Why are Scottish comedians so good at writing memoirs? Is it the constant dreich weather? The need to rebuff crap jokes about deep-fried Mars Bars, and fruit and veg deficiencies? The years of repression that, like a 3am heart-to-heart in a nightclub, spill onto the page in a torrent of openness and relief? Whatever the answer, Fern Brady’s Strong Female Character sits alongside Limmy’s Surprisingly Down To Earth, And Very Funny in the proud niche of Scottish comedians writing brutal and frank works on the importance of understanding the minds of others. 

The book, which charts Brady’s life growing up in Bathgate and Edinburgh while living with undiagnosed autism, is filled with nuggets of information on how she negotiates a world shaped for allistic behavioural traits. Dismiss it as ‘another comedy memoir’ at your peril: creating rich insight into smalltown Scottish living, Catholicism, feminism, and the clear class divide which still festers in universities, it’s a sharply written piece of work which pulls readers through incredible trauma with a morbid sense of humour and genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Perhaps more importantly, it’s smashed open the conversation about autism in the popular consciousness. 

Every chapter is solid gold, but a real highlight involves Brady’s time working at the various strip clubs which littered Edinburgh in the late 2000s. They’re stories which will be familiar to fans of this acclaimed comic’s stand-up, but their expansion in the memoir showcases the forthrightness and tonal precision which characterises her writing. Across fewer than 30 pages, she crams in a feminist diagnosis of the men who visit the clubs, funny but empathetic portraits of her co-workers, an incisive examination of sexuality for autistic women, and a unique survey of strip clubs that, as she points out, are worlds away from the male fantasies portrayed on film and television. This should feel overstuffed, but Brady’s intricate combination of jokes, autobiography and thoughtful analysis make it an exhilarating balancing act. 

On an entirely different note is Brady’s excellent new food podcast What A Combo!, in which she discusses eccentric (and usually disgusting) food combinations with an array of celebrity guests. If you’ve ever wanted to understand why Tim Key stuffs Hula Hoops with cheese, or hear Brady nonchalantly discuss visiting a hypnotist to cure her love of bread, or learn why CMAT despises liquorice, it’s the podcast for you. Between What A Combo! and Strong Female Character, it feels like Brady is being given the space to shine. And with a comic voice as unique as hers, we hope she occupies that zone for a long time to come.

Discover who else made the cut in the The List Hot 100 on our site or in our latest issue, available at all good stockists across Glasgow and Edinburgh.