Too Much: the hilarious, heartfelt memoir

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However, don't be put off by thinking that Too Much is a book to be avoided because of its subject matter. Yes, it's a book about the aftermath of a bereavement, but it's so much more about life; Tom's father emerges as a loving, devoted dad who in turn is loved by his devoted sons, Tom and James. People frighten me a little bit,” says Tom Allen. “But music has always been an escape, a means of getting away into my own world. When I play the piano I get to be on the outside of expectations, on my own terms…” The 39-year-old comedian strikes a Garbo-esque pose. “…like Elsa in Frozen.” Fourth time reading. Okay I'm going to stop updating now. Suffice to say this is a book I will be reading regularly for forever... Allen’s dad “wasn’t particularly huggy. We don’t all express ourselves like hallmark cards, do we? He wouldn’t say: ‘I love you, son.’ He showed he cared by making you a bacon sandwich. The last text he sent me was an offer to come over and bleed the radiators. In the inevitable way of things I found myself going: ‘Dad! I’m a grown up! I don’t need you to help me with the bins!’ But it turns out I do. I keep forgetting to put out the bins.” He shrugs. “I think I really came to appreciate that was his love language through writing the book, although I knew it in my soul I suppose.”

It would be difficult for me to recommend this if you don't know Tom Allen so go google his stand up...then get the book! Tom Allen is writing a follow-up to his bestselling autobiography, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal. Comedian Tom Allen, 39, grew up in Bromley and trained with the National Youth theatre. He started standup aged 22, winning So You Think You’re Funny and the BBC New Comedy award in the same year. He regularly appears on TV series including The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, and as a host on The Apprentice: You’re Fired and Cooking With the Stars. He’s currently performing warm-up gigs before going on the road in February with a new standup tour, Completely. His second memoir, Too Much, is published this week.His latest memoir, currently set to be published on November 10th, is entitled Too Much. "It's been really interesting to write" Allen disclosed on Like Minded Friends, the podcast he hosts with fellow comic Suzi Ruffell. And does Allen feel like a grown up now? “I do, to an extent, yes. Now that dad isn’t around to scoop me up and rescue me. So I want to pass on what wisdom I’ve learned.” But he still sleeps with the light on. “I’m scared of being misunderstood,” he says, “and I’m scared of the dark.” Allen decided to write a series of diary entries/vignettes of stories about his adored dad as a way of coming to terms with his terrible loss. With each chapter headed by a quote from his dad, Allen explores his relationship with his father as a way of attempting to come to terms with his grief and its complexities.

Funny and honest, but never mawkish or maudlin, this is an often emotional and relatable account of the practicalities and rollercoaster of emotions that follow in the wake of a death.I love talking to the slightly more mature bakers, partly because that’s kind of how I see myself. So I enjoyed Carole and Dawn this year, Maggie last year, Linda and Rowan the year before. The older bakers are always fun.

Tom’s dad was an avid gardener and tried to teach him a thing or too, which Tom was never too keen on. But when his dad died, Tom turned to gardening to deal with his grief and wished he’d paid more attention to his dad’s lessons. This resonates with me so much, as this was also me and my mum:

I’m amazed I’ve never had a cake in my face! No, they’re lovely people and seem to enjoy me poking fun. I like to think my faux-meanness is a way of taking all the angry voices on social media or in the tabloids, and laughing at their negativity. That wink or raised eyebrow is very ingrained in camp culture; it’s about playing with meanness so it loses its power. A lot of queer people experience the world as quite a harsh place. Laughing at it is an act of subversion that makes it more bearable. There’s great comfort in laughter. At the end of the book, he writes a letter to his teenage self – telling himself that things definitely do get better, and that it is possible to live a full productive gay life, with no need for feelings of shame. Your new book is inspired by your father’s death last year. Were you hesitant about being so honest?