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Dr John Cooper Clarke

Performance poet and musician

Britain’s best loved and most important performance poet. John is as vital now as he was in the 70s; His biting, satirical, political and very funny verse, delivered in a unique rapid-fire performance style, resonated with the punk movement. JCC toured with all the seminal bands; The Sex Pistols, The Clash & Buzzcocks, and in the USA with Elvis Costello. He began to draw large crowds in his own right. Joy Division were proud to frequently support JCC and New Order later opened for him on their first Australian tour.

A figurehead for the movement and all that it encompassed. He found himself as one of the leading voices of punk and youth culture of the late 70s. He became known as the “Punk Poet” or “The Bard of Salford” . Live, he was performing to thousands across the UK. Crowds gathered with open eyes and ears gazing up at his distinctive, and now iconic, visual appearance (tall and thin with a mess of black hair, black sunglasses, drainpipe trousers and Cuban-heeled boots) transfixed as he worked through a catalogue of work taken from his four studio albums and numerous singles.

The punk revival has seen a whole new generation clamouring over John’s work and saw his star rocket once again. Continuing to write new work from his Essex home, he has a plethora of new poems and monologues which he performs solo, alongside his best known works such as Beasley Street and Evidently Chickentown. His shows are always packed and his audience always leave ecstatic.

johncooperclarke.com

Update: 1 April 2016

Contents

Has participated in

Primera Persona 2016

Autobiographic live sessions: pop music concerts, stand-up comedy, theatre and narrative