''Lolly Scramble: A Memoir of Little Consequence'', published in 2005, is collection of autobiographical essays by New Zealand-Australian comedian Tony Martin. A second volume, '' A Nest of Occasionals'', appeared in 2009. The people mentioned in the book are not referred to by their real names.

Next Teller Please

Tells of the decline in use of

passbook A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account. Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or postma ...

s in banking.

Something Of Dreams

A New Zealand TV show shoots a scene in the neighbourhood of Martin's friend from

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

South Primary.

Mono

Martin and his friend befriend a peer whose religion forbids board games, television and movies, who is rumoured to possess only one testicle.

Longnecks

14-year-old Martin discusses 18-year-old Donna, who he has a crush on, with her 29-year-old boyfriend, and later attempts to engage her in conversation.

The Secret Passage

Martin's experience with New Zealand amateur theatre.

A Made Bed in Hell

Martin moves into a rented room at the Yeoman household in Auckland.

No Tarzan, Mind

An account of Martin's time in the advertising industry, starting at the bottom rung, and learning

kerning In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between Character (symbol), characters in a Typeface#Proportion, proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual le ...

The Yeti

Martin's experience at an Auckland boarding house run by a Swiss-German husband and Samoan wife.

Breakfast in Dubbo

An account of a lengthy New South Wales Bus trip.

Unlucky 12a

Martin's time spent living in a flat in Melbourne.

Prang

The events following a minor collision with a drunk driver.

The Doctor is Out

Martin's experience of visiting various

chiropractors Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosc ...

to cure recurring back pain.

The Notary Public

Martin and his wife require legal forms to be signed by the " notary public".

Any Old Iron

Martin undergoes treatment for

haemochromatosis Iron overload or hemochromatosis (also spelled ''haemochromatosis'' in British English) indicates increased total accumulation of iron in the body from any cause and resulting organ damage. The most important causes are hereditary haemochromatosi ...

Donkey Shines

Martin's experience with video game addiction, including

Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

, and GoldenEye 007.

In the Eye of the Lolly Scramble

Parental punishment in combined families, and Christmas cheer.

External links

''Lolly Scramble'' page at Pan Macmillan

Review at Pop Matters

Review at The Groggy Squirrel
Australian memoirs 2005 non-fiction books Pan Books books

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