10.19°C A local poet is looking forward to sharing his inspiring journey from failing at school in Clacton to becoming a successful author, musician, comedian and poet, when he performs at the Colchester Fringe later this month.
Dr. James Domestic, 51, will showcase his ‘That’s Not Poetry!’ production at Coda as part of the festival on the 26th and 28th October, to provide hope for others through his poetic and often comical stories.
“‘That’s Not Poetry!’ is my first hour long show and traces a wonky timeline from my childhood in Clacton, right up to the present day,” enthused James.
“I will explain how I’ve found happiness in life, despite experiencing many major setbacks and false starts along the way. I will also pick apart fascinating aspects of everyday life and share fond, as well as challenging, stories from my childhood memories.
“Plus, I talk about funerals, schools, alcohol, touring in bands, mental health issues and the nature of poetry itself…the stuff of life! I include a cast of characters that will stick with you long after the show. It’s all about painting pictures with words.”
James is also proud to be part of a local poetical renaissance that has been developing in Colchester over the last couple of years, which has included performances at entertaining nights run by The Essex Poetry Collective at Patch; Emotional Madness at Colchester Arts Centre and Poetry’s a Drag at the Dragonfly Lounge.
“My poetry is for clued-up poetry fans, as well as people who think they don’t like poetry,” added James. “I’ve lost count of the times someone has dragged a reluctant friend or partner along to see me and after the show they’ve told me they hadn’t realised poetry could be fun! It’s definitely made them look at poetry in a different way.”
“As counter-cultural poet Adrian Mitchell famously noted: ‘Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.’ I’m a firm believer in the power of poetry to connect with people from all backgrounds through humour and dissecting the minutiae of daily life.
“I often tackle serious subjects, but it’s usually with a big dollop of humour on the side; I can’t help myself!”
James, who also works at the UK Data Service based at the University of Essex, and has toured Europe several times with his band The Domestics, admits his life has taken an unpredictable, often difficult trajectory.
As a working-class kid with no interest in school, he spent his first post-school years between unemployment and working in a chemical factory. He muses that his former teachers would find it hard to believe that he now holds a doctorate.
“I barely showed up at school. However, my life has turned out O.K., although I’m painfully aware that if I’d made some effort at school I would’ve avoided years of hardship along the way. I didn’t really connect with education at all until my mid-twenties.”
Over the past couple of years, James has supported a few other poetry and comedy legends, such as Luke Wright, Andy Riley, Mark Grist, and Attila the Stockbroker. He has also performed on BBC Essex, BBC Three Counties Radio, various podcasts, and BBC Breakfast TV.
“I remember when the Breakfast TV guy Tim Muffett wanted to arrange a pre-record with me, but asked me the day before I was due to catch an early flight, plus I was at work. I said: ‘If you can make it down here for lunch-time, we can record the interview in the garden of my local during my lunch break.’ To my astonishment, he agreed and jumped on a train from London straight away. I’ve done a few interviews in that beer garden now, actually!”
After having several books published by Earth Island Books, James has been compared to John Cooper Clarke, Ivor Cutler, Spike Milligan, Benjamin Zephaniah, and iconic musician and wordsmith, Ian Dury.
The two performances of That’s Not Poetry! at Coda will be James’ final gigs of 2025, but he said: “Rest assured I’m already booking gigs well into 2026. They’ll all go up on jamesdomestic.com in January.”
If you love words and feel like a great night out with plenty of laughs, then That’s Not Poetry! could be for you. You can buy tickets here.
By Rodney Appleyard
James Domestic. Photo credit: Rich Talbot.
