Ayoade on Ayoade by Richard Ayoade, review: 'a 300-page in joke' Director. Comedian. Actor. Screenwriter. Presenter. Richard Ayoade's CV is formidable in its diversity. He's perhaps most recognisable from his work on the British comedy scene: he played Moss in The IT Crowd, Dean Learner in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (which he also co-wrote and directed), and Saboo in The Mighty Boosh. He's appeared on a variety of panel shows. He's also directed two acclaimed feature films, 2010's Submarine and 2013's The Double. Both, like the man himself, possess a distinct style and trade in off-beat humour. And now he can add author to the list: he's written his first book, Ayoade on Ayoade: a Cinematic Odyssey. A parody of Faber's highbrow Directors on Directors series, in which critically celebrated filmmakers discuss their work, the book sees Ayoade research and conduct several interviews with himself. The Director-Ayoade persona he creates is ludicrously pretentious and surreal, recounting memories of his cinematic ambitions in the womb, and boasting of his plumbing skills. Part faux biography, part collection of invented interviews, part mock journals, and wholly silly, the book is shambolic, farcical and anxiously self-aware. Only a genuine neurosis over self-presentation could provoke such a hyperbolic semi-autobiographical character. Last month, Ayoade appeared on Channel 4 news, and showed a real aversion to any earnest interest in his career, sidestepping Krishnan Guru-Murthy's questions, from the importance of his background (Ayoade was born in Hammersmith to a Nigerian father and Norwegian mother) to the contents of the book itself. This distaste for self-promotion comes through in Ayoade on Ayoade. Director-Ayoade proclaims: "Eventually I'd like to see the interviews replace the directing because I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by the gaps between junkets. The prospect of needing to make a whole film before a stranger tapes my thoughtless utterances and uses them as the basis for a speculative, semi-hostile character portrait makes me very sad. His own (overtly hostile) character portrait of himself is, at its best, very funny. The interviews are characterised by Director-Ayode's constant subversion of logical conversation, and crisp one-liners. But with over 100 consecutive pages devoted to Ayoade interviewing himself, the joke is spread thin. The chunk of the book devoted to fake emails and letters, critical manifestos and draft scripts is more consistently funny, if more obscure. Highlights include a hilarious section of tweets and emails from reclusive director Terrence Malick that paint him as a celebrity obsessed, social media junkie. There's no escaping the fact that the humour here is niche. Ayoade on Ayoade is, essentially, a 300-page in joke. There are two requirements for enjoying it: a taste for Ayoade's overblown caricatures of pompous idiocy, and a broad knowledge of cinema. I'd advise against panic-buying Ayoade on Ayoade on Christmas Eve for your friend who quite likes the IT Crowd, but dedicated fans of his particular brand of humour will find a lot to laugh at. Ayoade on Ayoade: a Cinematic Odyssey Faber, 320pp, £14.99