British Comedy Guide

Robin Ince publishing memoir about his "adventures in neurodiversity"

Thursday 18th January 2024, 3:18pm by Jay Richardson

Robin Ince. Copyright: Steve Best, Cosmic Shambles Network

Robin Ince is writing a memoir about neurodiversity.

The comic's sixth book, Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity, will be published on 19th September by Macmillan, which recently released Adrian Edmondson's autobiography Berserker!.

Ince, who has ADHD, referenced his recent diagnosis in two series of his acclaimed Radio 4 show Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel.

Speaking to fellow stand-up Cally Beaton on her Namaste Motherfuckers podcast, he disclosed that he'd originally wanted to call the forthcoming book Anxiety For Everyone and then You're Not Shit, because when people seek a diagnosis "one of their biggest worries is if it just turns out that they're neurotypical and they're just shit".

The Infinite Monkey Cage host suggested that Normally Weird will be "more honest" than his 2018 book, I'm A Joke And So Are You: Reflections On Humour And Humanity, because since trying and discovering that he was "rubbish at therapy" and taking medication for his ADHD, "I know my head a lot better than I did when I wrote that book.

"One of the things that's exciting about writing this book is, since understanding my mind better ... a huge amount of my energy was based around anxiety ... and it seems now ridiculous to me ... there's a bit where you just say, 'well, that's just the way I am and I just have to get on with it'.

"And then there's a point where you just go 'hang on a minute, this is a really short existence, why not try and get rid of some of the things that are unnecessary?'"

Ince's other recent books include 2021's The Importance Of Being Interested - Adventures In Scientific Curiosity and 2022's Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain.

He continues his Weapons Of Empathy stand-up tour at Wolverhampton Art Gallery on 4th February.

Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity is available to pre-order now.

Robin Ince - Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity

Robin Ince - Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity
By Robin Ince

A powerful, personal exploration of anxiety, ADHD and neurodiversity, Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal reminds us all - no matter how weird we feel - that it's okay to be a little different. We all are.

What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles wasn't a sign of weakness, but strength?

For over thirty years, award-winning broadcaster and comedian Robin Ince has entertained thousands in person and on air. But underneath the surface, a whirlwind was at play - a struggle with sadness, concentration, self-doubt and near-constant anxiety. But then he discovered he had all the hallmarks of ADHD and his stumbling blocks became stepping stones.

In Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal, Robin uses his own experiences to explore the neurodivergent experience and to ask what the point of "being normal" really is. Packed with personal insights, intimate anecdotes and interviews with psychologists, neuroscientists and many neurodivergent people he has met along the way, this is a quirky and witty dive into the world of human behaviour.

First published: Thursday 1st May 2025

  • Publisher: Macmillan
  • Pages: 352
  • Catalogue: 9781035036929

BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.

BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.

BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.

Share this page