The Champ & The Chump cover art

The Champ & The Chump

A heart-warming, hilarious true story about fighting and family

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Champ & The Chump

By: James McNicholas
Narrated by: James McNicholas
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.35

Buy Now for £14.35

Summary

 A heart-warming, hilarious true story about fighting and family, based on the acclaimed stage show. For fans of books by Dave Gorman, James Acaster and Danny Wallace, along with boxing tales from the likes of Tyson Fury and Ricky Hatton.

The Champ
Terry Downes - known as 'The Paddington Express' - was a world champion boxer, US Marine, gangsters' favourite and latter-day film star and businessman.

The Chump
James McNicholas's PE teacher once told him he was so unfit he'd be dead by the time he was 23. James has spent his life pursuing a career in acting and comedy. In reality, that has meant spells working as a painter-decorator and river cruise salesperson.

After Terry's death, James finds himself in reflective mood, comparing how he's doing in life to how his grandad was at that age. What follows is an increasingly colourful journey that takes James from post-war Paddington to the blood-soaked canvases of Baltimore and Whitechapel, via Mayfair parties with the Krays and betting shop bust-ups, as he discovers the truth about his grandfather's extraordinary life.

Along the way he begins to dig into his own story, confronting the family addictions that blighted his early years, describing his often-hilarious efforts to make it in the world of showbiz, and attempts to recreate Terry's trials by enlisting in a brutal army boot camp and boxing gym. When James is diagnosed with a frightening and mysterious neurological condition, the two stories of the fighter and the writer suddenly collide, and what began as a nostalgic journey takes on a far more important significance.

(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited©2021 James McNicholas Boxing Combat Sports & Self-Defense Performing Arts Relationships Sports Combat Sports Funny Heartfelt Witty
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
A great listen: for anyone who enjoys stories, and who misses their grandparents. Bravo James.

The champ and the champ

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the clever structure and interweaving of James’ experience and his Grandfather’s life. My main critique is the accents and attempts to ‘feminise’ his voice for the women is his story . Don’t. Just - don’t. It’s almost invariably a mistake - he just isn’t capable of carrying those off so it ends up sounding like an embarrassing pastiche.

Entertaining and clever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As a regular listener of the Arsecast Extra I’m a big fan of James’ dulcet tones. So a whole book read by him was great. It’s laugh out loud funny at times and the genuine love and warmth he clearly had for his ‘Pop’ was great. As a side note I too called my ‘Grandfather’ Pop so your not the only one. Terry seemed like he had an amazing life and the way it is weaved into James’ struggle was great. Recommend

Genuine Laugh out Loud moments!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.