# John Clarke (of Clarke and Dawe) RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165 "2017-04-10T12:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/1 "2017-04-10T12:51:40Z")
I caught a marathon of The Games on PBS many years ago and absolutely fell in love with his sense of humor. Through Youtube I’ve watched many more hours of his work. Brilliant satirist, painfully funny guy. > **['His satire served a noble purpose': Comedian John Clarke dies aged 68](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-10/john-clarke-dies-aged-68/8430174)** > > Satirist John Clarke, of Clarke and Dawe fame, "spoke truth to power" and kept politicians on their toes, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says, after the comedian dies suddenly while bushwalking. ETA - sorry for the misspelling of Clarke, I’ve reported the post for edit. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/2 "2017-04-10T13:21:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I caught a marathon of The Games on PBS many years ago and absolutely fell in love with his sense of humor. Through Youtube I’ve watched many more hours of his work. Brilliant satirist, painfully funny guy. > > [Satirist John Clarke, of Clarke and Dawe fame, dies aged 68 - ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-10/john-clarke-dies-aged-68/8430174) > > ETA - sorry for the misspelling of Clarke, I’ve reported the post for edit. WHAT??? FUCK! (not now, not NOW! dammit! We need him more than ever!) ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/3 "2017-04-10T16:03:00Z")
Massive loss, his short political satire pieces with Brian Dawe were just brilliant. I recommend you YouTube John Clarke and Bryan Dawe. Yes, there will be many pieces where local knowledge is required to get a full appreciation, but a lot of it cuts across politics as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/4 "2017-04-10T16:57:36Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/17NKos-7GCo/hqdefault.jpg "The Games Excerpt") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17NKos-7GCo) > [@](#): > > Well I don’t understand, Mr Wilson, quite why in the construction of a 100 meters track you would want to depart too radically from the constraints laid down for us by the conventional calibration of distance. Such wonderfully written prose. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/5 "2017-04-10T19:52:53Z")
I fixed the spelling in the title for you. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/6 "2017-04-10T20:04:24Z")
Rest in peace, Fred Dagg. One of the funniest things John Clarke did was a collection of parody poems taking the piss out of everyone from Coleridge to Leonard Cohen: In Xanadu did Kublai Khan A stately pleasure dome decree Till Alf, the Chief Surveyor said, “You can’t build that, it contravenes The Act of '63” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/7 "2017-04-10T20:51:56Z")
Oh, damn. Was just gonna post about _The Games_ in the “TV shows nobody but you remembers” thread. Maybe the funniest show I’ve ever seen. The scene where they’re discussing the length of the hundred-meters track is brilliant. And, of course, the front fell off. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/8 "2017-04-12T23:01:32Z")
Such a funny man. He will be missed. I think I laughed the hardest at his [out of depth defense minister arguing both sides of the plan in Iraq.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USYC82K7hOQ) “Bearing in mind the very significant and very important reasons went in there in the first place.” “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” “No no no, Brian. I mean the real reason.” “Oh. Oil.” “No no, Brian. No. Sorry. My mistake. I mean the official reason.” “Ah! To bring peace and democracy.” “That’s the one I was looking for.” ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/9 "2017-04-13T06:37:34Z")
We don’t know how propitious are the circumstances, Frederick. Or just maybe we didn’t know how lucky we were ---
**Author:** ![TYphoonSignal8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@TYphoonSignal8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TYphoonSignal8)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/10 "2017-04-13T07:01:35Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Such a funny man. He will be missed. I think I laughed the hardest at his [out of depth defense minister arguing both sides of the plan in Iraq.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USYC82K7hOQ) > > “Bearing in mind the very significant and very important reasons went in there in the first place.” > “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” > “No no no, Brian. I mean the real reason.” > “Oh. Oil.” > “No no, Brian. No. Sorry. My mistake. I mean the official reason.” > “Ah! To bring peace and democracy.” > “That’s the one I was looking for.” HA! These two were on TV as long as I can remember. I remember watching their faux interviews in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/11 "2017-04-13T08:46:08Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > We don’t know how propitious are the circumstances, Frederick. > > Or just maybe we didn’t know how lucky we were Ah yes. [Context](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwgHGeGxlus). ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/12 "2017-04-13T09:07:11Z")
I actually had a Fred Dagg LP back in my youth, and I especially loved his expose of the real estate industry. I won’t link here, but google it if you want. Mister Clarke, you have given me more laughs over the last forty years than I probably deserved. You have lifted my spirits when I was a bit down, and made me think a bit more when all I wanted to do was retreat into socio/political oblivion. But what a bloody way to go… Vale ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-clarke-of-clarke-and-dawe-rip/784165/13 "2022-10-26T15:31:26Z")
Sorry for the bump of this older thread, but I came across this retrospective of his life on Youtube so I thought I’d post it here. He was a special talent. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/539bkrv7g2k/hqdefault.jpg "John Clarke: Thanks for your time.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=539bkrv7g2k)