Tessa Coates and Stevie Martin write Nobody Panic self-help guide

ExclusiveTuesday 10th August 2021, 6:00am by Jay Richardson

Image shows from L to R: Tessa Coates, Stevie Martin

Podcasting duo Tessa Coates and Stevie Martin have written their first book, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

Based on their "how to" podcast of the same name, Nobody Panic: How To Be A Functional Adult Without Screaming, will be published by Hodder Studio on the 4th of November.

The self-help tome promises "to give you all the skills necessary to at least convince people you're bossing life. From the useful, such as how to nail a job interview and how to rewire a plug to the mandatory like how to cry in public and how to leave a WhatsApp chat," it pledges to be "the ultimate life hack".

"This is a book for anyone who's ever cried on a bus, crouched in a train station looking for a debit card in a bag with a broken zip and an exploded yogurt, or ever felt like they'd missed out on a manual that everyone else seems to have read" Coates and Martin say. "We spent our twenties making one mistake after another, so we had a go at writing that manual!

"Except instead of a manual it features a poem about tax and a play about how to ask for a pay rise - because we believe it's possible to laugh and learn for god's sake. We're so grateful to be working with Hodder Studio to bring the book to life. It's the culmination of everything we've learnt doing the podcast, tackling life's big, small, pointless and sometimes scary questions. We're all in this together, so Nobody Panic."

Launched in 2018, the Nobody Panic podcast has been downloaded more than a million times. Coates and Martin, who were part of sketch trio Massive Dad with Liz Kingsman, discuss rejected book titles in a recent episode on how to handle criticism. Martin also hosts a Twitch channel, The Book Club, in which she and a guest comedian spoof literary pretension in each episode.

The pair are performing Nobody Panic - Live as part of the Underbelly Festival in London on the 28th of August and Martin is doing two nights of her Hot Content show at the Soho Theatre on the 23rd and 24th of this month. Coates has recently recorded her show Resting Witch Face as a Radio 4 stand-up special.

Hodder Studio, an imprint of Hachette, recently published Ellie Taylor's parenting account My Child And Other Mistakes, following other memoirs from Tom Allen and Phil Wang, as well as Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's Inside No. 9 - The Scripts and Pippa Evans's self-help book focused on improvisation, Improv Your Life. Sunny, a novel from stand-up Sukh Ojla is coming out next year.

Hodder Studio's Myfanwy Moore acquired world rights to the Nobody Panic book from Avalon and Kat Buckle at Curtis Brown.

A former BBC controller of comedy production, Moore said: "We are absolutely delighted to be working with the comic powerhouse that is Stevie and Tessa. This is an indispensable guide to being a grown up in the modern world, and a brilliantly funny book by two hugely talented and creative writers."

Tessa Coates & Stevie Martin - Nobody Panic: How To Be A Functional Adult Without Screaming

You'll never need to buy another self-help book - Nobody Panic is the essential guide to being a fully functioning adult without screaming.

Useful, funny and life-affirming, Nobody Panic will give you all the skills necessary to at least convince people you're bossing life. From the useful, such as how to nail a job interview and how to rewire a plug to the mandatory like how to cry in public and how to leave a WhatsApp chat - Nobody Panic is the ultimate life hack.

This is a companion book to the critically acclaimed podcast of the same name which has been downloaded over a million times and charted in eight countries. Not just for podcast listeners, Nobody Panic is painstakingly researched and combined with relatable stories and hilarious anecdotes - this is the perfect title for anyone looking to get a little bit more out of life.

First published: Thursday 4th November 2021

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