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Jennifer Saunders Bonkers
c/o Rachael Lowndes
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Rachael Lowndes
Jennifer Saunders Bonkers at Guildford
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Rachael Lowndes
Launch night at Guildford Book Festival
BBC journalist Michael Buerke with his wife Christine and Nigel Roby, MD of The Bookseller Group
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Rachael Lowndes
Guildford Book Festival's Jim Parks
Guildford Book Festival's Jim Parks at the Festival reception
Jennifer Saunders’ stage presence and jokes made for light-hearted entertainment at the launch of the Guildford Book Festival. We went along to learn about her life in laughs
“Who’d have thought I’d ever write a book?” asked Jennifer Saunders as she sat down on stage at G Live, Guildford, last week to talk about her newly published work ‘Bonkers: My Life in Laughs’.
National comedy favourite Jennifer was in town as part of this year’s Guildford Book Festival, and one of a handful of big names booked until Oct 27 to encourage us to all delve into a good read.
With a comedy career spanning more than three decades, as one half of the nation’s favourite female comedy act French and Saunders, as well as the writer behind internationally acclaimed Absolutely Fabulous series, Jennifer has plenty to write about.
Over 400 turned out to listen to Jennifer, nicknamed ‘Podge’ as a child. Yet cutting a pretty svelte figure up on stage, she is anything but, despite her self-deprecation throughout her conversation with editor, Joel Rickett.
Her autobiography, which she admits she approached as though writing a comedy sketch, follows her life and progression from introverted child and mischievous drama student, to well-established TV personality.
Her on-screen charisma was apparent in her banter with Joel and the audience. She spoke openly about her life and her battle with cancer, which she kept secret until pictured without the blonde wig she used to wear.
“I did ask myself, where are the laughs in cancer?” she admitted of her deliberations on whether to include her experiences with the illness in her book. “And then I realised, actually, there are a lot of laughs with it,” insisting you can’t let the big ‘C’ define you.
“You can be serious, but just don’t take yourself seriously,” she told us. It is an adage that makes you suspect gives Jennifer carte blanche to take the mickey out of everyone she comes across - that self-deprecating humour of hers that she feels everyone could do with adopting from time to time.
She also gave us a glimpse of how her career in comedy evolved, growing up within a family with parents and siblings trying to outwit each other with jokes around the dinner table, trying to make one another laugh.
It seems she also inherited her quick wit and wry humour from her father, who also enjoyed seeing the lighter side of things. With a childhood spent constantly moving schools, following her RAF pilot father’s postings, the young Jennifer found it easiest to make friends by being the class clown.
She is without question a flawless and seasoned performer. The evening did leave me wondering, are we seeing all sides of Jennifer? And as if by reading my thoughts, “Who is the real Jennifer Saunders?” Joel asked the actress. “An expert day dreamer,” came the reply. Well, it’s a trait that has certainly served her very well in her incredible career acting those dreams out.
Jennifer Saunders, ‘Bonkers: My Life in Laughs’, published by Viking.
Jonathan Aitken, Sebastian Faulks, Peter James, Joanna Trollope and comedian Mark Watson are just some of the big names you can still see speak at the Guildford Book Festival this week. For more information visit the Festival website.