Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd with John Lloyd
6 snips
Jan 22, 2026 
This week’s guest is John Lloyd, an award-winning comedy producer known for classics like QI and Blackadder. He dives into the quirky world of The Meaning of Liff, explaining how it originated from playful games with Douglas Adams. John shares anecdotes about life, creativity, and the importance of naming emotions, revealing humorous examples of invented definitions. He also reflects on his collaboration with Adams, discussing both their friendship and its eventual strain, all while celebrating the joy of creative projects.
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Produce With Humility
- Lloyd says producing is a humble role: help others be as good as they can.
- Fight for collaborators' best work by being practical and unselfish in notes and direction.
How The Game Originated
- John Lloyd and Douglas Adams turned place names into comic dictionary entries during holiday games.
- Examples like Kettering (marks from wicker chairs) show their playful observational method.
Corfu Holiday Play Led To The Book
- Lloyd recounts holiday writing sessions in Corfu where games replaced novel writing.
- They played memory and naming games and built chains of place-name definitions up to 250 long.
