Course:James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
| CRWR 501P 003 |
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| Advanced Writing of Poetry |
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James Acaster's Classic Scrapes is a collection of short, auto-biographical vignettes. They often highlight hilarious, awkward and embarrassing situations and shenanigans that the author, British standup comedian James Acaster, created for himself. They take place pre-fame and range from childhood to the beginnings of his standup career. The stories were fleshed out on Acaster's friend's radio program and are made up of material that Acaster couldn't make work in his standup sets but still found very fun to tell.
The collection's begins with:
"When I was a baby, I urinated into my own mouth. I don't remember doing it but my mother told me it happened and she has no reason to lie. As far as I can gather, I was lying on my back naked and somehow managed it. To be honest, I'd rather not go into details. The reason I'm telling you this is so that, straight out the gate, you know who I am and where I came from. This was how my life began and more or less continued for many, many years."
I don't remember when I read the collection but I do remember it was after I saw Acaster's artful marathon of a standup comedy special of Netflix. He really is the best contemporary standup comedian out there. I've always been a fan of British comedy shows, like Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, Monty Python. I think because my mother watched them a lot when I was young and I always loved how silly they were. As I got older I realized that they aren't only silly but they're always trying to comment on something serious — there's lots to be learned from levity and comedy often allows us to discuss difficult subjects without as much tension.
I've included this specific collection it in my inspirations and influences because it's one of my favourite non-fiction books. The reasons? One: it's made me cry-laugh on multiple occasions. It's a book I pick up and flip through when the world begins to get too heavy and I need to lighten up a bit. Two: the prose in the book is written exactly how Acaster speaks and I find it fascinating that the book so accurately mimics the author's cadence, rhythm, vocabulary and syntax. When I read it, I can hear Acaster's voice in my head. It's a masterclass in how to write to sound like yourself. Three: it inspired me to maintain my very silly, humorous creative non-fiction voice. It showed me that I view my life and the world around me through a very comedic, absurdist, lens. It's my tension release. Whenever something gets to be too much for me, I must joke about it.
Many of my poems have a tinge of comedy or humour to them. They're often featuring child-like, silly sounding objects. There's an air of lightness in the dark. No matter how hard I try to get rid of it, humour always comes through in my work. Classic Scrapes taught me that it's okay to embrace the silly parts of ourselves and its even better if you can showcase them to bring joy to other people's lives. In class, I've realized that one of my favourite things isn't hearing a contemplative"hmmm" after one of my poems is read aloud. It's when people unexpectedly laugh at a line within the poem. It's lovely to know that I've brought a little bit of joy to somebody's day.
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