Tim Fowler is seemingly a jack of all trades. Already known as Trevs’ house DJ, former librarian, HEX contributor, and painter, he’s furthering his skillset by writing a book alongside his wife, Mary.

Two Idiots and a Genius follows Tim and Mary’s time working for Rory Bremner, the Scottish comedian and impressionist. Rory had stumbled upon Tim in the early days of Twitter (now X) after Tim had suggested some jokes for his gig in Durham.

“We wrote some stuff,” Tim said, but in true Trevs fashion, “I couldn’t go to the gig actually because I was DJing in Trevs that night.”

Then, after a joke went viral on Twitter, Rory got back in contact. He would be hosting BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz the next day, and asked Tim if he’d be able to write some jokes for it.

I had a go and I got two jokes into the edit, which I now know how rare that is

“I had a go and I got two jokes into the edit, which I now know how rare that is, and that was very cool for me,” said Tim.

Since then, the pair have been writing for Rory and have decided to document their journey in book form. “Inevitably, we write ten times as much stuff that gets used, because that’s how it works,” Tim explained, “It doesn’t mean that stuff isn’t funny, so we thought what we could do with it.”

“We got all our material in date order, and just started writing,” he said. Going chronologically, the pair detail their jokes in a work of political satire, all written during the moment.

The best part, for Tim, has been writing alongside Mary. “It’s about making each other laugh,” he says, “That’s the first test. Our sense of humours are quite different – Mary’s is very silly, pun-based – she’s got an MA in Creative Writing – whereas mine is quite angry, and can be quite brutal sometimes. That comes from my past, growing up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles.”

They would take in turns writing material, then refining and editing each other. Then, after writing for six months, they’d reached the present.

Tim hinted at a second book, having found his groove writing Two Idiots and a Genius. As the book ends just before Trump’s second election, he found that “suddenly it was finished.”

“I’m glad we stopped before the Trump election, as everything that’s happened between now and then is another book.”

We got all our material in date order, and just started writing

The couple are self-publishing the book, which they hope to release whilst Rory is touring this summer. Rory is performing at the Gala on 3^rd June, “so we’re hoping to do a launch then,” Tim said. He’s currently polishing off the edits and preparing for the first physical proof copy to arrive.

“If anyone is thinking about writing a book, don’t worry who’s going to publish it,” Tim explained, “write the book and then see. There are better ways of getting your creativity out there now.”

For anyone looking to write satire, Tim advises to “think about who and what makes you laugh”, but crucially to “read the news!” and “read news sources you do not agree with.”

“If I’m honest, I probably got more jokes from stuff I read in the Express or the Mail, than stuff I read in the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph, because that’s where you find the extremes you can push back against. But it’s important to be open minded about how other people think.”

Tim and Mary’s book, Two Idiots and a Genius: Our Story of Writing for Rory, with a foreword by Rory Bremner, will be published this summer. You can find more details at https://twoidiotsandagenius.co.uk/.

Image via Tim Fowler