If someone decided to remake Trainspotting crossed with Columbo and it was co directed by the Coen Brothers and David Lynch then this is most likely what they would come up with. On 6 March 2013, Boyle caused controversy when he was invited to perform at Russell Brand's BBC Three fundraiser Give It Up for Comic Relief at Wembley Arena. He made a series of jokes about Comic Relief itself; Queen Elizabeth II; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Andy Serkis; Oscar Pistorius; Pope Benedict XVI and the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. [72] This was deemed so distasteful that his entire six-minute performance was cut out of the broadcast version of the 3.5-hour show. [73] Accusations of hypocrisy [ edit ] It jumps about and trails away, in ebbs and flows, which keep you engaged without having to pay too much attention. I enjoyed the entire story and liked the characters of Felix, Jane, Donnie, and Amy very much. I wish we'd had a bit more information about Amy earlier on, though reading to the end revealed an important plot point as to why this couldn't happen.

Claire Sawers (20 December 2009). "Where Frankie Boyle got his shot at fame". London: Times Online . Retrieved 24 December 2009. It is brilliant read because it is funny, acerbic, full frontal in its audaciousness and often unputdownable style. There is a middling side. The ending felt like a missed opportunity. I can't voice it yet, but it was dismissive. And maybe that is the point of the whole book, the futility of everything and what a waste of life to get worked up over certain things. A friend of Frankie Boyle’s, he tells us, stopped watching standup because it’s either “clever but not funny, or funny but not clever”. Boyle, of course, is an exception: his work makes you think, or has you marvelling at its merciless vision, even as it prompts laugh after appalled laugh. It also, these days, questions itself. As on his 2019 tour, the Glaswegian is still puzzling out the value of his nasty comedy in our ever-nastier world. Are necrophilia gags justifiable? Should he only tell jokes whose ethical intentions are clear? Part whodunnit, part social safari, part extended stand-up monologue . . . the novel is full of scintillating sentences and perfect lines of dialogue' Sunday TimesMina instantly warms to this theme, noting that Chandler had worked with Billy Wilder (they co-wrote Double Indemnity but didn’t like each other), who was writing what Mina calls “that kind of staccato dialogue”. She posits the theory that the novelist may have stolen the technique from the director-screenwriter. a b c d Merritt, Stephanie (17 July 2022). "Meantime by Frankie Boyle review – the comedian's dark, funny Glasgow noir debut". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 December 2022. Boyle, Frankie (12 November 2020). The Future of British Politics. Unbound. ISBN 978-1-80018-010-9. Docherty – an activist who Felix remembers from his bizarre scripts that he pitched to BBC Scotland.

a b Wilson, Laura (19 August 2022). "The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 December 2022. In this light his tanned, bloated head looked not unlike a haunted paper bag, his glazed eyes fixed on some bleak internal horizon.” Throw in a very poignant and touching ending and you will have a read like no other that will bring out all the emotions in you. She published her first thriller, the critically acclaimed Garnethill , 24 years ago when she was 32. Boyle, who turns 50 next month, has just made his debut with Meantime, a tale of a Glaswegian addict who haphazardly investigates the murder of his best friend. It boasts impressive tributes from Mina and Ian Rankin on its cover. “A darkest noir, unputdownable crime novel”, says Mina, while Rankin describes it as a “twisted Caledonian take on Altman’s The Long Goodbye”, referring to the subversive 70s film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s finest Philip Marlowe novel. Boyle’s route into crime fiction has been more circuitous but with a much shorter gestation. Having written a couple of memoirs, including the memorably titled My Shit Life So Far, he found himself experimenting with a narrator’s voice but not with the intention of developing it into a novel. Then he started looking at a detective format and decided he wanted to examine the “postcolonial thing in Glasgow”.Writing a crime novel now appears to be a well-established rung on the career ladder of white male television entertainers, achieved with varying degrees of success and skill, so it’s a relief to find that Frankie Boyle’s first work of fiction is an enjoyably dark and entertaining tranche of Glasgow noir. It contains all the deft wordplay you’d expect of him, and a few well-aimed, drive-by satirical shots at political targets along the way. How do you solve a murder when you don’t have a clue? Frankie Boyle’s gripping crime debut novel, Meantime, is a hallucinogenic ride through Glasgow as one man seeks justice for his friend’s murder.

Louise Griffin (31 July 2022). "Frankie Boyle hits out at 'garbled nonsense' after claims he made Holly Willoughby rape joke". Metro. Comedian Frankie Boyle is making his crime fiction debut with Meantime, a “phenomenal” story set in the Scottish independence referendum's aftermath, to be published by John Murray imprint Baskerville. a b c Kelly, Stuart (4 August 2022). "Book review: Meantime, by Frankie Boyle". The Scotsman . Retrieved 31 December 2022. Chilton, Martin (3 July 2022). "From dangerous liaisons to women behaving badly". The Independent. p.50. ProQuest 2683489271. Woody Allen had a similar realisation at the start of his career, Mina says, archly referring to the comedian-director as her “favourite guy”. “He used to do standup and just read the material he wrote for Sid Caesar, and then he realised that the audience don’t want that, they want someone that they want to spend time in the company of.” She stops herself suddenly, and looks at Boyle: “I’m explaining standup comedy to you.”John Plunkett (10 December 2010). "Frankie Boyle's Katie Price joke sparks Ofcom investigation". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 3 January 2011. During a performance on his 2010 tour, Boyle interrupted a "long, seemingly semi-improvised skit" about Down syndrome by challenging a woman in the front row who seemed uncomfortable with the material. [59] The audience member explained that her five-year-old daughter had the condition and strongly criticised Boyle's portrayal of people with Down syndrome. [59] [60] [61] Mencap spokesman Ismail Kaji said that the comments could be misconstrued and seen as "no different to bullying". [61] Palestine and Israel [ edit ] Jouker, The (14 April 2022). "Frankie Boyle issues scathing verdict on the Tories' Rwanda plan in concise tweet". The National . Retrieved 9 October 2022. Meantime is beautiful in its harsh and brutal narrative. The writing is crystal clear, each word soaks into your skin like the bleak Scottish rain. No happy endings but it is intricate, it settled under my skin and had me craving more. Every mistake carves a deep and unsettling wound. If one sentence could sum it up it would be that. Without spoiling too much, in the final few chapters of MEANTIME, Frankie writes about grief and regret in a way that absolutely crushed me. I had tears in my eyes on more than a few occasions. To have the ability to convey feelings the way he did either suggests maybe his own past trauma or an incredibly special talent to relate to that level of loss on that deep of a level.