One-Night Stand…

About the Book:

Ben Thomas made a mistake.

A one-night stand with Natasha Peters has got her pregnant. Now he has two options: give up on his dream as a comedian and get a day job or abandon his responsibility and be a total dick.

Only when Tash tells the full truth does a third possibility emerge…

This story recounts the all too relatable experience of a fleeting sexual encounter and the hilarious mess it can create. It details all the things you think you know about safe sex and is inspired by the true story of a comedian in crisis.

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My Thoughts:

Comedy can be hit and miss on the page. There’s genuinely funny and there’s scenes that possibly seemed funny in the author’s head but didn’t translate to the page all that well. One-Night Stand is a genuinely funny book. The author, Simon Taylor, is a comedian so the odds were in favour of this being funny. I was a bit nervous going in though. I’m not a fan of stand-up comedy and the amount of un-funny comedians I’ve seen far outweigh the funny ones. And just because you’re a comedian doesn’t mean that you’re a writer. I was glad to discover with this book that Simon Taylor is not only funny, but he’s a hell of a good writer too.

With One-Night Stand, Simon Taylor has written the very definition of a page-turner. I raced through this novel, keen to find out the very thing that the main character wanted to know as well – but you’re going to have to read the book yourself to find out what that is. Ben was pretty hopeless at the start of the story, not particularly funny and not particularly responsible in any way whatsoever. As the story unfolds, Ben grows in many ways and there are some particularly poignant moments, especially to do with his own father, that proved his worth. By the end, I had an almost motherly affection for Ben and high hopes for his happiness and success.

This book was also an insightful look at the world of stand-up comedy. It’s not an easy pathway to follow and while I expected this, I wasn’t quite aware just how difficult it is to make it as a comedian, or, in all honesty, to make anything at all, dollar wise. It’s very much a career that seems to rest partially on talent and partially on being seen at the right time by the right person. Ben’s experiences, along with those of his friends, were an eye opener.

If you’re looking for a funny, yet meaningful read, I can highly recommend One-Night Stand. I feel like this story would translate to the screen really well, the whole time I was reading it I could see it playing out in my mind. It was such a pleasure to lose myself in the pages of a genuinely funny book, exactly what I needed right now. Fingers crossed that Simon Taylor has more than one book in him.

☕☕☕☕

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Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of One-night Stand for review.

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About the Author:

Simon Taylor is a Melbourne-born comedian, who by the age of 24 became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles. Since then he has written for Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell on the ABC and Magic for Humans on Netflix.
His one-hour comedy special was filmed at the famous Enmore Theatre in Sydney and went on to air on ABC and Network 10. Simon has also featured on shows such as Comedy Up Late and Just for Laughs.
His debut novel, One-Night Stand, is available now and has received critical praise for its humour and heart.

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One-Night Stand
Published by Larrikin House
Released 1st February 2021