Tributes have been flooding in following BTJ's announcement of the death of comedian Ian Cognito.
The story has been picked up online and in the press and made BBC Radio news and it's accompanying website. As stand-up Alistair Barrie observed, Cognito, whose flavour of comedy was far too strong for television, finally made it onto the BBC.
Cognito died onstage at a gig in Bicester on Thursday night. In an echo of the death of Tommy Cooper he went quiet and the audience laughed, initially thinking it was part of the act. Cognito, real name Paul Barbieri, lived on a barge in Bristol. He had previously been a drinker but accounts from contemporaries such as Mitch Benn say that he had given up drinking and was looking healthier than ever.
Superstar comedians and club comics were united in their praise of Cognito as a trailblazer and a one-off. Jimmy Carr tweeted: "Veteran stand-up comedian Ian Cognito has died on-stage - literally. The audience thought it was part of the act. Died with his boots on. That’s commitment to comedy. I’ll never forget his kindness when I started out & how god damn funny he was."
Katy Brand tweeted: "Sad to hear about Ian Cognito. I hung with him a good few times in the past, and he was always fascinating and hilarious company. RIP Cogs"
Mark Nelson wrote on FB: "The outpouring of love for Cogs on here today is wonderful. He’d fucking hate it."
John Robins tweeted: "So many memories of Cogs flooding back today, and every time tears come one of his jokes jumps out and I’m laughing again. This is from the day of the awards ceremony in Edinburgh" - Robins then posted a screengrab of a text from Cogs saying 'jammy cunt'.
One of his most famous stunts was to walk onstage and hammer a nail into the wall on which he then hung his coat. Les Keen recalled the gag that accompanied it: "So you know two things about me, I wear a hat and I’ve got a hammer”. A number of comedians, including Michael Legge, have referred to this. One even suggsted that he may have brought a drill onstage with him. Another suggested that he also hammered a nail into a grand piano on which he hung his hat.
Charlie Baker tweeted: "The first act I saw get his dick out, the last act I saw smoke on stage (still doing it about 4 years ago) and the only act I ever saw knock a nail into a stage wall to hang his coat. An eye opening few days spent touring Scotland. Mercurial."
Barry Castagnola write: "First time I met Ian Cognito, we had a fight. Well, sort of. Earlier in the evening, we’d both performed at Newcastle Hyena. He walked on stage, took a hammer and nail out of his jacket pocket, walked to the side, banged the nail in the wall, took his jacket off and hung it up. It was the coolest opening I’ve ever seen.
Later, we were both drunk in the hotel bar, he turned on me and things got a bit heated. He tried to karate kick me, missed and ended up on the floor. I suggested we went outside. We took our coats off, went outside and pushed and shoved each other for a bit until it petered out. I told him I was leaving, went back in grabbed my coat and screamed obscenities at him as I left. Then realised I’d put his coat on. I angrily swapped coats and left again (didn’t have so much impact).
When I returned, I found him asleep, standing up outside his room with the key on the floor. I put him into his bed and went up to my room.
I woke to his call in the morning and, as I answered, he said cheerily, “Right, I’m pretty sure I was a cunt last night. Not sure what I did but let me buy you breakfast to apologise”. Hung out with him all weekend and many times since over the years. Going to miss that cheeky smile. The comedy world has lost a legend."
James Acaster tweeted:"I’d heard so many stories before I met him. I got to a gig & the promoter said “Ian’s here & is in the dressing room”. I didn’t know which Ian he meant, opened the door & a man was pissing in the sink and smiling at me. I remember thinking to myself “I think this is Ian Cognito”"
Mitch Benn was one of many who posted on Facebook: "Known him for 25 years; he was pretty much the first “big” comic I ever gigged with back in 1994 when I was a proper newbie and he was the next big thing. Even then it was obvious that he was too much of a genuine loose cannon to ever really be embraced by the industry. The industry wants FAKE nutters, controlled unpredictability. Cogs was the real thing. Got more fucked up anecdotes about hanging out with Cogs than I could ever recount. Saw him a month ago; he looked better than I’d seen him in years. He was 18 months sober, taking his meds. Looked like he was really sorting himself out. I was so proud of him. This feels so unfair. RIP you fucking nutcase. Gonna miss you."
Mike Fox wrote: "He was an amazing act and person of great integrity. he was so original it's hard to describe. He was risky I mean really f.ing out there! he was only a small man but his personality was so giant and fierce that he scared the shit out of everybody! And while still being funny - I recall one time at a show while he was onstage there was a stupid heckler and Cheryl was having a real hard time shutting her up and he saw this. He picked up a poster I'd made with him on it and came offstage into the audience, winked at Cheryl in an evil way and sat next to the woman; he said to the woman "See this poster? I don't see your fucking face on it! Now Shut the Fuck up! and re-took to the stage. She didn't say another thing. He was truly one of the greats. He was one off and I'd like to think he was friend. he'll be very sadly missed and would have been one of the first on the list of any new comedy gigs. RIP COGSY."
Jeff Green, who now lives in Australia, was, like many, in total shock. "I’m just devastated and hollowed out since the news of Cogs came an hour ago. Hasn’t sunk in yet and I’m already done in . Might never. A father, brother, best friend all in one. I feared this day. And I was right to. What a loss. I loved him so much. Know Paul changed my life. Truly. Saw him in June. He was happy and healthy and we had fun on the boat. Hoped I might get an old age with him to add to the 30 years of everything else we shared. Too many memories. Can’t bear to conjure them right now. Am struggling looking at the photos on here too. It’s too much at the moment. He adored his family too, Oliver, Billy and Sarah. I feel for their loss. What a dad. What a friend. Kind, decent, gentle, poetic and difficult. Don’t need to describe Paul. We all knew him. He was a special man. So lucky to have had him as my friend. RIP Paul Barbieri, Ian Cognito. What amazing times we shared."
Promoter Brett Vincent wrote: "Some days we saw eye to eye, some days he’d just call me a c*nt continuously, (the last time I spoke to him, he called me out the blue to call me a c*nt and then just hung up - that’s the friendship we had.) Some days we spend all night drinking chatting about comedy and some days he just wouldn’t talk to me at all. We also had some scary times as I tried to stop people wanting to smack him after gigs. The most predictable unpredictable person I ever had the pleasure of laughing or cringing at. Sometimes you just never knew what Cogs would turn up to a gig but when he did turn up boy did you know it. A totally original powerhouse of an act and deep down a beautiful soul that just wanted to do what he wanted to do."
Promoter Geoff Whiting wrote: "he worked with me and for me for 21 years and despite his stage persona was a very sensitive and empathetic guy, always fascinating to talk to and often outspoken but only because he truly was a thinker off stage as well as a barnstorming headline act, RIP Cog."
Harun Musho'd wrote: "RIP Ian Cognito. One of the first comedians I ever saw live, and one of my favourites, initially most often at the Craic Comedy Club in Harrow & Wealdstone in the early 90s - possibly the first headliner I saw at that, my local, club. This included one occasion when my by then ex-girlfriend kept heckling him to “show me your bollocks” so he did [there's some context missing, but not much]. He claimed he was banned from more comedy clubs than any other comedian, although I suspect that was somewhat exaggerated for marketing purposes."
Inevitably "Cogs" wasn't a big fan of critics. I scrolled through my old emails to see the last correspondence I had with "Cogs". It was in 2016. I don't recall what I had said but at 00:14am he sent me an email. "I gotta be honest Bruce, you ain't starting to annoy me." which initially seemed quite friendly.. Until at 9.15am he added his punchline. "You've been annoying me for quite some time now."
More tributes here including the famous seagull story.
