Elvis McGonagall

Elvis McGonagall reading poetry at the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally 2012

Elvis McGonagall (born Richard Smith; 22 December 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 Perth, Scotland, and now lives in Stroud 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 competing 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 premiere episode. He has appeared frequently on other BBC Radio 4 programmes, including Today, Last Word and Off the Page as well as starring in two series of his own sitcom Elvis Mcgonagall Takes a Look on the Bright Side, Radio 4's Comedy of the Week stand-up special Full Tartan Jacket (2021) and a documentary My Name Is Elvis (2021).[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

  • Gie’ It Laldy! (2018) - Elvis McGonagall & His Resurrectors
  • One Man And His Doggerel - Live! (2010)

Written

  • Complete & Utter Cult! (2020)
  • Viva Loch Lomond! (2017)
  • Mostly Dreich (2012)

References

  1. ↑ "Hovis in Wonderland". Manchester Confidential. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ "Botswana's oral poetress scoops award". Mmegi.bw. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "'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.
  4. ↑ Logan, Brian (10 August 2009). "Elvis McGonagall". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Churchill, Nick (1 September 2015). "Elvis McGonagall – Purbeck's people's poet". Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  6. ↑ "Comedy review: Elvis McGonagall | Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh". TheGuardian.com. 10 August 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Elvis McGonagall: About". Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Elvis McGonagall". Richard Bucknall Management. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
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