Scottish novelist A.L. Kennedy is trying a new line of work — standup comedy. In a piece for The Guardian, she writes about her “evenings in murky basements trying to make people laugh” over the past 18 months. But it may not be as dramatic a changeup as it sounds: as any watcher of Seinfeld reruns knows, the two fields share a delight in language. “If you really want a good, informed discussion about literature, nip round to the green room of any comedy club. Comics read. A lot,” writes Kennedy. “In between the off-kilter kindness, the libellous attacks and peering into the abyss, you’ll find a concern for words: knob jokes, satire, whimsy, they all make extremely demanding demands.”

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Click here for A.L. Kennedy’s Guardian piece