The Fun Factory

The Fun Factory is set in the golden decade before the Great War, when the music halls were the people's entertainment, before radio, television or cinema, and bigger than all of them. Arthur Dandoe is a gifted young comedian trying to make his way within the prestigious Fred Karno theatre company. Determined to thwart him at any cost is another ruthlessly ambitious performer - one Charlie Chaplin. Things turn even nastier when Arthur and Charlie both fall for the same girl, the irresistibly alluring Tilly Beckett. One of the two rivals is destined to become the most celebrated man on the planet, with more girls than he can shake his famous stick at. The other. . . well, you'll just have to read this book - his book. It could have been so different.

Genre: Historical

"A fascinating, touching and very funny evocation of a bygone era of comedy." - David Baddiel

"If you've ever wondered about the roots of stand-up comedy, this is the novel for you. It's an absorbing march through the early career of Chaplin and others, and evokes a fascinating time. I read it virtually straight through, stopping only for the toilet, a sleep and my customary five hundred calories a day. Oh... and there's some romance too (yuk)." - Jo Brand