Elvis McGonagall
Elvis McGonagall (born Richard Smith; December 22, 1960) is a Scottish poet and stand-up comedian who is especially notable for poetry slam performances.[1][2][3]
Biography
McGonagall was born in Dundee, Scotland, and now lives in Dorset in South West England.[4] His stage name combines a reference to the notoriously bad poet William McGonagall with 'Elvis' "because it’s just so wrong, the wrongest name I could think of to go with McGonagall".[5][6]
Poetry
Slam performances
McGonagall first performed publicly at the UK Allcomers' Slam at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2003, finishing runner-up: he went on to win the slam the following year.[7] His career saw significant progress in 2006, in which year McGonagall won the Spokefest UK Slam Championship and the World Slam Championship at the Rotterdam Poetry International Festival.[7]
McGonagall performs at poetry events nationwide, as well as compering at the Blue Suede Sporran Club.[8]
Media performances
McGonagall has regularly appeared on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live, beginning with contributions to the premier episode. He has appeared frequently on other BBC Radio 4 programmes, including Today, Last Word and Off the Page.[7]
McGonagall has also appeared on various television programmes for a number of broadcasters. His credits include BBC One's The One Show, BBC Two's The Culture Show and Channel 4's 'Random Acts'.[7]
Works
Audio
- One Man And His Doggerel - Live! (2010)
Written
- Mostly Dreich (2012)
References
- "Hovis in Wonderland". Manchester Confidential. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- "Botswana's oral poetress scoops award". Mmegi.bw. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
- "'It's like rap with positive feelings'". Nottingham Evening Post. 30 November 2006. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
- Logan, Brian (10 August 2009). "Elvis McGonagall". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- https://www.nickchurchill.org.uk/elvis-mcgonagall-purbecks-peoples-poet
- https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/aug/10/elvis-mcgonagall-fringe-review
- "Elvis McGonagall: About". Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- Richard Bucknall Management. "Elvis McGonagall". Retrieved 25 January 2014.