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STEPHEN FRY: "Jem manages to write about popular cultural institutions with knowledge and affection, while avoiding the dismal traps of nerdy fanboyism on the one hand or grandiose cultural pseudo-intellectualism on the other. His research is flawless and the results are readable, illuminating and delightful."
THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: "J.F. Roberts's lively, warm-hearted True History of The Black Adder is a celebration of 'this incredible feat of comedy production'."
TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR: "An incredibly good job - and he got it RIGHT."
BARRY CRYER: "If this is your first introduction to Jem, I envy you."
GRAEME GARDEN: "As Bibles go, I reckon THE CLUE BIBLE is among the top two."
THE TELEGRAPH: (The True History...) "Essential for any comprehensive comedy library..."
BRIAN BLESSED: "Tell them, 'Brian loves and trusts me.' What you're doing is so worthwhile, KEEP AT IT!"
Jem Roberts first emerged in Ludlow in the summer of 1978, and studied Film, TV and English Literature at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He lives in Bath, where he performs comedy both solo, and with his troupe/band The Unrelated Family.
Having written for games magazines from an illegally young age, a decade of working on titles from DVD Review, Total Advance and Xbox World to Disney Girl and Muffin the Mule followed graduation, until scribblings for fanzines Publish & Bedazzled and Kettering led to an invitation to chronicle fifty years of silliness in his first book, The Clue Bible: The Fully Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. When invited to suggest a follow-up, his lifelong devotion to Blackadder resulted in the marking of the 30th anniversary of the legendary sitcom's debut, with The True History of The Black Adder (As J.F. Roberts). It was then that the Douglas Adams estate requested Jem to become Adams' officially authorised biographer, with 2014's 'The Frood'.
Since then, he has received the same honour from Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, becoming their first official biographer with 2018's 'Soupy Twists', and followed that up with the long-gestated passion project, 'Fab Fools' – the ultimate history of The Beatles, The Rutles and rock and roll comedy.
But besides comedy history, Jem has been writing for children since long before anyone had ever heard of that Potter lad, and used to edit titles including Pokémon World and Disney & Me magazine. His first short story for children 'Little Wee' was published in the charity collection Homespun Threads, and he is working on a number of further books and literary projects for children of all sizes.
'Tales of Britain', published in 2019, is, however, for all ages, not just children, being the first full anthology of British folktales published in generations, with tourist guides for each tale. A deluxe version is in the works, and when he's not being a folklore expert on British TV, Roberts tours the isles as Brother Bernard, performing well-loved Tales Of Britain live shows.
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