Lolly Scramble

What are the stories that shape a man's life? Well, if you're comedian Tony Martin, it's the most absurd moments that maketh the man. He has written what can only be described as a memoir of little consequence. Ignoring his many dubious achievements in the world of Australian show business (Martin/Molloy, The Late Show, Bargearse), New Zealand-born Martin has focused on life's smaller events.

These include confrontations with bank tellers, embarrassing medical procedures and attempts to navigate the draconian decrees of a Body Corporate. In damning personal testimony spanning nearly forty years on both sides of the Tasman, Martin wreaks havoc as an apprentice propsman in amateur theatre, tries to corrupt his school's "weird religious kid", vainly attempts to seduce an unwilling babysitter, turns an entire tour bus against him, battles an addiction to Donkey Kong, does his best to master the art of typography under an instructor inspired by Full Metal Jacket, and somehow donates 26 pints of blood in 28 weeks in an attempt to save his own life.

Surprising, trivial, often bizarre and always amusing, Lolly Scramble is a tasty assortment of tales of tiny life-changing moments from a man who really should know better.