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Young Once
A Life Less Heavy
Brief Description
Aged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever. Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for...
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Young Once
$2999
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The hilarious and heart-warming memoir of actor and comedian Nigel Planer.
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Description
Aged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.
Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born...
Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot-eclair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.
Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399826730
Publisher: John Murray Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 May 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Illustration: Colour inset
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 28.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 268g
Pages: 352
About the Author
Nigel Planer is a comedian and actor, best known for the characters Neil the hippy in The Young Ones and Nicholas Craig of the 'Naked Actor' Masterclass. Starring in many TV shows and West End musicals, he has won Mastermind and a BRIT award, hovered at No.2 for six weeks in the pop charts (damn you, Frankie Goes to Hollywood!) and been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage, and BAFTA awards. He has also written novels, plays and poetry and voiced Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.
He lives in London with his wife, Roberta. Between them they have four children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.Also by Nigel Planer
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Young Once
Young Once is the hilarious and heart-warming memoir of actor and comedian Nigel Planer. Most famous for playing Neil the hippy in The Young Ones and being a pillar of the 80s alternative comedy scene through The Comic Strip Presents and Bad News, this memoir is inspired by a recent sold-out tour where audiences lapped up his witty and self-depreciating...Paperback$3300Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
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