Arthur Smith

Funny, poignant, interesting and charming. This is how life should be lived, (apart from where he nearly dies)

All the qualities which make Arthur Smith such a success on the stage are here... by drawing out the comedy in humdrum reality he keeps one constantly smiling

The loveable old codger rolls out his memoirs, full of so-barking-they-must-be-true stories of his youth and stand-up career

...it radiates a glow of whimsy and invention

My Name is Daphne Fairfax is a witty inside track on life's bigger themes: the mirage of fame, boredome, depression and death

Smith stands out among his generation for a willingness to keep pushing himself and experimenting with new forms of comedic expression ... Today's hottest young comics still see him as an inspiration

Witty, engaging and unconventional . . . As funny and emotionally satisfying as a great stand-up performance.

A Memoir

'My name is Arthur Smith, unless there's anybody here from the Streatham tax office. In which case, I'm Daphne Fairfax.' This has been Arthur's opening line at hundreds of stand-up comedy performances. In fact, he is neither Daphne nor Arthur. Friends and family know him as Brian. 
 
One of the 'alternative comedians' who shook up light entertainment in the eighties and nineties, Arthur (and Brian) is also a broadcaster, an opening bat for Grumpy Old Men, a West End playwright (his plays include An Evening with Gary Lineker) and a guest on innumerable radio and TV panel shows. 
 
In My Name is Daphne Fairfax he reflects on the nature of comedy and his days as a scruffy kid on the bombsites of Bermondsey, a wild-haired undergraduate, a roadsweeper, an English teacher, a failed rock star, a boozed-up sexual adventurer and an intensive care patient who has been told never to drink again. 
 
Hilarious, scandalous and rude, his memoir incorporates a tender tribute to his parents and a vigorous account of the peculiar business of being alive.

My Name is Daphne Fairfax

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Kate-Atkinson

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

prhuk-authors

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Arthur Smith

Praise for My Name is Daphne Fairfax

Funny, poignant, interesting and charming. This is how life should be lived, (apart from where he nearly dies)

All the qualities which make Arthur Smith such a success on the stage are here... by drawing out the comedy in humdrum reality he keeps one constantly smiling

The loveable old codger rolls out his memoirs, full of so-barking-they-must-be-true stories of his youth and stand-up career

Funny, poignant, interesting and charming. This is how life should be lived, (apart from where he nearly dies)

All the qualities which make Arthur Smith such a success on the stage are here... by drawing out the comedy in humdrum reality he keeps one constantly smiling

The loveable old codger rolls out his memoirs, full of so-barking-they-must-be-true stories of his youth and stand-up career

Funny, poignant, interesting and charming. This is how life should be lived, (apart from where he nearly dies)

All the qualities which make Arthur Smith such a success on the stage are here... by drawing out the comedy in humdrum reality he keeps one constantly smiling

The loveable old codger rolls out his memoirs, full of so-barking-they-must-be-true stories of his youth and stand-up career

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter