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John Dowie (born 3 August 1950 in Birmingham) is a British comedian, musician and writer, often viewed as a pioneer of alternative comedy. He began performing stand-up comedy in 1969.
Described as an "idiosyncratic original" and "lone pioneer", Dowie's "arthouse proto-alternative" work mixed parody, fantasy, impersonations and taboo topics. His innovative comic style led him to being seen by many comedians that followed such as Alexei Sayle, Tony Allen, Mark Steel, and Jeremy Hardy as a precursor to the alternative comedy wave that arrived a few years later, with comedy impresario Malcolm Hardee noting that Dowie's work predated even the founding of the Comedy Store. In particular, Dowie was credited with establishing observational humour as part of the new movement.
In 1977 he toured with and influenced another alternative pioneer Victoria Wood. As well as writing songs and sketches with her, he is credited with helping her to develop her future trademark patter between songs.
Dowie was among the inaugural acts on Tony Wilson's Factory Records label. In 1978 he contributed three comedic songs to the first Factory music release, A Factory Sample, along with Joy Division, The Durutti Column, and Cabaret Voltaire. However his best remembered song remains the satirical "British Tourist (I Hate the Dutch)" from his debut EP Another Close Shave, issued by Virgin in 1977.
In 1981 a seven-inch single followed on Factory Records, the Martin Hannett-produced It's Hard to be an Egg, which Dowie described as a flop. "It's Hard to be an Egg" was also featured in episode 1 of the Wood and Walters show. It is noteworthy as having unusual packaging even by Factory standards: the disc is white vinyl with a "yolk" printed on the label, and is housed in a clear plastic sleeve with a real white feather. Dowie's final Factory contribution was a VHS video entitled simply Dowie, a recording of a live performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Ralph Steadman cover art.
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15th Jan 2022
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