Great book reviews on the back of the paperback release!

Book reviews for The Drought by Steven Scaffardi
The positive reviews continue to rack-up for The Drought. Here are the latest reviews on the back of the paperback release two weeks ago...

Amazon Reader Review #8 (Paperback Edition): The funniest book I've read in ages
This is an awesome read! Hilarious, brutally honest and easily the funniest book I've read in ages. Steven Scaffardi is a new writer but you never would have of thought it. Simply put: GET IT! 5/5 stars

Amazon Reader Review #9 (Paperback Edition): A fantastic read
I was a little dubious at first as Scaffardi is a new writer but my fears were blown away within the first few pages. The story is cleverly written and full of characters everybody can relate to... Some of the tales may seem far fetched until I recalled them happening to me or one of my friends! This is a fantastic read which doesn't just cater for the 'lads' (my wife loved it!) and I would strongly recommend this book to anyone! 5/5 stars

Amazon Reader Review #10 (Paperback Edition): The Drought
The Drought is a witty tale which will stir memories for any group of lads, reminded me of some of my own group of friends shortcomings with the fairer sex!! A fun read 5/5 stars

Top night at Dirty Dicks!

Diary of a stand-up comedian Entry #40
That was a frickin' awesome night! Hot on the heels of last nights success at the Golden Jester, it was down to Dirty Dicks in the city. It's a great little venue, and every time I have been there they have had a good audience. But I have never felt that I have done myself justice there - until last night!

All of my gags went down well last night, and I even got a round of applause for the lack of female rioters joke. A couple of lads from Essex said they were nearly in tears laughing, while Brendan O'Donoghue said that I smashed it (and he was excellent finishing the show!). And to top it all off, the promoters gave me a ticket to the Scott Capurro show on October 28! That's what I call a right touch!

I also got to see some really funny acts for the first time including Dave Flynn, Naomi Hefter, Tin Vodopivec, Buster Joe Loveman, and Brendan O'Donoghue.

I am through to the semi-finals of the Golden Jester comedy competition!

Diary of a stand-up comedian Entry #39
Last night I came third out of 11 acts to qualify and progress into the semi-finals of the Golden Jester comedy competition. There was a great line-up of comics on the night, with the very funny Darren Walsh taking top spot, and James Alderson taking second.The event took place at the Holiday Inn in Sutton, and being a local gig for me, I had great support with friends and family coming down. It probably swung things slightly in my favour as the audience voted on the acts to go through, but Alan Sellers and the guys at Great Comedy Nights did say they had weighted down the scores to make the result more balanced.

Palan Ns and James Loveridge also progressed into the semi-finals that will take place on October 27 and November 22. Special mention to Sophie Richardson who I thought was really unlucky not to get through.

Roll on the semi-final!

Laughing Horse New Act of the Year - 1st Round Heat confirmed!

Diary of a stand-up comedian Entry #38
I got the nod last night that I have been entered into the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year! This competition has discovered the likes of Jack Whitehall, Russell Kane, and Rhod Gilbert.

My first round Heat will take place at The Goat Tavern in Green Park on November 8.

September comedy round-up...

Guy Manners: MC at The Carnivale

Diary of a stand-up comedian Entry #37
I had two Comedy Bin gigs this month that I haven't mentioned yet - one on September 19 at The Carnivale hosted by Guy Manners, and then it was off to Clapham on September 28 for The Alchemist hosted by Aatif Nawaz.

I felt a bit sorry for Guy on the night as he tried to get the audience involved during his intro, but was met with two of the most stand-offish members of the crowd he could have picked! You had one woman who insisted she bascially did nothing in her life! And then he was chatting to some dude who seemed unsure of who he was! Hmmm, tough crowd. At least Guy managed to pick them out for the rest of us!

And back at The Alchemist where the hard-working Alex Chapman was doing his 49th gig of the week (the boy doesn't stop gigging!) and cat-lover Scott Rutterford, who had brought his banjo with him to sing a song about - yep, you guessed it - his cat!

The Amazon reviews keep coming

Book reviews for The Drought by Steven Scaffardi...

Amazon Reader Review #6 (Kindle Edition): I bought this for my holiday...
...but then made the mistake of having a sneaky look at it and it had me rapt from the start... it is not my usual genre of book, I am more a crime thriller reader, but i read a promo for this on one of the forums, read the blurb and decided that I was quite interested in finding out what i would imagine to be the blokie equivalent of "chick lit" would be like. surprisingly enough I wasnt disappointed. in fact I think I went through quite a spectrum of emotions whilst reading it - from rip-roaring laughter to embarrassed cringing... and loads of sympathy with the main character... I thought that the book was well formatted and edited, and the characters and scenarios were all well written and pretty credible... certainly looking forward to more from this author... 5/5 stars

Amazon Reader Reviews #7 (Kindle Edition): The witty ending saves the book
Have to say I am not a fan of lad-lit. This book was on a par with the last one in the genre I read (William Rudd's First Year of Marriage ) with almost identical sense of humour and similar rather unlikely, contrived situations. Writers of lad-lit, it seems to me, view the events of the story as if it is a film they are seeing in their head; if directed well this could indeed make a basis for a funny film. Or a stinker. Mr Scaffardi sits on a dangerous knife edge here; the subject matter is about a guys search for sex, which is not going to be to every readers taste. It comes across a sort of updated Confessions of a Window Cleaner type story. One failing in my opinion of the first half of the book is that because we already know the protagonist is on a drought, we already know that every attempt to get sex is going to end in failure, and the episodes become a bit repetitious. I got to the half way mark and was thinking oh dear, there is a lot of book to go yet. However, his hero is not a bad sort and the book picks up dramatically in the second half when a new element is introduced. The story (and the hero) really redeem themselves in the second half, the ending is well crafted and made me laugh. I have to admit there were several Moments Of Male Truth in the book which men will recognise: for instance the true horror of shopping; and a certain event that happens once a year on a Monday. It is priced very reasonably for the kindle at £1. 3/5 stars

Interview with the Brent & Kilburn Times

Here is an interview with the Brent & Kilburn Times (despite the headline it is actually quite a positive story!)...


Creation of author is not a hit single
by Max Walters

A budding comedian has released his maiden novel detailing a young man's desperate struggle with the opposite sex.

The Drought by Steven Scaffardi charts the journey of Dan Hilles, who, after coming out of an eight-year relationship, finds the rules of single life have somewhat changed.

Mr Scaffardi, 33, a former sports journalist, explained his reasons behinf penning his own novel.

He said: "It was something I always wanted to do but never quite got round to; I first got the idea for the story after watching television with my girlfriend.

"I would see all these men on chick flicks and think to myself 'guys aren't like that in real life'."

Following the separation from his girlfriend and accompanied by his three equally unhelpful mates, Rob, Jack, and Ollie, Dan attempts to muddle his way through single life facing a number of embarrassing situations along the way.

Mr Scaffardi said: "You hear some great stories from your mates down the pub telling you about the ways they've messed up with girls and I thought it would make a great idea for a book."