Before I Go
A boat approaches; a lantern hung on its prow is the only light in this dark, cold world. The boat reaches the edge of the lake. The boatman has a kindly face. He calls out to me. “Mr Dowie?” “Yes,” I reply. “Not any more,” he says. And I step into his boat.
John Dowie, proto-alternative comedian and quixotic cyclist, has a few last things to get off his chest. Join him in this funny and poignant memoir as he tells a story from pre-cradle to post-grave with musings on parenthood, Batman and showbiz along the way.
“A funny, clever and alarmingly wise man”
Julian Clary
“The archaeopteryx of alternative comedy … the fossil record makes no sense without him.”
Alan Moore
John Dowie
Influential writer and humorist John Dowie has been acclaimed by some as Britain’s first alternative comedian and was an unlikely early signing to Factory Records. Born in Birmingham in 1950, he rivalled John Cooper Clarke as a literate punk poet. Feted by Tony Wilson of Factory as a new wave Lenny Bruce, Dowie went on to record with Martin Hannett and Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, before moving on to stage and television work, and finally retiring from stand-up in 1991. He is the author of “The Freewheeling John Dowie” and “Before I Go.”
Author portrait © Steve Ullathorn
