Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris are a British comedy writing duo. Their work includes a collection of parody
Ladybird books , and they have written scripts for many British comedy series and films, including
That Mitchell and Webb Look ,
Charlie Brooker 's
Screenwipe and the
Paddington films.
Early lives
Hazeley (then known as Jason Smith) and Morris met at
King Edward VI Grammar School in
Chelmsford, Essex .
[1]
[2] Whilst at school they produced a
parody newsletter, and at
sixth form received their first paid work after selling a joke to the
Russ Abbott show.
[3]
Career
Television and film
Hazeley and Morris have written for a number of British TV shows and films. These include
That Mitchell and Webb Look ,
A Touch of Cloth ,
Charlie Brooker 's
Screenwipe , Electionwipe and
Newswipe programmes, and several
Philomena Cunk series. The pair are regular contributors to the British adult comic
Viz . The 2016 Electionwipe won the
BAFTA award for best Comedy and entertainment programme.
[4]
The pair also wrote for
Paddington
[5] and
Paddington 2 .
[6]
Books
Hazeley and Morris have co-written books including
Bollocks to Alton Towers ,
[7] and a series of parody
Ladybird books which re-caption original illustrations from the Ladybird series with jokes aimed at an adult audience.
[8] Topics have included
Donald Trump ,
[9] hipsters and hangovers
[10] and
Brexit .
[11] The books were so successful that in 2015 only
JK Rowling ,
David Walliams and
Julia Donaldson sold more copies in the UK.
[12]
In October 2015, it was announced that Morris had co-written a series of
Ladybird books for adults with Jason Hazeley. The books, which parody the style of the company's classic books for children, re-caption original illustrations from the Ladybird series with new text, offering sardonic commentary on many areas of modern life. The initial run included titles such as The Hangover , Mindfulness , Dating and The Hipster and were published on 18 November 2015.
[8]
[13] The series was later expanded to include public figures such as
Donald Trump .
[9]
The pair were writers on
The Framley Examiner , a local news parody website which later became a book, with Robin Halstead and Alex Morris.
Podcast
Hazeley and Morris hosted the comedy podcast Rule of Three until 2020.
[14]
Rule of Three was named in the best podcasts of 2018 by The Guardian.
[15] On the show they invite a comedy performer on to discuss their career and a comedy performance or programme, a TV show, a film, a book, an album or a comic that means a lot to them.
[16] Guests have included
Eddie Izzard ,
John Finnemore ,
Danielle Ward ,
Jon Holmes ,
[17] and
Aisling Bea
[18] Topics have included
Bill Hicks , films such as
Trading Places and
Time Bandits , and the LP version of
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail .
[19] The podcast has branched out into live shows with special guests such as
Sue Perkins .
[20] Hazeley has also appeared as a guest on the Griefcast podcast with
Cariad Lloyd .
[21] At the 2020
British Podcast Awards it was named best Arts and Culture Podcast.
[22]
Music
From 1998 to 2003 Hazeley was part of the folk-pop duo
Ben & Jason .
[23]
Morris is lead singer in the band
Candidate
[24]
[25] who released their fourth album in 2004.
[26] His harmonies with his brother were compared in The Guardian to
Simon and Garfunkel .
[27]
Publications
Halstead, Robin; Hazeley, Jason A.; Morris, Alex; Morris, Joel (2005).
Bollocks to Alton Towers : Uncommonly British Days Out . Michael Joseph Ltd.
ISBN
0-14-102120-9 .
Halstead, Robin; Hazeley, Jason A.; Morris, Alex; Morris, Joel (3 April 2008). More Bollocks to Alton Towers: More Uncommonly British Days Out . Penguin.
ISBN
978-0-14-102785-2 .
Hazeley, Jason A.; Morris, Joel P. (29 October 2015). How it Works: The Husband . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8356-1 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). How it Works: The Wife . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8354-7 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of Dating . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8357-8 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of Mindfulness . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8352-3 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of The Hangover . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8351-6 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of The Hipster . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8359-2 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of The Mid-Life Crisis . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8353-0 .
——; —— (29 October 2015). The Ladybird Book of The Shed . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8358-5 .
——; —— (11 February 2016). How it Works: The Mum . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8421-6 .
——; —— (19 May 2016). How it Works: The Dad . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8426-1 .
——; —— (25 August 2016). How it Works: The Student . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8428-5 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). How it Works: The Cat . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8433-9 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). How it Works: The Dog . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8435-3 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). How it Works: The Grandparent . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8430-8 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). The Ladybird Book of Red Tape . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8439-1 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). The Ladybird Book of The Meeting . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8437-7 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). The Ladybird Book of The People Next Door . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8441-4 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). The Ladybird Book of The Sickie . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8443-8 .
——; —— (20 October 2016). The Ladybird Book of The Zombie Apocalypse . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8445-2 .
——; —— (1 December 2016). The Ladybird Book of Boxing Day . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8486-5 .
——; —— (23 February 2017). The Ladybird Book of The Do-Gooder . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8447-6 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). How it Works: The Baby . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8863-4 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). How it Works: The Brother . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8869-6 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). How it Works: The Sister . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8870-2 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). People at Work: The Rock Star . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8865-8 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of Balls . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8871-9 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of The Big Night Out . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8867-2 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of The Ex . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8866-5 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of The Nerd . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8864-1 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of The New You . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8885-6 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). The Ladybird Book of The Quiet Night In . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8868-9 .
——; —— (5 October 2017). A Ladybird First Grown-Up Picture Book . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-7181-8884-9 .
——; —— (25 October 2018). The Story of Brexit . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-241-38656-9 .
——; —— (15 November 2018). The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups . London:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-241-36404-8 .
——; —— (3 October 2019). A Ladybird Book about Donald Trump . Loughborough:
Ladybird Books .
ISBN
978-0-241-42272-4 .
References
^
"Notable Alumni" . wKegs.org.uk .
^
"Meet the men who revived Ladybird and reinvented the toilet book" . Inews.co.uk . 6 January 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2020 .
^
"Ladybird Book duo Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley are now spoofing Scandi noir on Radio 4" . Radio Times .
^
"Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Programme - CHARLIE BROOKer's 2016 WIPE" . Bafta.org . 11 April 2017.
^
"BBC Radio 2 - Jo Whiley & Simon Mayo, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris, Ladybird Book Confession, The link between Ladybird, Paddington and Bins!" . BBC . 20 November 2018.
^
"Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley | United Agents" . Unitedagents.co.uk .
^ Hazeley, Jason; Halstead, Robin; Morris, Alex; Morris, Joel (March 2, 2006).
Bollocks to Alton Towers: Uncommonly British Days Out . Penguin Adult.
ISBN
9780141021201 – via Google Books.
^
a
b
"Spoof Ladybird books target adult market" .
BBC News Online . 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015 .
^
a
b
"Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris on writing A Ladybird Book About Trump" . Inews.co.uk . 30 September 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2020 .
^
"Ladybird Books' mid-life crisis: New books take on hangovers and hipsters" . Irishtimes.com .
^
"Ladybird book authors make light work of Brexit" .
The Guardian . 25 October 2018.
^
"Meet the Ladybird authors knocking everyone off the best-sellers list - including me" . Telegraph.co.uk .
^
"Are You Alright in There? - Radio 4 Documentary" . Comedy.co.uk .
^ Sawyer, Miranda (23 June 2019).
"The week in radio and podcasts: Football Daily; Giant; Athletico Mince" .
The Observer . Retrieved 6 April 2020 .
^ Davies, Hannah J.; Verdier, Hannah; Gibsone, Harriet; Haynes, Gavin (June 30, 2018).
"The 50 best podcasts of 2018" . Theguardian.com .
^
[1] [
dead link ]
^ Gent, James (June 8, 2018).
"Podcast of the Week: Rule Of Three » We Are Cult" . Wearecult.rocks .
^ Bea, Aisling.
"AISLING BEA - Actor, Writer, Stand-Up, MC. People have woken up to worse. Rule Of Three – Father Ted" . Aislingbea.com .
^
"Dissecting comedy classics: Rule of Three" . Rnz.co.nz . August 31, 2018.
^
"Rule of Three with special guest Sue Perkins • Comedy • Kings Place" . Kingsplace.co.uk . June 2023.
^
"Ep. 56 Jason Hazeley - Griefcast (podcast)" . Listennotes.com . 23 October 2018.
^
"Winners 2020" . Britishpodcastawards.com . Retrieved 1 August 2020 .
^
"Ben & Jason - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music" . BBC .
^
allmusic ((( Taking on the Enemy's Sound > Overview )))
^
"Joel Morris | Credits" . AllMusic . Retrieved 1 August 2020 .
^
"BBC - Radio 2 - Folk and Acoustic" . Bbc.co.uk .
^ Clarke, Betty (12 January 2002).
"Candidate, London" .
The Guardian .