 |
| John Hegley | |
|---|---|
 Hegley in 2009 | |
| Born | 1 October 1953 London, England |
| Medium | Performance poetry, Stand up comedy |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Bradford |
| Website | Link |
John Richard Hegley [1] (born 1 October 1953) is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter.
He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. [2] He was brought up in Luton and later Bristol, where he attended Rodway School. After school he worked as a bus conductor and civil servant before attending the University of Bradford, where he gained a BSc in European Literature and the History of Ideas and Sociology. Hegley has French ancestry (his father's name was René) and claims he is descended from the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. [3] His paternal grandmother was a dancer with the Folies Bergère. [4]
Hegley began his performing career at London's Comedy Store in 1980, and toured as one half of The Brown Paper Bag Brothers with Otiz Cannelloni. [5] He received national exposure when he appeared with his backing band the Popticians on Carrott's Lib in 1983, and recorded two sessions for John Peel in 1983 and 1984. [6] Hegley published his first poetry collection, Visions of the Bone Idol (Poems about Dogs and Glasses), pieces from which were later incorporated into Glad to Wear Glasses, in 1984. Hegley has written a number of collections of poetry, ranging from the surreal through the humorous to the personal and emotional. There are a number of recurring themes in his poems, notably glasses, dogs, Romans, and reminiscences of his childhood in Luton. [7]
He was presenter of the Border Television series Word of Mouth – in which numerous contemporary poets performed their work – in 1990, and the BBC radio series Hearing with Hegley from 1996 to 1999. His other television appearances include Wogan and Never Mind the Buzzcocks . In 1998, Hegley's poem "Malcolm" came second in a BBC survey to find Britain's most popular comic poem. [8] In 1999 he starred in a Simon Callow-directed revival of the musical The Pajama Game in London's West End. [9]
In September 1999 together with Simon Munnery he wrote and performed in a comedy series for BBC Radio 4 called The Adventures of John and Tony . [10]
Hegley frequently performs live and is a regular at the Edinburgh Festival. His stage act includes elements of poetry, music (he plays the mandolin and is often accompanied by a double bassist), comedy and references to Luton Town Football Club. He also likes to utilise audience participation in his shows, for example by having a dog drawing competition during the interval, or by asking his audience to try writing poetry themselves.
The University of Luton awarded him an honorary LL.D. in 2000, and he has also led creative writing courses at the university. [11]
Hegley launched "Warning: May Contain Nuts", a project using comedy to increase awareness of mental illness. [12] He performed these shows in 2010 with other performers, including comic Mackenzie Taylor, talking about mental illness. [13]
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, comedian, DJ, and television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera Coronation Street (2005–2015). He presented the gladiator-style game show Robot Wars from 1998 to 2004, and narrated the comedy endurance show Takeshi's Castle. As a DJ, he appears on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for acting as Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells.
Performance poetry is a broad term, encompassing a variety of styles and genres. In brief, it is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience.
Roger Joseph McGough is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one of the leading members of the Liverpool poets, a group of young poets influenced by Beat poetry and the popular music and culture of 1960s Liverpool. He is an honorary fellow of Liverpool John Moores University, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and President of the Poetry Society.
Sir Andrew Motion is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio recordings of poets reading their own work. In 2012, he became President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, taking over from Bill Bryson.
Brian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian, presenter and writer.
Ivor Cutler was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorded for John Peel's influential eponymous late-night radio programme, and later for Andy Kershaw's programme. He appeared in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film in 1967, and on Neil Innes' television programmes. Cutler also wrote books for children and adults, and was a teacher at A. S. Neill's Summerhill School and for 30 years in inner-city schools in London.
John Baine, better known by his stage name Attila the Stockbroker, is an English punk poet, multi instrumentalist musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer 1649, who combine early music and punk. He has performed over 3,800 concerts, published eight books of poems, an autobiography and in 2021 his Collected Works spanning 40 years. He has released over forty recordings.
Simon Munnery is an English comedian.
Boothby Graffoe is an English comedian, singer, songwriter and playwright. He is particularly known for his surreal sense of humour and work with Canadian band Barenaked Ladies.
Gez Walsh is a former joiner, former social worker and children's poet. He has written various books of children's comedy poetry including; "The Spot on my Bum," "The Return of the Spot," "Someone's Nicked My Knickers," Parents, Zits and Hairy Bits, Norah's Nasty Kickers, Fido's Foul Surprise, Don't Wee in the Bath, Terry and Mum, the Dog's Drunk Again! In addition, he is also the author of a trilogy of sword-and-sorcery fantasy novels: "The Man in the Skirt", "Banshee Moon" and "The Keeper".
Henry Normal is an English writer, poet, television and film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival, and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In June 2017, he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to television. He set up Baby Cow Productions with Steve Coogan in 1999, and was its managing director until his retirement in 2016.
Michael Symmons Roberts FRSL is a British poet.
Saint and Blurry is an album by John Hegley released in 1993 by Rykodisc.
Sean O'Brien FRSL is a British poet, critic and playwright. Prizes he has won include the Eric Gregory Award (1979), the Somerset Maugham Award (1984), the Cholmondeley Award (1988), the Forward Poetry Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize (2007). He is one of only three poets to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same collection of poems.
Nathan Penlington, is a writer, poet, live literature producer and magician. His work has appeared on stage, in print and on the radio.
Linda Leatherbarrow is a prize-winning Scottish writer and illustrator. She is best known for her short story collection, Essential Kit, and her illustrations for John Hegley's comic poems in Visions of the Bone Idol. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in the British Council's New Writing 8, the London Magazine, Ambit and many other anthologies and literary journals. She is a regular contributor to the literary review, Slightly Foxed, and has interviewed many writers, including Rose Tremain, Kate Mosse, and Susan Hill, for Newbooks magazine. In 2005 she was given an Arts Council Award.
John Osborne writes books, scripts and stories for Radio 4. He co-created the Sky 1 sitcom After Hours. He is based in Norwich, United Kingdom and studied at the University of East Anglia.
Andrew Iain Mackenzie Taylor was a British comic, writer and director.
Warning: May Contain Nuts was a comedy project organised by BBC Radio Berkshire and charity Company Paradiso involving performance and creative writing related to mental illness that was run in the United Kingdom during 2010. The project was intended to raise awareness of mental health issues and included creative workshops aimed at helping mental health service users in the counties of Sussex and Berkshire to express themselves. The project was launched on 11 May 2010 in Reading with performances from poet John Hegley and comedian Mackenzie Taylor. As part of the project Radio Berkshire broadcast material developed in the workshops over a week at the end of May. Further shows took place as part of the project including a cabaret stand-up comedy night at the Brighton Comedy Festival in October 2010. Hegley and Taylor performed at this show along with mental health service users including Northern Irish blogger Seaneen Molloy.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
