John Gorman (entertainer)

John Gorman (born 4 January 1936) is an English comedian, vocalist and comedy musician.

John Gorman
John Gorman in 2010
Born	(1936-01-04) 4 January 1936 (age 88) Birkenhead, England, UK
Occupation(s)	Comedian, musician
Years active	1960s-present

Early life and education

Gorman was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire in 1936. After grammar school, Gorman worked as a telecommunications engineer.

The Scaffold

Main article: The Scaffold

He was the founder of the comedy music group The Scaffold,^[1] best known for their 1968 hit single Lily the Pink, and its successor the band Grimms – the 'G' in Gorman providing the 'G' in Grimms.^[2][3][4][5] He also made a comedy musical album for DJM Records, Go Man Gorman.^[6]

During the 1970s he made brief film appearances in Frankie Howerd's medieval set farce Up the Chastity Belt (1971),^[7] Melody (1971), Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977), where he is credited as 'second peasant',^[8] and The Music Machine (1979) as a newsagent.

Television

He also made appearances on the British children's television show Tiswas between 1977 and 1981 (becoming a regular member in 1978) and was one of the Four Bucketeers, a novelty band whose highest-charting single was "Bucket of Water Song", which reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. After Tiswas, he worked with Chris Tarrant on its adult-oriented successor O.T.T.. He then moved to Tyne Tees, first on the children's game show How Dare You! and later on another children's show, Razzmatazz.^[9]

After a period living in France, he returned as artistic director for the Theatre on the Steps in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.^{[citation needed]} He appeared on the Tiswas Reunited show on ITV1 on 16 June 2007.^{[citation needed]} Also in 2007 he announced plans to establish a Wirral Academy of the Arts at Birkenhead Park.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 April 2022, Gorman reunited once again with Bob Carolgees, Sally James and Chris Tarrant for a Tiswas reunion show at St George's in Bristol as part of the city's annual Slapstick Festival.^[10][11][12]

See also

• Liverpool poets

References

1. Angela Bartie The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Postwar Britain 2013 " McGough, John Gorman and Michael McCartney (later changed to McGear to give some distance from his famous brother, Paul), the Scaffold brought together poetry, drama, songs and 'a unique brand of zany comedy' in an irreverent revue ..."
2. Howard Sounes – Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney 2010 Page 81 "Having left school, Paul's lanky kid brother Mike had started work as a ladies' hairdresser in Liverpool, then formed a Beyond the Fringe-style comedy troupe, the Scaffold, with mates John Gorman and Roger McGough, the trio landing a TV ..."
3. Kathy Barham 194 Radio City The Heart of Liverpool 2006 – Page 19 "'Starspin' hosted by Kevin Keegan and Dave Clements – Liverpool and Everton were always equally represented on City – with music, interviews, opinions and lots of chat, and 'Plod's Patrol', John Gorman's half-hourly comedy show about a ..."
4. Steven Charles The Beatles – Uncensored on the Record "ended up in the Magical Mystery Tour film. How did that come about? Well, the Bonzos were working with the Scaffold, which was a well-known comedy and song trio in the sixties. Alongside Roger McGough and John Gorman, there was Mike McCartney..."
5. Phil Bowen A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets – 2008 – Page 47 "Gorman wrote poetry too, but quickly realised that his main talent was comedy. The ideal venue ... John Gorman and Roger McGough were an unlikely pairing, but both immediately recognised each other's strengths. McGough, happy in his ..."
6. Harry Castleman, Walter J. Podrazik – The Beatles again? 1977 – Page 105 "Even John Gorman finally released his first solo effort, Go Man Gorman, in April of 1977. "
7. Paul Myers It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues. 2007 Page 164 "Baldry.. and since then he had made his screen debut as “Little John” in comedian Frankie Howerd's Robin Hood farce, Up the Chastity Belt. ... “One morning I had to be up at six, and doing a fight scene with John Gorman."
8. "I'd like to teach the world to Grimms" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
9. Who's Who at Tiswas Online Archived 31 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
10. Cavendish, Dominic (17 April 2022). "Gunge and custard pies: What happened when ITV's Tiswas reunited on stage, 40 years on". The Telegraph.
11. "Tiswas: The Reunion | St George's Bristol".
12. "Slapstick presents: Tiswas: The Reunion at St Georges Bristol".