John Cooper Clarke

We were over in Ilkley last night to see John Cooper Clarke. Luckily, after picking up the tickets from the King's Hall there was time to nip into Bar T'at for a cheeky bottle of Chimay Blue, which made for a good start to the evening

I've seen JCC several times in the past but probably not for ten years. He never looks any different although last night I noticed he'd dropped his trade-mark winkle-pickers for a pair of comfy Converse (well he is 62 now!). The Blonde on Blonde era Dylan coiffure was still perfectly in place mind, along with polka-dot pocket handkerchief

John's act has developed now into more of a stand-up comedy routine rather than simply poetry reading but he was on great form, scatalogically riffing on topics as diverse as existentialism and Posh and Becks. My favourite poem was Bongo's Trousers although he did the old classic Beasley Street as part of his encore. There was a great audience and the only sad thing was he wasn't on stage for much longer