An anthology of poems and conversations…
Lock down was tough on all of us. I, for example, had an incident that began with me buying an exercise bike and ended with me prostrate in an empty bathtub, weeping and shivering. When all of this is over, there will be various attempts to chronicle what we have all just lived through, and I can guarantee that none of them will be as accurate as He Used Thought as a Wife…
Tim Key is a comedian and poet, perhaps most famous for his stint as Sidekick Simon alongside Alan Partridge. He Used Thought as a Wife is a chronological account of Key’s attempts to navigate the first 12 weeks of lockdown during the 2020 pandemic. A mixture of semi-fictionalised conversations and increasingly bizarre poems act as a window into the troubled mind of a man on the edge. What begins as mild concern about not being able to work for a couple of weeks morphs into a hellish tableau of one man’s ongoing battle with a family of mice, his love for the bar supervisor at his local pub and his continued hassling of work colleagues and family members.
Beautifully designed and illustrated by Emily Juniper, He Used Thought as a Wife is not only bloody hilarious, it is also relatable and oddly touching at times. Key has a wonderful way with words and penchant for pinpointing the doubts and insecurities that plague all of us. Apart from Richard Osman obviously. He’s on a different plain.
Forget Tiger King and The Queen’s Gambit. Cast aside Animal Crossing and Pelaton. Tim Key and his warped mind are all you need when the next pandemic hits. Hold him close. Ignore his milk bottle full of IPA. He isn’t going anywhere…