Previously Appearing at Wickham was...
Les Barker
Sadly Les passed away on 14th January 2023. He entertained us many times over the years. We’ve left his profile unchanged below, as it was written in 2018 when he last took to our stage. RIP Les … your friends at Wickham will miss you and your wordsmith wizardry.
For 2018 Les Barker will be appearing on Thursday 2nd August. For early arrival campers he will also be performing on Wednesday in the Community Centre at 20.00 – 20.45.
Les Barker writes strange poems and comes originally from Manchester, but he’s now Welsh. He was an accountant before he became a professional idiot. He’s written 77 books, which sell in large numbers at his gigs because people don’t quite believe what they’ve just heard. His poems have spawned a number of folk heroes: Jason and the Arguments, Cosmo the Fairly Accurate Knife Thrower, Captain Indecisive and Spot of the Antarctic, to name but two.
His serious songs have also featured on albums by Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, and by June Tabor and he made a name for himself on the circuit with his unlikely contribution to the Mrs Ackroyd Band. But it is his side-splitting poems and his elevation of the pun to new heights which guarantees an unforgettable if baffling evening.