Daisy May Cooper to publish memoir

Wednesday 3rd March 2021, 11:42am

This Country star Daisy May Cooper has written her first volume of memoirs
Don't Laugh, It Will Only Encourage Her is available to order ahead of publication on 28th October
It charts her youth growing up in rural poverty in the Cotswolds, through to stardom with BBC Three

Daisy May Cooper has written her first memoir.

Don't Laugh, It Will Only Encourage Her is now available to pre-order in hardback and ebook formats ahead of publication in October by Penguin imprint Michael Joseph.

The comic actor rose to stardom in BBC Three mockumentary This Country, which she co-writes and stars in with brother Charlie Cooper, and took part in the tenth series of hit entertainment show Taskmaster.

She can currently be seen in Sky One's Dating No Filter, and will appear on screens alongside Tim Key in forthcoming period sitcom The Witchfinder.

Publishers explain: "In addition to the hilarious storytelling we know and love from Daisy, her first memoir will give an insight into life before fame, and illustrate that there is more to her than the funny woman the nation has taken to its heart.

"Growing up in rural poverty in Gloucestershire with her brother Chaz, Daisy had to work a myriad of low-paid, unrewarding jobs just to make ends meet. As Daisy herself says, this endearingly honest and achingly funny memoir is definitely her, 'weird way of coping ... trying to turn the bleakest situation into a positive'."

In a statement released to publishing industry magazine The Bookseller, Cooper said: "When things were really bad, Mum would always say to me, 'Don't worry, it will be a good read for your memoir one day'. Well, it seems that one day is today! I have lived the most humiliating, ridiculous, screw-up of a shit-storm life and it has been an utter joy digging up all that shit and putting it down on paper. Therapeutic even. I'm writing this memoir because I owe it myself to tell this story. I also really the need the money as we've got an ant infestation that needs sorting..."

Michael Joseph's Charlotte Hardman, who acquired the book for the publishing house, said: ''Daisy had already taken her place in our hearts with This Country but she has also become Instagram and TikTok's stand out star during this past strange year. She has entertained us all with her parodies, her insight into how the government works, her own take on famous theme tunes and her flirtation with the Sea Captain. She has provided all of the laughs just when we all needed it most and garnered a huge following as a result.

"But Daisy's life hasn't always only been about making people laugh. Daisy's memoir manages to talk openly about her family's struggles in her childhood while also bringing all the brilliantly observed detail you expect from her humour. It is full of the most wonderful and ultimately uplifting stories. I'm delighted to be working with Daisy to bring her story to the page this autumn."

Daisy May Cooper - Don't Laugh, It'll Only Encourage Her

Life hasn't always been straightforward for Daisy May Cooper: growing up in rural poverty in Gloucestershire with her brother Chaz, she had to work a myriad of low-paid and unrewarding jobs just to make ends meet. Don't Laugh, It Will Only Encourage Her is the endearingly honest and hilarious memoir from the co-creator and star of award-winning BBC comedy This Country.

Daisy explains:

"When things were really bad, Mum would always say to me:
'Don't worry, it will be a good read for your memoir one day.'
'Mum, I auditioned to be a stripper by snogging a pole and was laughed off the stage by a bunch of topless dancers.'
'Well that can go in the memoir.'
'Mum, I spent all my student loan accidently on a penthouse suite in a fancy hotel in Marble Arch, now I face getting kicked out of drama school.'
'That's a good one for the memoir.'
'Mum, sorry I'm late for dinner, I had to work late at my cleaning job because someone balanced a Quaver packet full of piss on the radiator in the boy's toilets, and I didn't realise until I picked it up, so I had to wash the piss off me in the sink while trying to learn my lines for that Call The Midwife audition I have in London tomorrow.'
'Memoir...'"

"I have lived the most humiliating, ridiculous, screw-up of a life but Mum was right, you've just got to remember, sometimes the worst experiences make the most entertaining stories."

First published: Thursday 28th October 2021

Hardback

Paperback

eBook