I am a stand-up comedian. I am Eighteen years younger than John Dowie.
I never saw him perform stand-up.
As a teenager, I bought a copy of his book, Hard To Swallow, a collection of his “abandoned comedy routines” illustrated by the underground cartoonist Hunt Emmerson; I had seen him on TV occasionally, doing slots in shows as a guest of people he was clearly better than; I had a strange half memory of him doing punky sneery stuff on one of those late night Seventies rock shows, So It Goes or Revolver. I knew he was a significant figure.
But I never saw him perform stand-up.
I could have seen John Dowie do stand-up, of a sort, at my fourth Edinburgh Fringe, in 1990, when he performed a one man show called ‘Why I Gave Up Stand-Up Comedy’, but I didn’t go. I don’t know why. The title was strange. It made me think of Captain Oates, leaving Captain Scott’s arctic tent to die with the words “I’m just going outside. I may be some time.”, and perhaps hoping someone would stop him. But no-one stopped John Dowie. He had performed Alternative Comedy before it even had a name, was tired of it by the time the tropes he’s established became commonplace, and then he just sort of slipped away.
Ten years later, I was drinking late one night in the courtyard of the Pleasance Theatre in the year 1999, my thirteenth Edinburgh Fringe, when the comedian Simon Munnery arrived, looking pleased with himself, like a gun dog bringing back a pheasant, or a family cat that comes in a drops a dead rat on the carpet. He had found John Dowie, the pheasant/dead rat of Alternative Comedy, and he was nearby, right now, drinking, and ready to receive our tributes.
We got to know Dowie that Summer. It was interesting to talk to him about how it all began, and what it was all for. The great sage would have been all of 49 then, five years older than I am now, but he dealt with us graciously. He came to see my show and offered no advice other than that I should wear proper shiny shoes in future, and not trainers.
In the last few years I have come to see that he was right, but it seemed strange advice to receive from the punk era stand-up who has also once opened for Black Sabbath.
Having kids seemed to have shifted Dowie’s priorities. He was writing children’s shows now, and poems, and plays, and seemed to want to say things that were unambiguously positive. He was sucked into the unpaid charity benefit circuit that all out gang seemed to be on all the time, but would never be drawn to perform his old stuff, offering instead neat, philosophical haikus that made everything else on the bill look rather bitter and bleak. I saw him do a one-off performance, in a Fitzrovian cellar, of his theatre piece about Jospeh, made famous by Tom Conti, Jesus My Boy. It was brilliant, funny, moving, and told you more about the real John Dowie than any amount of drinking sessions. In the guise of the cuckolded carpenter, he really opened up.
We had Dowie round for New Year’s Eve once. He seemed angry about something and, I think, absented himself before he turned nasty. I went to his flat a few times, and he greeted me with a wave from a fifth story window. It made me think of the Philip Dick story, “The Man In The High Castle.” Each time I went there Dowie had less stuff. In the end he had reduced his possessions to five basic food groups; records by Bob Dylan and Moondog; books by William Blake and the aforementioned Dick; and some Batman comics. It was as if he was preparing to depart. And pretty soon he did. No-one in our gang knew where he’d gone, but we knew he could now carry everything he ever wanted in a backpack, and he’d bought a bike.
Years passed. In 2011 I tracked Dowie down to ask him to appear in At Last! The 1981 Show, a celebration of Alternative Comedy’s first wave that I was curating for the Royal Festival Hall. Needless to say, he would have nothing of it, and would not give anything away, either, about his then current whereabouts.
I am glad this document exists. The punk era music tracks are perfect period pieces, sort of Dada Cabaret/pub rock fusion, Tristan Tzara fronting Doctor Feelgood; Mime Sketch, reminds me of similarly atmospheric field recordings by Ted Chippington and Lenny Bruce; it seems even funnier to a comedy-literate listener because you feel the material is way too good for the response it’s getting, and it’s great to hear such nakedly honest archive. And knowing Dowie, a little, hearing the hilarious but awkwardly confrontational I’m Here To Entertain You, or No More Fucking’s visceral fear of the physical world, with hindsight, it seems obvious why Dowie was eventually to chose a brighter path. No more would Dowie spit out the bleak rhyming couplet that began, “If I had any sense I’d nail my penis to the floor.”
Instead he wrote Dogman, for children, the story of an alien Dog who ends up running a lighthouse that appears, the more I read it to my own children, to be a kind of autobiography.
There’s a political dimension to this collection too.
Dowie came from a time very different to our own; where there was a degree of social mobility that is now greatly reduced; where places like Birmingham’s Arts Lab funded and developed art they felt was worthwhile in of itself, rather than as a route to the loot; where punk and the hippy era’s DIY ethics propelled singular talents like Dowie’s forward; and where a viable Fringe circuit encouraged risk taking.
If someone were thinking of doing something in comedy as radical as Dowie did in the ’70s, would they be able to, and if they did, would we even know about it?
Anamatronix, Youtube
Anamatronix, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Etienne, Chortle.com
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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Mpf1947, Youtube
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Danazawa, Youtube
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Sweeping Curves, Twitter
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Anon, westhamonline.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Youtube
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Wharto15, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Foxfoxton, Youtube
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Bosco239, youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Guest1001, Youtube
Rubyshoes, Twitter
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Chez, Chortle.com
Chez, Chortle.com
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Kozzy06, Youtube
Kozzy06, Youtube
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Z-factor, Twitter.
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Clampdown59, Twitter.
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Visualiser1, Twitter
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GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com
Shit Crit, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Mearecate, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Borathigh5, Youtube
Borathigh5, Youtube
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter