COMEDY | Previews
POETRY JOHN COOPER CLARKE O2 ABC, Glasgow, Fri 3 Jun; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Jun
Is John Cooper Clarke now ensconced deep within the Establishment? Seems like a crazy question to ask about the man who was punk’s unofficial poet laureate and still wears his spiky hair and drainpipe trousers like it’s 1976. Yet, the Bard of Salford’s work has been on the national curriculum, crops ups at weddings and gets commissioned by the National Trust. Meanwhile, in a BBC Four documentary he was dubbed by more than one commntator as a ‘national treasure’.
And there’s also the little matter of him being an official doctor, having received an honorary degree from the University of Salford in 2013. ‘I’m very comfortable in that role: my bedside manner is legendary,’ Clarke japes in his Northern drawl which remains untouched by two decades living in Essex.
One of the most unlikely introductions to John Cooper Clarke’s work occurred on The Sopranos with ‘Evidently Chickentown’ playing out an episode during the mob drama’s final season. Did HBO need to seek special permission for that piece to be used? ‘They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,’ says Cooper Clarke without any hesitation. ‘As opposed to the Welsh mafia who approached me years ago and made me an offer I couldn’t understand.’
Amid the effortless jesting, there’s no doubt that John Cooper Clarke’s legacy will be opening up poetry to a legion of readers and listeners who would never have believed verse was for them. His no-nonsense approach meant that poetry wasn’t just about wandering lonely as a cloud. ‘There are people who like my stuff and don’t like anybody else. I’ve also got the poetry lovers on my side for opening up the whole game.’ (Brian Donaldson)
STAGE SHOW GRUMPY OLD WOMEN Perth Concert Hall, Fri 15 Jul; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 17 Jul
Launched by Jenny Eclair and Judith Holder in 2004, Grumpy Old Women is a bona fide global triumph. There have been TV series, touring shows, DVDs and books while the Grumpy brand has also taken hold across the world with local casts performing the show in the likes of Iceland, New Zealand and Finland. And the latest instalment (Fifty Shades of Beige) is now here. ‘It’s turned into a real phenomenon,’ states Eclair with pride and excitement. ‘The first touring
Grumpy was done in Iceland with an Icelandic cast and it’s incredible what will make women laugh across the world. Even though we can’t speak Icelandic, we know the show inside out and where the jokes are, so we knew exactly what they were laughing at. When you do an Australian Grumpy, there’s no point doing the stuff about weather, so you have to tailor it a bit. But I’d say 85% of the material is the same across the board. The Grumpy shows are quite bonkers; they’re like an end-of-term play done by middle-aged women at a very odd boarding school.”
Alongside Susie Blake and Kate Robbins, Eclair will be getting irritable in Scotland come mid- July. When it comes down to those who attend the shows, Eclair has certainly been spotting a pattern. ‘If I was a lonely, middle-age divorced man or widower and looking for a nice jolly lady, I’d come to a Grumpy show and hang out at the bar because there are loads of them. Often in the crowd there’ll be work parties or a mother-daughter combo: sometimes you’ll look out and see three generations of matching noses.’ (Brian Donaldson)
LOCAL LAUGHS ASHLEY STORRIE The Glasgow comic has a go at our Q&A
Can you tell us about the moment when you thought: ‘stand-up is for me’? I had my ‘moment’ as I sat applying for jobs to be a mental health care worker (a position that’s scarily easy to fill). I realised that comedy was probably the only thing I’m actually really good at. I think it comes from being born into a dysfunctional family: I realised at a very young age that if my granda’ was dangling an ‘associate’ out a window by his ankles, the best way to diffuse the situation was a well-timed joke.
Do you have any pre-show rituals you can tell us about? I pace and pace. Sometimes at the Glasgow Stand they give me chalk and let me draw on the walls backstage.
Where do you draw the line when it comes to ‘offensive comedy’? I try not to worry and keep in mind that being offended is cool now. I
read about an American school where they cancelled yoga classes because it was appropriation of another culture and may offend people . . .
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another comedian so far? ‘It’s just a job and everyone has a bad day at work’.
Which comedian’s memoir would you recommend to someone? When I read Tina Fey’s Bossypants, I realised I wasn’t alone in the world, that there had been awkward, sometimes lonely, funny girls just like me who’d grown into well-rounded human beings. That gave me more hope than I can express.
■ Ashley Storrie is at The Stand, Glasgow, Sun 3, Mon 11, Wed 20 Jul. See more of this q&a at list.co.uk/comedy
66 THE LIST 2 Jun–1 Sep 2016