Not What We Were Expecting

Born in Evesham in 1964 and a graduate of Leeds University, Alistair McGowan is best known for his impressions, winning a BAFTA for his BBC One series The Big Impression in 2003. He has also worked as an actor regularly on radio, occasionally on television, and nationwide on stage (even being nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance as The Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors). Alistair has written his own stand-up comedy throughout his 35-year career. He also wrote the stage play Timing (nominated for best new comedy in the WhatsOnStage Awards 2009) and three Radio 4 plays about composers Erik Satie and John Field, and the first performance of Pygmalion. He wrote over half the sketches in four series of The Big Impression and the book A Matter of Life and Death with his former comedy partner, Ronni Ancona. In 2015, Alistair threw himself into learning the piano from almost a standing start and, in 2017, released The Piano Album through Sony Classical - reaching number one in the classical charts. In 2023, he set up the first Ludlow Piano Festival. This is his first poetry collection.