Rob profile picture

Rob

Performance poet, comic and reformed psychiatric nurse

About Me

I spent my formative years trying my very best to negotiate the fine line between clever and stupid, with varying degrees of success. After far too long working as a nurse, I now perform comedy and poetry, which is my favourite job in the whole world. This site's more of a pally social thing - for details about tours, gigs and similar, please go to robgee.co.uk, or myspace.com/robskatz, in the case of the double act.As far as I know, mine is the only performance ever to have instigated a fight at the Leamington Spa Peace Festival. That's probably my favourite thing on my CV.

My Interests

I enjoy socialising, dancing like my Dad, losing gloves and jumpers, persuading people they're wrong when they're obviously not, and hoarding vinyl. I DJ ska in my spare time, and I sometimes read about psychiatry and genocide. It's a yin yang thing. I love eating. I'm the hungriest person I know. I like to try new things, and I consider myself to be tenacious, but not inflexible - like a bendy thing as opposed to a stick.

I'd like to meet:

Pompous people who apologise, dead rock stars, a carefree goth, Primo Levi, NoMeansNo, Tommy Cooper, Tom Lehrer, God, anyone who doesn't buy the Daily Mail and perhaps some ancestors.

Music:

Jamaican Ska, Punk Rock, all forms of dance music, Johnny Cash, Ian Dury, Art of Noise, NoMeansNo, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Marvin Gaye, Alice Donut, Mojo Nixon, Prince Buster, Skatalites, Primus, Fugazi, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Madness, Fishbone, Jello Biafra, Asian Dub Foundation, The Pale, The Temptations, Millions of Dead Cops, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Tommy McCook, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Ennio Morricone, Goldie Lookin' Chain, NOFX, Moby, The Supremes, Two Tone, Kate Bush, Juno Reactor, bits of Dvorák, and more ska.

Movies:

Harvey, The Long Good Friday, Life is Beautiful, Happiness, Secrets and Lies, Come and See, Au Revoir Les Enfants, Manufacturing Consent, Get Carter, Nil By Mouth, All Quiet on the Western Front, High Noon, Dead Man, Scum, City of God, anything by Takeshi Kitano, Shane Meadows or Mr Scorcese, oh, and I have a soft spot for Ken Loach.

Television:

Only if I'm round someone else's, and then I'll watch any old cack and find it fascinating. I shouldn't, but I do. It's like chewing a fruit pastille, slapping a child or bursting a spot.

Books:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, If This is a Man, Mrs Pepperpot, and Spike Milligan's version of Wuthering Heights. Anything about mental health, history, drugs, comedy, genocide, politics or ska. And the occasional novel.

Heroes:

You wouldn't know 'em. Most of them were folk I nursed, or in some cases their families, and it's my privilege to keep them a secret. The real heroes do it without encouragement, recognition, or an audience. That's what I think. So there.

My Blog

Gig From Hell

I received an email from a bloke saying he'd heard about me on the radio. Every week he runs a disco for people with special needs and he was trying to diversify the evening. After hearing about yours...
Posted by Rob on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:10:00 PST