Doctor Who?
He may have been the support act for Squeeze this evening at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, but John Cooper-Clarke was anything but second on the bill. ‘The punk poet’, ‘The Salford bard’, and now a Doctor to boot. I can’t believe that I know something that Wikipedia doesn’t!
In the past, JCC used to simply deliver readings of his own poetry at break-neck speed and leave the audience to marvel at his skills. Delivery is still as rapid, but now, in-between poems, he adds his own anecdotal quips and even delivers the guest list as a poem!
New material is mixed with old. The classics are here, but the new stuff is really brilliant. ‘Beasley Street’, a personal favourite of mine from way back when, has been ‘Modernised as if Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen has spent a day there’, re-titled ‘Beasley Boulevard’, ‘Bed-blocker blues’ is a tawdry tale about the NHS, ‘Trouble @ the Mall’ pokes fun at Lancashire market town Oldham, ‘The bloody tripe stand fell over!’
As an example of his verbal meanderings, he delivered a very entertaining discussion around marriage prior to delivering ‘I’ve fallen in love with my wife’. Without giving too much away, he recalls falling downstairs ‘and the wife thought EastEnders was coming on’… Think theme tune here folks!
Another tale told of his early career when he was banned from reciting ‘Evidently Chickentown’ on TV because the ‘Bleepers’ would have sued for repetitive strain injury’. If you know it, you will know why…. If not, think about purchasing his latest release ‘Anthalogia’ a three CD set containing a history of his work to date.
If I could offer one piece of advice, and I don’t for one minute suggest that Cooper-Clarke should change a winning formula, he should learn a lesson from his own poem ‘Less is more’. If he slowed the speed of delivery, he would give the audience an opportunity to really appreciate the excellence of his word craft, his delivery, his observational and situational skills. Punk may have been fast and furious, but the modern world needs to hear and enjoy every minute in the company of a true master of his art. Manchester did this evening. Support act, not on your nelly!!!
Words by the Record Peddler
Photos by Loz Ejectthetape
COMMENTS
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funniest night in a long time
