LET’S ALL GET A BIT SILLY

Author, telly host and comedy star Matt Lucas has a new book out, and it’s very silly indeed

There’s a lot to be said about being silly, or having a good laugh just for the joy of it. Matt Lucas has made a career of it, through TV comedy shows, books and bringing playfulness to presenting roles on Great British Bake Off, for example.

The Little Britain star’s latest book is another in his Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Silly series – this time Very Silly Games, complete with laugh-out-loud illustrations by Sarah Horne, games for big and little kids alike and all sorts of scenarios, woven with anecdotes from Matt.

“The publisher approached me last year about doing a joke book, and I had the idea of doing My Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Silly Book Of Jokes, which – aside from being almost too silly – contained lots of silly added comments from me throughout,” explains Matt, 47.

“Now we are building a series, with the third book dedicated to Games. I like the interactive nature of the books – you don’t just read them, you get involved.”

He says the games are a great way of bringing people together and “generally don’t involve gawping at a phone or computer screen – something even kids do for too long each day”.

And as for a favourite silly game from his childhood?

“I always loved ‘The Chocolate Game’ – which involved everyone sitting in a circle and taking turns to throw dice,” he says. “Whoever got matching numbers would run into the middle of the circle, put on a jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, and then to eat as much chocolate as they could using a knife and fork, before someone else threw a double and replaced them.”

My Very Very Very Very Very Very

Very Silly Book of Games by Matt Lucas, left, illustrated by Sarah Horne,

Farshore, £6.99