These are the strangely sad and sadly strange words of T.S. IDIOT, a queer poet and artist once deemed to be in very poor taste by his hometown council. These are words on queerness, on class, on love and loss and finding what we can congealed in the cracks of every day life. These words are for times of tenderness, these words are for laughing with. These words are for you.
Tom Stockley (they/them) is a short sighted, queer, Jewish poet with eczema, known on stage and page as T.S. IDIOT. They are an outsider artist, a performer who draws on beauty and power from history's margins to embrace and mock modern life in equal measures. They look to the junkies, the jokers and the bent and abandoned for inspiration and solace. They have warmed up crowds for the likes of John Cooper Clarke and Attila The Stockbroker, as well as DIY punk shows and queer cabaret nights across the UK. They believe that the values of punk can be a transformative and powerful vehicle for social change. Their band THE HIDEOUS TREND reformed in 2019 after a brief hiatus, and are now based in Bristol. They're also known in some circles as the South West's worse techno wordsmith MC TEABAG, bedroom-pop disappointment boca juniors and very occasionally a Russian woman called Ivana. T.S. IDIOT has performed for spoken word nights across the UK, including Apples & Snakes and Raise The Bar, as well as in residence for Bristol Museum and Manchester's Victoria Baths. In 2017 they honed their skills with Doorstep Arts and Unleashed Theatre Company. They have been published by Sea Post Press, Sober Magazine and Arkbound (among others), and featured on Ujima Radio, Bristol 24/7 and The Calm Zone. They released SPIT & MARGARINE, a collection of short poems on losing things and not fitting in, in 2020. You can BUY IT HERE Further writings can be found on cubicle doors in toilets across the country. As society has currently collapsed, T.S. IDIOT is producing poems and images for their #pandemicpoems collaborative project, writing stories and short films, producing an audio documentary for BBC Arts and developing their show; I'm A Nobody, Get Me Out of Here. They are an alumni of the UK Young Artists' Cultural Leadership Programme, a Cultural Secretary for Tate & The Exchange, and once got retweeted by Dick and Dom. They are also the host of IDIOT TALK, a monthly show on 1020 Radio. They want you to know that they love you, everything's going to be ok. Contact them directly for bookings, commissions and more - send a message to t.stockley@hotmail.co.uk, via his facebook page or tweet them. If you shout loud enough they may come galloping across the horizon like a tiny hairless horse. |
"A spoken word phenomena" - Voice Magazine "Lighthearted but bittersweet" - Fringe Review "Very funny, very topical" - DIY Exeter "A passionate poet with a contemporary edge" - Made In Plymouth "Awful" - Altern8 "A real treat to witness" - Green Beanz "Proper punk" - Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) "Skillfully disobedient" - Pete The Temp "A beautiful performance that resonates with everyone's experience" - Revolv "A cross between Suicide and John Cooper Clarke" - Attila The Stockbroker "Rhythmical and exhilarating, they force you to read aloud" - Taproot Press |