Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things? A Comedian's Guide to Autism

Celebrated comedian Pierre Novellie diverts from his Fringe run to bring us a hilarious and insightful journey through autism and neurodivergence, an entertaining explainer for the uninitiated and observational comedy for the neurodiverse.

Why were the other kids at school obsessed with Britney Spears instead of The Goon Show? Why don’t people ever say what they mean? And why is everyone chewing so loudly?

Comedian Pierre Novellie was on stage when a heckler suggested he was autistic. Usually, this disruption would be water off a duck’s back but two things made this heckler different: first, he was himself autistic. Second, he turned out to be absolutely right about Pierre. This random encounter led to a diagnosis of autism at the age of 31 that unravelled Pierre’s world, explained his struggles and answered questions that had bothered him for his entire life. This is the memoir of that journey.

Pierre Novellie is a stand-up comedian, writer, radio host and podcaster. He is co-host of the hit Budpod podcast alongside Phil Wang. His TV appearances include World’s Most Dangerous Roads, The Mash Report, and Stand Up Central. As a writer, Pierre was one of the regular writers on the rebooted Spitting Image and has also written on shows including Mock the Week, The News Quiz and The Mash Report. Pierre has performed stand-up around the world, including sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, residencies in Soho and nationwide tours.