Feature: Poetry - John Cooper Clarke - Scala, Sunday December 19

Published: 9 December, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

PERFORMANCE poet John Cooper Clarke – appearing in King’s Cross on December 19 – numbers Bernard Manning among his main influences.

They both chronicle the lives and times of grim cityscapes in north-west England – the punk wordsmith comes from Salford and the chubby comic from nearby Collyhurst, “the roughest district of Manchester”.

And while John is well regarded by bien-pensant lefties, the late Bernard is demonised for sexism and racism.

So John carefully explained: “To understand Bernard’s humour, you have to know his world.”

Life was hard in the North and so were the jokes but they were exactly that – jokes.

“It’s the same with firemen, policemen and nurses,” says John. “They couldn’t do their job if they didn’t have a buffer zone.”

Blunt humour protects against deprivation, sadness, conflict and horror, seems to be the argument.

“I love Bernard Manning,” John continues. “You didn’t know who he was going to upset – it’s admirable.

“Who amongst us doesn’t want to be liked? Well Bernard didn’t and that’s what made him special.”

So can we expect Manning-style outrages from John?

“Next to him, I’m a yellow running dog – a coward,” he said. 

But he is brave enough to perform poems like Evidently Chicken Town, from his punk heyday, which contains the F-word a remarkable 84 times.

And he’s talented enough to make it original and funny – instead of facile and obscene.

He promises a welter of new material, including his own favourite – I’ve fallen in love with my wife – in stark contrast to his earlier opus: 

I married a monster from out of space.

And how does he explain the change? 

“Trial and error.”

John spearheaded the bizarre Manchester punk scene of the 1970s along with luminaries such as Jilted John and Slaughter and the Dogs.

He then fell out of the public gaze until he was lionised more recently by the Arctic Monkeys – introducing him to a new, younger generation.

A timeless talent, he is now energetically adding to his repertoire, attempting to be “funny and miserable” at the same time.

He’s enjoying the new appreciation and “couldn’t be happier about it.”

He signed off with a jolly message to the people of Islington, Camden and Westminster: “Happy Christmas ... and Happy Hanukkah... in fact, Multicultural Greetings” – expressed sincerely, and in contrast to his Manchester mentor.

• John Cooper Clarke is appearing at the Scala, Pentonville Road on Sunday December 19, 7-11pm, £17.50 in advance. Age 18+. Tickets (cash only) from Scala box office, 10am-6pm Monday-Friday; or from www.ticketweb.co.uk, 08444 771 000.