Ian Cognito

Philly_Q

You might have seen the news stories about standup comic Ian Cognito, who died on stage on 11 April.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/apr/14/ian-cognito-obituary

I must admit I'd never heard of him, and I think it was mainly the circumstances of his death which caused the media attention.  But when I started reading about him and saw his real name, Paul Barbieri, it rang a loud bell.

Turned out he was at Bath University at the same time as me.  I didn't know him at all, but I remember him quite well - he was a leading light in the Social Committee, or whatever it was called, and sometimes used to introduce the bands who played at the uni.  I also saw his own band once or twice.  In the recent pictures, he looks very different from the bloke I remember, he was quite smart and trendy (80s style) in those days.

He was six years older than me and, as I say, I didn't know him but reading about his death it did seem oddly close to home and a reminder of my own mortality.  RIP.