In the UK there are people who work in the entertainment business who are so below par, you have to look twice at the TV screen to just wonder how on earth are they still working and keep being endorsed.

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. For me, this was not a noteworthy memoir, but I did enjoy Gina's narration because her vocalizations are always hysterical. 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.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. Cack-handed' means left-handed but also, a Gina explains in the Foreword, clumsy and awkward, which, she says, she is. 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. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark – a sign that she was her grandmother’s chosen heir, and would fulfil Patience’s dreams. I never even heard of her until I seen her on the CBS hit series Bob <3 Abishola, a show she co-created.

I may not have a African Mother but I have a Lancastrian Mother which are very similar let me tell you - so relatable especially the mother stories. 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. 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.This is an actual memoire, beautifully and intelligently written, filled with important historical data and life-changing (for me) information, as well as being genuinely funny and wonderfully clever. 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. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get caught up on her appearance in Season 2 of The Standups on Netflix. 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!

I remember Gina back in the mid-90's from the TV, and she always stood out for me as number 1, she was the only Black female comedian I saw and 2, she talked about her Nigerian upbringing which is very similar to other African countries. 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.I'm happy that Gina has found her success across the pond, as she has put in a lot of work to get there. 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. 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. Knowledge of this past and seeking a sense of an identity drew her into the Nation of Islam for a while, although she quickly drifted away again.