Normally in this column I take a book that’s been turned into a TV show or film, and see what happens in the shift from page to screen. However, this month over at Five Books For I’ve been looking at memoirs, and you’d be correct in thinking that it’s more common for fiction to be adapted than non-fiction, as a general rule.
So this month, I thought we could turn the normal adaptation formula of book-to-screen on its head and instead look at how comedian Ellie Taylor, perhaps best known for her role in Ted Lasso, has examined her experience of motherhood in two very different ways: firstly in a stand-up show called Cravings, and later as a basis for her best-selling memoir, My Child And Other Mistakes: How To Ruin Your Life In The Best Possible Way.
Both are about pregnancy and early motherhood, both are very funny, and both tell you more truth about becoming a parent than even the most thorough of parenting books.
The show: Cravings
Cravings is a Netflix special from 2019 and Taylor is heavily pregnant in it. (As someone who was wiped out for most of my pregnancy, I am full of admiration for the fact that she manages to do a whole stand-up show in a gorgeous dress without once needing to lie down).
She explores much of the territory that’s familiar to anyone who’s ever been pregnant, or lived with a pregnant woman – cravings, swollen ankles, the desire for a glass of wine – but none of it feels clichéd. Her comic timing is perfect and there’s a physicality to her delivery that really makes it sing: she’s not just telling jokes, she’s acting them out with big expressions, odd little poses, and the sort of exaggerated pause that lets the audience fall about before she’s even reached the punchline.
It’s broad and playful, and unflinchingly honest, whether she’s discussing monogamy, sex, regret, or the surreal realisation that your body is growing a whole other human, with actual hair and nails.
At just a half hour in length, it’s a perfect bit of evening viewing and easy to fit around kids – although it won’t only appeal to parents. Anyone who appreciates good comedy based on real life experiences will find it brings a bit of joy and laughter to their day.
The book: My Child and Other Mistakes
Two years later, Taylor published her memoir, using much of the same material from the show.
The memoir format gives her much more scope for emotional honesty – the jokes are still there of course, and it’s a very funny book, but a whole book of stand-up lines would be a little wearing.
Instead, she finds a great balance between joking about the more comic aspects of pregnancy and motherhood and the emotional reality – especially the bits we don’t talk much about.
Despite a move in the past decade or two to bring more honesty and openness to the topic, it can still be difficult for mothers to be honest about the hard parts of motherhood, even with each other. She’s also very good at balancing the beauty, joy and love of it all with the less palatable aspects: the exhaustion, the loss of freedom, the resentment that many mothers feel, even if they wouldn’t change any of the choices they made.
I haven’t seen this done so well anywhere else: I’ve seen (usually anonymous) discussions of the hard bits – the bits that women get judged for – and I’ve seen plenty of women talking about the good bits too, but Taylor strikes a great balance between the raw honesty she touches on in her stand-up and the truth that, actually, there are some wonderful bits of it all too.
If you’re sick of seeing picture-perfect Instagram moms who look like they’ve never had to deal with a volcanic eruption of baby poop, this is the book and the show for you.
This is one time where I think it really doesn’t matter which way around you read or watch: both formats are great and while some of the jokes are included in both, it doesn’t feel recycled. The stand-up show is more akin to a night out, where everyone tells their worst parenting stories over a glass of wine, while the book is more intimate – more like a coffee with someone who really gets it all.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts – do you have a favourite memoir, especially a comic one? Let us know on our social channels.