Press coverage in the Sutton Guardian

My favourite local reporter Sophia Sleigh was kind enough to give me a little mention on the Local Guardian website today. I have posted the article below but you can also read the original article by clicking here.

Carshalton author celebrates comedy book award nomination
by Sophia Sleigh

A book about a man's dating disasters has been shortlisted for a comedy book award.

The Drought, by Carshalton author Steven Scaffardi, has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

The book tells the story of one man’s quest to overcome a period of "sexual drought".

Mr Scaffardi is celebrating by giving people free downloads of the book until November 1.

He said: "I’m absolutely thrilled that The Drought has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

"The feedback from readers and reviewers over the last 12 months has been incredible so a free download seemed like a nice way of celebrating."

Visit Smashwords using the code LF63C.

Second interview with the Sutton Guardian

Sophia Sleigh from the Sutton Guardian interviewed me at the Golden Jester comedy competition final last week. Here is her write-up...


Comedy Gold
by Sophia Sleigh

The final of a comedy competition took place in Sutton last week, writes Sophia Sleigh.

Great Comedy Nights' Golden Jester competition was held at the Holiday Inn, on Wednesday, December 7.

The audience voted for the wittiest stand-up and an X-Factor style panel of judges, including representatives from the Sutton Guardian and hotel manager Marco Firk, 52, decided the overall winner.

The show was the culmination of several months' worth of auditions and was orgainsed by Alan Sellers, 53, from Epsom.

Mr Sellers doubled up as the compere for the night, and joked that out of the 200 comedians who auditioned, they had gone through "the good, the bad, and the ugly" to get to the final five acts.

Steve Scaffardi, 33, frfom Carshalton, came runner-up in the competition, along Chris Blackmore, 17, from Raynes Park.

Mr Scaffardi was the most contemporary comedian, making tongue-in-cheek jokes about the racist tram lady from Croydon and this summer's riots.

He provided cringe-worthy sketches, which made the men in the audience nod their heads in acknowledgment and their girlfriends laugh in embarrassment.

Just after his performance, Mr Scaffardi said: "It's been good fun - stand-up is always something I thought about doing and you get such a good buzz when you do it.

"I take a lot from my experiences and try to find things people can relate to.

"You know by the crowd's reaction how you are doing and tonight's my 50th gig."

The well-deserved winner of the overall competition was Iranian comedian Vahid Jananguard, 58, from Oxford, who had the audience members crying with laughter and was a hit with the judges.

Mr Sellers said: "It was really excellent, it was the first year of the competition and we were using this year as a gauge. We already have 400 comedians entering next year.

"Comedians have heard it was a fair competition and it shows by the fact Vahid won and didn't bring a large audience to support him."

For further information on the Golden Jester competition 2012, visit greatcomedynights.co.uk

Interview with the Sutton Guardian

Here is the link to my first press interview as I speak to James Pepper from the Sutton Guardian about the upcoming publication of The Drought.

You can also read the full story below...

 

Carshalton author aims to trash chick flick myths

by James Pepper

A new book is looking to dispel the chick flick myths about men. 

Carshalton author Steven Scaffardi is due to release his debut novel The Drought, next month. 

A tale of a group of young single men doing what they do, one of the group has recently broken up with his long-term girlfriend, only to find he has forgotten how to talk to the opposite sex. 

Inspired by Channel 4 hit sitcom The Inbetweeners, there are as many cringe-worthy moments as there are laugh out loud ones, the blurb reads. 

The author and stand-up comedian said he was also inspired by the misrepresentation of men in so-called rom coms and women’s magazines. 

He said: “I have to watch chick flicks because of my girlfriend, and sometimes I might read the women’s magazines that are lying around. 

“When I see the depiction of men in films, I just think to myself ‘a man wouldn’t say that’.”

In an attempt to bring back the real man, the author turned to his own experiences after a few false starts with other novels. 

He said: “I have tried to write about cool things of which I know nothing about and got to chapter four. Then I run out of material. “With this book, I tried to talk about things which I know about – young men being mischievous and trying to pull girls. 

“It’s about a relationship from a guy’s point of view.”