I Think the Nurses are Stealing My Clothes: The Very Best of Linda Smith [Hardcover]

'Linda Smith's everyday conversation contained more jokes than most comedy scripts and more social comment than most dramas.' -- INDEPENDENT 'One of the best-loved and funniest voices on radio.' -- EVENING STANDARD 'The funniest woman I have ever known.' -- SIMON HOGGART 'The many tributes last week describing the late Linda Smith as one of the funniest women in Britain have got it wrong. Linda was simply one of the funniest people in Britain and her gifts were such that most of the time, listening to her thoughtful, provocative, casually brilliant one-liners, you forgot she was a woman. I mean that in the best way, the same way that when you read Margaret Atwood or Zadie Smith, you are not conscious of reading a 'lady novelist'.' -- STEPHANIE MERRIT, OBSERVER

'This is a ravishing book and I urge you to read it' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'A plump anthology of deftly witty material' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'Read this book; it will make you happy' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'One of the smartest, funniest and most sweet-natured people I ever encountered'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'One of the smartest, funniest and most sweet-natured people I ever encountered ! Her voice lit up Radio 4's News Quiz, she was brilliant on QI and she tirelessly travelled the UK as one of the most respected and loved comics on the circuit.'" STEPHEN FRYStephen Fry spoke for much of middle England when he responded to the news of Linda Smith's tragic death of cancer, aged 48, earlier this year. Linda was the brilliant mainstay of Radio 4s The News Quiz, Just a Minute, and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue for many years. She was just establishing her career on TV through blistering performances on Have I Got News for You, QI and Room 101, when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Linda was one of the few women to conquer the male dominated world of comedy and she had the wit and the charm to win over millions of male and female fans in equal measure. She had an eye for the absurdities of modern life and loved to prick the egos of the pompous and the vain. She could be savage about the people she despised too. When she spoke of the "dead devil-eyes of Nicky Campbell" she meant it. When she called David Mellor, "the thinking woman's fat ugly bastard", she meant it even more.When she called David Blunkett "Satan's bearded folk singer", it was a simple statement of fact. No wonder then Linda was voted the 'wittiest person alive' by Radio 4 listeners in 2002. In this brilliant anthology, we go right back to the start of Linda's career and re-live her very best material from the picket lines of the Miners' Strike, to the Edinburgh Festival and on to her mainstream success on BBC radio and TV, and as touring comedian loved up and down the country. THE ESSENTIAL LINDA SMITH is being compiled and edited by her partner of twenty-three years, Warren Lakin. The book also carries contributions from her extensive fan club including: Paul Merton, Graham Norton, Clive Anderson, Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Alan Davies, Jack Dee, Dawn French, Stephen Fry, Tony Hawks, Eddie Izzard, Matt Lucas, Nicholas Parsons and Alexei Sayle amongst others. It will be the must-have gift for comedy fans and Radio 4 listeners this Christmas.

We're proud to be able to make these recordings public. Warren
Lakin and Ian Parsons have carefully compiled and restored Linda Smith's
personal recordings of her live performances going back to 1986, and Hattie
Hayridge (a friend of Linda's who also perfomed with her) kindly agreed to
introduce them. This CD is a bit of a labour of love, and a unique chance
to hear where her comedy came from and how it changed over the years. It's
also very funny.

If you're a fan of Linda's radio or TV appearances you might be surprised
when you hear this collection, particularly the early recordings. Many of
these were gritty, down-to-earth gigs in pubs and clubs, with rowdy
audiences and no small amount of swearing - and well worth hearing for
Linda's swift treatment of hecklers...

If you like comedy, it's as simple as this - you have to hear this, because
it's the definitive, hilarious legacy of one of Britain's best comedians. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Warren Lakin was Linda's partner for 23 years, from their first meeting in Sheffield in 1983 to her death in London in 2006.