Three years ago, the caustic comic had a fatal aortic dissection mid-show. Now a new documentary about the self-proclaimed ‘most banned act in Britain’ reveals a saga of booze and outrage
When Ian Cognito walked on stage in Bicester, Oxfordshire, on 11 April 2019, he couldn’t have known he was about to follow in the footsteps of Tommy Cooper. Every comedian has stories of “dying” in front of an audience but few do it literally. The manner of Cognito’s death at the age of 60 seems entirely in keeping with this caustic performer, who boasted about being the most banned act in Britain, accused other comics of hypocrisy, head-butted his own manager, and took everything he did to extremes.
A new documentary, Ian Cognito: A Life and a Death on Stage, tells the story of the man born Paul Barbieri but known as “Cogs” to friends and admirers. Singing his praises in the film are the likes of James Acaster, Shaparak Khorsandi and Stewart Lee. Some are a little more equivocal. Jo Brand calls him “a loose cannon”. Bob Mills says: “Standup comedy was a weapon to Cogs. It wasn’t a nice thing.”
