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In this episode of Is the Book Better Though?, we’re talking California Schemin’ the unbelievable true story of Scottish rappers Silibil N’ Brains, aka Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, who fooled the music industry by pretending to be an established American hip-hop duo from California.

First, we get into the California Schemin’ book: the blagging, the fake American accents, the music, the near misses and the increasingly complicated task of keeping the lie alive. The book can be repetitive, but is that actually part of its charm? There’s something about that repetition that captures the reality of being a performing artist – gig, travel, promote, perform, repeat – except Gavin and Billy also had to keep performing their fake identities when they stepped off stage.

Then there’s the audiobook, narrated by Gavin Bain himself, where you can still catch a little lilt from the American accent he spent so long perfecting.

After the book, we move on to the California Schemin’ film adaptation. What does the movie get right, what gets lost in adapting such a bizarre true story, and why do Brains and Silibil feel different from the people we meet in the book? We also ask whether this story really belonged in a two-hour movie at all – or whether an eight-part TV series could have better captured their organic rise, increasingly ridiculous schemes and constant fear of finally being found out.

And, naturally, I have some thoughts about creative partnerships, being the person who writes, produces and edits everything, and what happens when the workload isn't quite as evenly distributed as everyone thinks...

So: California Schemin’ book vs movie – is the book actually better though?