The Butterfield Diet is one of my top five comedy sketches. Dressed in his overtight suit the desperate but loveable entrepreneur Brian Butterfield presents a detailed and completely ludicrous guide to losing weight. Some of the foodstuffs mentioned – hoisin crispy owl, twenty cheese omelette and bonbonbonbons have become catchphrases – endlessly repeated by adoring fans.
It’s impossible to read ‘There’s No Business Like Business’ without hearing the boomingly pompous but oddly endearing tones of Brian Butterfield, played by the extraordinarily versatile and almost unrecognisable Peter Serafinowicz. But there’s a team behind this literary juggernaut of incompetence, which includes the actor’s comedy writer brother James.
This book, which would be a perfect stocking filler, presents a stream of reliably awful business advice. There are sections on how to apply for a loan, how to prepare a CV and what to do in a job interview. There is a recurring obsession with business angel Deborah Meaden and an underlying paranoia that some of Butterfield’s more unethical schemes – such as an energy drink reinforced with real amphetamines, will be exposed by investigative journalist Louis Theroux.
Brian has thought of everything – there are exercises, disguises, recipes and even a guide to meditation. Inevitably there are ruminations on failure – bankruptcy, disasters and lawsuits haunt the dark corners of Brian Butterfield’s mind. Dogged by disaster but brimming with hope Butterfield thunders on – a glorious celebration of optimism over experience.
It’s not the kind of book to be consumed in one sitting – but more something to be shared with friends, dipped into and read aloud. Every page bursts with absurd advice, topsy turvy business wisdom and idiotic tips for success.
A chapter on Negotiation includes the suggestion –
“Manage your emotions. Getting angry, shouting obscenities and then tearing all your clothes off and crying won’t help. Or at least it didn’t help me – I still had to pay for the ice-cream.”
Even the cover hides a joke. It’s printed upside down – and the graphics for the back cover and spine have gone completely astray.
https://brianbutterfield.limitedrun.com/products/807187-theres-no-business-like-business
