Robert Wringham Explained
Robert Wringham (born 28 November 1982) is a British writer, best known for his humor writing and as the editor of New Escapologist magazine. His first collection, A Loose Egg, was shortlisted for the 2015 Leacock Medal. He has also written two histories of alternative comedy and a comic novel.
Work
Wringham is primarily a humorist.[1] [2] In an article for the one-hundredth edition of Canadian Notes and Queries, he expressed a desire to be known as "the waster humorist." He also conveyed a belief in the social value of comic literature and an admiration for the work of Eric Nicol, Susan Juby, Paul Quarrington and Stuart McLean.[3]
Wringham is the founder of New Escapologist, a lifestyle magazine. The magazine advocates the escape from conventional employment in favor of more creative pursuits.[4] Some notable contributors have been Alain de Botton, Will Self, Richard Herring, Ewan Morrison, Tom Hodgkinson, Luke Rhinehart and Caitlin Doughty.
In 2012, Go Faster Stripe published Wringham's first non-fiction book You Are Nothing, which told the story of comedy troupe Cluub Zarathustra, whose members included Stewart Lee, Simon Munnery, Kevin Eldon, Julian Barratt, Graham Linehan, Sally Phillips and Johnny Vegas. The book is written from Wringham's outsider perspective and draws on conflicting interviews with cast and audience members.[5] [6] [7] [8]
2014 saw the publication of A Loose Egg, a collection of short pieces about Wringham's childhood, bachelorhood and early married life. In 2015, it was longlisted and finally shortlisted for the Leacock Medal.[9] [10] [11] [12]
In 2015, Wringham crowdfunded a New Escapologist-related book with publisher Unbound[13] and the resulting Escape Everything! was released in 2016. A German edition called Ich Bin Raus was published in the same year and attracted considerable media attention.[14] [15] [16] [17] A follow-up title was commissioned called The Good Life for Wage Slaves, published by Heyne Verlag in Germany and independently in the UK. When Unbound republished Escape Everything! as a paperback in 2021, it was retitled I'm Out: How to Make an Exit.[18]
Returning to Go Faster Stripe in 2021, he wrote a second humour collection called Stern Plastic Owl.[19] The following year, Go Faster Stripe published Wringham's second volume of comedy history with a book about the Iceman.[20] [21] [22]
His first novel, Rub-A-Dub-Dub was published in 2023.[23] [24] [25] It won a Saltire Award for Best Cover Design.[26]
Wringham writes for Joshua Glenn's pop culture website HiLobrow,[27] and for the Idler magazine where he had a column between 2016 and 2020.[28] [29]
Books
- You Are Nothing (2012)
- A Loose Egg (2014)
- Escape Everything! (2016)
- I'm Out: How to Make an Exit (retitled paperback edition) (2021)
- The Good Life for Wage Slaves (2020)
- Stern Plastic Owl (2021)
- Melt It! The Book of the Iceman (2022)
- Rub-A-Dub-Dub (2023)
Pseudonym
His pen name comes from James Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.[30]
In The Good Life for Wage Slaves, Wringham explains that he'd been blogging under his original name since his early twenties but became self-conscious and in need of creative freedom when googling people became a common practice: "I didn't mind exposing my soul to a few strange nerds on the other side of the planet, but a certain dishonesty is required among friends, isn't it?"[31]
Personal life
Originally from Dudley, Wringham moved to Glasgow in 2004.[32] He is also a Resident of Canada.[33] [34]
In 2014 he married his long-term partner Samara, who appears as a foil in some of his writing.[35]
External links
Notes and References
- https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/features/robert-wringham-interview/ Robert Wringham: 'The highest form of activity is the shenanigan'
- https://outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=2505 Bunch of Five: Robert Wringham
- Journey to Orillia. Canadian Notes and Queries, No. 100. 2017.
- Web site: At Work With Robert Wringham, New Escapologist. Jeremy. Leslie. 4 September 2023. magCulture.
- http://www.chortle.co.uk/books/2012/05/29/15486/you_are_nothing_by_robert_wringham You Are Nothing by Robert Wringham: book review by Steve Bennett
- http://www.list.co.uk/article/42892-robert-wringham-you-are-nothing/ Robert Wringham – You Are Nothing
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/comedy-news/10947095/Cluub-Zarathustra-where-British-comedy-was-reborn.html Cluub Zarathustra: where British comedy was reborn
- https://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/episode_8_stewart_lee/ Episode 8: Stewart Lee
- http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/04/2015-stephen-leacock-medal-for-humour-shortlist-revealed.html 2015 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour shortlist revealed
- https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/04/30/terry-fallis-wins-2015-stephen-leacock-humour-award.html Terry Fallis Wins 2015 Leacock Humour Award
- http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/04/30/fallis-wins-leacock-medal-for-humour-for-second-time Author wins Leacock Medal for Humour for second time
- http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/5536157-leacock-humour-shortlist-unveiled-in-orillia/ Leacock humour shortlist unveiled in Orillia
- http://unbound.co.uk/books/escape-everything/ Escape Everything!
- http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/robert-wringham-ueber-eskapismus-weniger-arbeit-mehr-sex-1.3173886?reduced=true Weniger Arbeit, Mehr Sex
- http://www.focus.de/kultur/buecher/moderne-entfesselungskunst-robert-wringham_id_5884319.html Robert Wringham verrät: So sprengen Sie die Fesseln der Arbeitswelt
- http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur/raus-aus-der-falle-wie-man-der-arbeit--und-dem-konsum-entkommt-24650252 Raus aus der Falle Wie man der Arbeit und dem Konsum entkommt
- http://derstandard.at/2000043186609/Robert-Wringham-Putzen-ist-vergnueglich-wenn-man-es-richtig-sieht "Putzen ist vergnüglich, wenn man es richtig sieht"
- https://www.writing.ie/interviews/im-out-how-to-make-an-exit-by-robert-wringham I’m Out: How to Make an Exit by Robert Wringham
- https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2021/06/11/48612/michael_legge_to_publish_his_first_book Michael Legge to publish his first book: one of three new titles from indie label Go Faster Stripe
- https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/01/19/52391/the_iceman_gets_exposure The Iceman Gets Exposure
- https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/news/7158/the-iceman-book/ 1980s alternative comedy star The Iceman reveals all in new book
- https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/2023/02/from-the-stalinist-woke-diktatorshaft-gulag-of-stewart-lee-feb-2023-1/ Iceman Book
- https://outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=2768 Robert Wringham Takes an Early Bath
- https://www.writing.ie/tell-your-own-story/rub-a-dub-dub-by-robert-wringham/ Rub-A-Dub-Dub by Robert Wringham
- Chamberlain-King, R. (19 September 2023)Two Men in a Tub PopMatters.
- https://www.creativeboom.com/news/scottish-artist-thomas-macgregor-scoops-book-cover-design-of-the-year-2023/
- http://hilobrow.com/author/rwringham/ Posts by Robert Wringham
- Idler 48-70
- https://www.idler.co.uk/article/office-nightmares/ Office Nightmares
- http://www.wringham.co.uk/about About
- The Good Life for Wage Slaves (2020)
- http://www.wringham.co.uk/about What is Robert Wringham?
- http://newescapologist.co.uk/2014/04/10/im-not-an-employee-by-nature-nobody-is/ I'm not an employee by nature. Nobody is
- http://issuu.com/jamesuden/docs/mongrel2012fprint Avoiding Modern Life
- http://wringham.co.uk/the-day-of-the-coconut/ Day of the Coconut
