd considering the first third is an extensive catalog of horrific mental and physical child abuse the author suffered at the hands of various family members. There is a lot of discussion of enduring British racism, sexuality, and the struggle of growing up under oppressive and controlling parents. A lot of these discussions are compelling, fascinating, and refreshingly frank. But the violence, abuse, and cruelty that run throughout the first two thirds of the novel are far from amusing or entertaining.

Another oddity of the book is that it isn’t quite chronological. It feels more like a collection of essays on the author’s background, her sister, her mother, school, her stepdad, vacations, and her rise in comedy. But the jumps in time and leaps back to earlier moments make for a confusing read at times. Perhaps that’s the stand-up mentality showing.

I’d recommend this book because it was fascinating, and Gina Yashere’s take on racism, classism, and generational divides is compelling and she has a remarkable story. But it’s a much grimmer read than the jacket would have you believe.

[Katrine Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful for an audio drive out to the cabin. She cracks me up. Love how Internationals can mock American.

[Katrine Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid autobiography from a fantastic comedienne. Listened entirely on audio, as read by the author. 3/4 entertaining and educational, 1/4 detailed life in the trenches of the comedy life. The first 3/4 worked for me, the last part was not my jam but I have zero interest in being a stand up comic. Love her stuff generally speaking, including her stand up comedy albums.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of comedian memoirs, I found this one to be quite lacking, even though I like Gina Yashere's standup, because unlike other comedian memoirs I've read that are quite personal, this is primarily a memoir of Gina's early career rather than being about her personal life. The first half of the book is about her upbringing in a British Nigerian family and the conflicts and cultural differences that come with living with an immigrant parent, but the second half is very much a deep dive into how Gina cultivated her comedy career. I admit that since I wasn't very familiar with Gina's beginnings in UK comedy, I found myself zoning out during the latter half of the book. Obviously it's up to her how much she wants to divulge about her life, but despite acknowledging her girlfriend in the Acknowledgments, she doesn't talk at all about how they met or came to become a couple - you would probably need to watch her standup to even gets pieces of that story - and as a reader, that's something I would have been more curious to read about than the nitty gritty of how she clawed her way up in UK comedy. This book also ends with her about to make the move to the American comedy market, but since she's been active over here in the US for a bit - Netflix special, Bob Hearts Abishola, etc - now it felt strange to not have any reflections on that in a book coming out now in 2021; it seems like this book was ready for publication a couple years ago.

For me, this was not a noteworthy memoir, but I did enjoy Gina's narration because her vocalizations are always hysterical.

[Taiwo Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good reading it, plus my mother and her mother were good friends; it took me back to my own Nigerian-British upbringing, and I chuckled inwardly with some of her descriptions growing up, because my mother was identical to Gina's mother. Only us who have Nigerian mothers know!

I wish Gina had developed more on the private fostering side when she was placed in foster care, because this issue of Black British history is still relatively unknown.

I felt that her memoir could've been a bit more rounded, and would've loved to hear about when she chose to publicly come out; so much more could be been written on this issue, especially with her mother and the community she was raised in. It was briefly mentioned, but to reiterate, it wasn't fully developed.

I was a bit disappointed when I came to the end, because I was expecting more about her life in America, but maybe it's going to be written about in another memoir?

All in all, it was an ok read, but I really expected more. I'm happy that Gina has found her success across the pond, as she has put in a lot of work to get there.

[Jay Duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharing my original review (initially posted on @ginayashere Instagram page) of this book.

"I just finished listening to your book on audible and am still buzzing from the badassery that is #cackhanded. I found your memoir to be powerful, inspiring and very freaking infuriating (not infuriated with you, infuriated with the shit people that tried to hold you down). It evoked emotion and pride for your representation in this community. #lgbtq Thank you for sharing your story. I laughed my ass off, cursed the a-holes and gained an even bigger respect for you and your culture."

P.S. If you haven't yet, read this book, you won't regret it. Gina Yashere is not just a funny lady, she is a brilliant writer and an excellent storyteller.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this audiobook on the whole. But some of the dates just don’t fit.
Gina was born in 1974. This information is readily available online. She claims in the book she went to the USA for a month in 1990 with her friends, while on annual leave from her job at Otis.
In 1990 she would have been 16, and either doing her GCSE’s, or studying for A levels.
She’s either older than the internet makes out (and I searched several sites!), or she’s stretching the truth.
However the book was entertaining and she narrates very well.

[Sarah McCauley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend the audio for this one.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The memoir is about the history of the author's life and what it was like growing up as the daughter of two Nigerian immigrants in the U.K. during the 80s. We see the first twenty-five years of the author's life growing up in London, England, where racism was at the forefront of everything. She became the first woman engineer at Otis elevators in over one-hundred-year history. This is a very humorous memoir, but it also covers some pretty dark subjects.

The author shares how she navigated her relationship with her mother and how her mother's moods and parenting affected her life. We also learn that she turned to comedy as a way to mitigate some of the racialized violence she experienced and how writing this book helped her understand her mother and her history in a brand-new way. It's always great learning about somebody else's experience. That's how we all grow as people, is something not similar to our lives,

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/gin...

[Jas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and it was narrated by Gina Yashere. It's an exceptional memoir, laugh out loud funny, dark, irreverent, and authentic. Definitely loved it and a must read for people centering queer/Black voices and/or people who love memoirs.

[Rhoda A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Any book that can make you laugh out loud numerous times is a great one.

[Cristina Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's fair to say celebrity memoirs are my thing now and this one is pretty damn good, always loved Gina as a kid.

[Glenda Nelms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gina Yashere is a good storyteller and good writer. Yashere writes about growing up in Nigeria and migrated into the UK. Going deep into Black LGBTQ culture.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gina Yashere (2021) CACK-HANDED - A MEMOIR (AUDIOBOOK)
Audible - HarperCollins Publishers

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 out of 5 stars

Audible write, "According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. The powerful first wife of a wealthy businessman, Patience was poisoned by her jealous sister-wives and marked with a spot on her neck. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark - a sign that she was her grandmother’s chosen heir, and would fulfill Patience’s dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’s job, and travel the world with a free spirit. Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe. Gina isn’t ruling anything out. In Cack-Handed, she recalls her intergenerational journey to success foretold by her grandmother and fulfilled thousands of miles from home. This hilarious memoir tells the story of how from growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working class London, running from skinheads, and her overprotective Mom, Gina went on to become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand-up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she’d had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes."
=====
Speechless when it comes to the 'Step Bastard'. Honest to God! Jesus. Love the fact this book gives a bit of education on Race here and abroad. Gina doesn't hold back when describing her experiences. I loved Gina before I listened to this audiobook. I love her all the more now. She's just great.
=====
#GinaYashere #CackHanded #GinaYashereCackHanded #Book #Books #Read #Reads #Reading #BookShelf #Library #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews #GoodReads #Kindle #Audible #Audiobook #Audiobooks

[Deja Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never read a memoir I didn’t like. Gina Yashere’s ‘Cack-Handed’ is no exception. I’ve wanted to read this book since I heard she wrote it as I’ve followed her career since she showed up with Amy Schumer on Last Comic Standing.

Although Gina is of Nigerian heritage, I found it relatable as the daughter of Caribbean born parents. Immigrant parents live with a fear we as their children have to suffer. They leave their homes for better opportunities for themselves and their children, and I can’t imagine how I’d be if I had to move to a foreign country with a whole different language and customs to learn. They come with a bunch of ill conceived ideas about a place like the US or in her case the UK and they don’t really give a rats ass about what is or isn’t cool.

It’s especially difficult for children of immigrants living among racists and bigots. Unless you're from a place deemed desirable, your culture and identity is up for ridicule and hate. The book spends a lot of time on that and I’m willing to bet because it had that much of an effect on her, more so than her sexuality which she stumbled upon a little later than some.

I have to admit, I expected more about her love life. Her Nigerian born mother ruled with an iron fist and as a culture, Africans, like many others, in general aren’t particularly accepting of the rainbow of sexuality and I wanted to see how that turned out with her mom.

It ended up being rather anticlimactic and I thought it was interesting. I immediately wondered if her controlling and conservative mother (who wouldn’t even let her go to friends’ parties in the neighborhood or take swimming lessons at school) would have been so passive, if Gina wasn’t the successful international comedian she was.

I wasn’t disappointed in the least. I chose to listen to the book for once rather than read it and it was a good choice. Hearing the accents and Gina’s boisterous intonations brought her story to life in a fun way.

Every chapter opens with what I assume are African proverbs like:

“Someone else’s legs are no good to you, while you are traveling.”

“Be a mountain. Or lean on one.”

“Just because man is short, doesn’t make him child.”

And, “You won’t know when a chicken is sweating because of its feathers.” (Or something like that)

There were tons of other relatable experiences, like her mother’s undying quest for her becoming doctor, hateful parental figures, hair disasters and familial expectations.

All in all it was a fun read I kept coming back to.
It reminded me that “most” parents only want their kids to be extraordinary. Perhaps they prefer that it’s not in adult film or crime, but fame has a way of pacifying even what are considered the most "shameful" acts or professions. Kim K anyone?

Anyway, pick this up for a lesson in culture, tenacity, hilarity and life.

[Karen_RunwrightReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first saw Gina Yashere's comic routine on YouTube several years ago so I was happy when the publisher offered me a copy of her memoir. I loved it!
Yashere has a really funny bit that she does about her Nigerian heritage including how she struggled for acceptance when she pursued being a comedian instead of the doctor/engineer career her mother had chosen for her. It all comes to a head when her mother finally attends one of her comic shows and the host recognizes her outfitted in all her traditional garb so Mom stands up in the crowd and confirms that yes, she is the mother of the clown. Trust me. It's comedy worth watching and in this memoir, Yashere introduces her family and the hardship that she laughed her way out of and into making a name for herself as an entertainer in England, traveling the world and finally landing a dream position in the US. She describes the prejudice she faced growing up in 1980s England, discrimination that came from whites and other Blacks alike, and even within her own household with a step-father who treated her like Cinderella. She talks about the gender discrimination of breaking into a traditional male-dominated career as an engineer and how that all heralded her leaving for the uncertainty of the entertainment industry.
Despite the sad stories, at its heart, Cack-Handed is a comic routine and Yashere adds funny bits to every story. I also love how she pays homage to her Nigerian ancestry using African proverbs or idioms as chapter and topic headings all through the book.
If you like family stories, or feminist ones where the princess saves herself, or even if you just like to laugh, then you will enjoy this one.

[Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye-opening read about her childhood and the obstacles faced by Yashere, both in her first career as an engineer and then as a comic. Unfortunately it ends as she moves to the US; from the epilogue it's apparent that Gina hopes to publish a second volume at some point.

[Ann Hudspeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was a catalog of abuse, reminding me of the end of Trevor Noah’s book. I didn’t find much of it funny, just disturbing. And the end was jumbled and unsatisfying. Overall it was disappointing because I really like her stand up.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating to see how Gina's background shaped who she became! This is also a great look at growing up black in Britain during the 80s and 90s. Incredibly entertaining and nuanced. Delivered with Gina's characteristic no nonsense assessment of her experiences.

[AMAO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cack-Handed: A Memoir by GINA YASHERE
Published June 8th 2021

<3 I usually finished my books quicker but between the hysterics and the sadistic behavior of the people she dealt with--I had to keep rewinding it to LOL at her hilarity or just shake my head in disgust and disbelief of some of the treatment she endured. I love the history lessons she infused throughout her memoir. I never even heard of her until I seen her on the CBS hit series Bob <3 Abishola, a show she co-created. Anyone who seen the show, will see/hear a lot of it in this memoir. Behind every great comedienne there is a great deal of pain and this certainly made a lot of that pain public. I only hope the #StepBastard and all those other evil doers are still alive to see her success. The best revenge is Good Living! This is a #MustRead<3
#DrivingWhileBlack #DomesticViolence #CulturalNorms #Nigeria #Carribean #London #SelfHatred #NigerianApproved #MentalHealth #GenderNorms #TopShop #StepBastardFather #doubleStandards #stereotyping #Discipline #enslavement #systemicracism #bullyingprevention #bullyingawareness

The British comedian of Nigerian heritage and co-executive producer and writer of the CBS hit series Bob Hearts Abishola chronicles her odyssey to get to America and break into Hollywood in this lively and humorous memoir.

According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. The powerful first wife of a wealthy businessman, Patience was poisoned by her jealous sister-wives and marked with a spot on her neck. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark—a sign that she was her grandmother's chosen heir, and would fulfill Patience's dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man's job, and travel the world with a free spirit.

Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe. Gina isn't ruling anything out. In Cack-Handed, she recalls her intergenerational journey to success foretold by her grandmother and fulfilled thousands of miles from home. This hilarious memoir tells the story of how from growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working class London, running from skinheads, and her overprotective Mom, Gina went on to become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she'd had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes.

A collection of eccentric, addictive, and uproarious stories that combine family, race, gender, class, and country, Cack-Handed reveals how Gina's unconventional upbringing became the foundation of her successful career as an international comedian.

Amistad HarperCollins

[Karl Orbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always quite liked Yashere, she's funny as f.ck and always seems quite down to earth, always loved that she was an engineer before she was a comedian, she's not your average person and has a lot of intriguing personality she floods her performances with. So I bought this autobiography quite awhile ago and finally got around to listening.

I do have quite a thing for comedian autobiographies that they read themselves. I never used to like biographies of any sort to read, but with audiobooks, it's different. First person perspective books are the name of the game when read aloud, they work so much better on audio than any other type and comedians humour comes as much from their performance as from their words, so you get so much more out of a comedian's life story when they tell it themselves. Gina's is definitely no exception to this.

Her background is not at all like mine, so there's a lot of novelty and interest to me from the outset. Nigerian parents and culture, inner London mixed class (as with so many immigrants, wealthy abroad, not so much here, aspirations are high, but funds are short) and here's a TOUGH girl, fighting against a lot of things, well everything almost, and she hustles life like it owes her and I have to say, makes a pretty good job of it, even if I might blanche at the approach occasionally. Anyhow, it was all dead interesting and entertaining, it did get career orientated towards the end, still interesting, but less relatable to most of course. Stopped rather short of the present and feels like it could do with a follow-up, but well worth listening. A very smart, strong and exceedingly tenacious person, if a little dangerous and hungry for success.

[Caity Honig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sucker for memoirs written by smart comedians, and Cack-Handed delivered!

If you aren't familiar with Gina Yashere, stop reading this review and go watch her thirty minute special on Netflix's show The Standups--the most laughter per minute stand up special I've seen in a while.

Yashere's story is one that I am so glad has been told. She grew up in the poorer parts of London, raised with her siblings by a single mother who emigrated from Nigeria. Throughout the book, Gina recounts her experiences as part of the "lost generation" of Nigerian children born abroad, her educational journey that took her to a career in engineering that then swerved into her flourishing comedy career, with hints about her coming out story along the way as well. But despite all the discrimination she faces throughout her life due to her race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, Yashere never defines herself by her struggles.

At the heart of her story is her work ethic and sense of humor. Yashere is all about that hustle. She consistently works harder and is funnier than the (mostly white, male) other people in the room, and that's why she has succeeded.

I do think the earlier chapters about her childhood/context of the Nigerian British experience would be considered more compelling to the majority of people than the later chapters which mostly detail her rise in the global comedy scene. But as someone who loves stories about family and immigration *as well as* being a person pursuing a stand up comedy hobby, I was here for all of it.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Gina has a really easy to read style to her writing and it made reading this book a pleasure, it's rare to find a book that you look forward to picking up at any chance you get but this was one of those books. Despite loving stand-up comedy and having heard her name I wasn't familiar with Gina's work, except seeing her on Celebrity Come Dine with Me.

It is the autobiography of comedian Gina Yashere and follows her life from birth through to the mid-2000's when she moved to live in America. Born to Nigerian parents in London Gina writes about growing up in London where racism was still commonplace and the difficulties that she faced. I enjoyed learning about Nigerian culture through Gina's writing and it was also interesting to hear Gina's reflections about culture and cultural differences.

There were never any lulls in the book, usually there will be a section that is less interesting but Gina has a talent for drawing out the humour and engaging aspects of any topic. When she was writing about being a lift engineer it was still very interesting to read about her experiences with her colleagues and also her experiences with lifts. I purchased the book because I was interested in learning about her comedy career but after finishing the book it only covered the first few years of it, that said I actually enjoyed reading about her early life and experiences a lot more than the comedy section.

At the end of this book Gina said if enough people bought this book that she would write a second book discussing the following years, so please buy this book because I really want to read the second one.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great engaging memoir. As a first generation black Brit with parents who emigrated to the UK in the 60's from one of the then colonies, but at least 10 years older than Gina, I was really interested in her story and journey. I have known and liked Gina since she first broke out on the UK comedy scene. I was sad to read about the racism she experienced as a child and adult, plus the prejudice from fellow black kids of west indian descent in school, making some of her school days a nightmare and also the antagonism from her fellow black male counterparts in the the UK comedy arena - this was really eye opening (hey Gina, how envious all these people must be of you now, you have made it big in the US, what are they actually doing now....you got the last laugh). This is truly an enlightening and insightful book, particularly if you come from any privileged background. I am really pleased and proud of everything Gina has achieved thus far.
One small point - I found it interesting and even slightly amusing that as Gina is now a US resident, and clearly the book is also written for her US fan base, she had to explain all the British nuances and London locations in great detail, which clearly a Brit would understand, however she did this really well and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.