Pete is a singer-songwriter, a compere, a poet, a lover and a fine administrator.
He graduated with an arts degree and has consequently spent most of his working life as a temp. Before long he gave up complaining and started laughing. Pete’s rise to notoriety has been impressively swift. Since 2006, he has been performing high octane slap-stick poetry, which has spread faster than a venerial disease in a red light district. His act combines the spoken word with musical comedy and audience participation
He is based in Oxford but has been spotted in London, Brighton, Reading, Cambridge and Cheltenham and Coventry. He has performed at over 17 festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury, Shambala, Secret Garden Party, The Oxford Literary Festival Wychwood, Oxford LiteraryFestival, Brighton Festival, Brixton Green Fair and the Bristol Poetry Festival. Beyond performing he does slam poetry workshops in schools and youth centres. He is also involved with Cyc du Soliel (a cycle and solar powered sound system). The system is used to do green-themed performance poetryworkshops and stages at festivals. Recent work includes participating in a spoken word tour in collaboration with People and Planet, a youth arts festival and the filming of performace poetry videos. He also teaches performance poetry in workshops.
He has shared a stage with some of the biggest names in stand up poetry including John Hegley, Byron Vincent, Mark Gwynn Jones, Bill Bailey, Mark Thomas, Stewart Lee, Josie Long, Tim Claire , Elvis McGonnagal and Howard Marx.
Pete also does clowning and does improvised comedy with the famous improv troupe The Oxford Imps
Pete has worked with the British Council and been featured on BBC Radio 4, World Service and Newsnight. He has shared a stage with Stewart Lee and Bill Bailey and also performs spoken word alongside the band Slamboree to audiences of 2000 +. He now works as one of the world's first 7 full-time poetry / spoken-word educators embedded in schools. Later this year he will be touring with his stage show 'Pete the Temp vs Climate Change!'
Awards
Hammer & Tongue National Slam Champion (2009)
BBC Radio 4 South of England Slam Winner (2009)
Wychwood Festival Slam Champion (2009)
Oxjam Slam Champion (2007)
Glastonbury Speakers Forum Slam Winner (2010)
Bristol Poetry Festival Slam Team Winner (2010)
London Anti Slam joint looser (2010)
Berlin Anti Slam looser (2011)
Reviews:
'with fire in his belly, expert performance skills and a keen sense of mischief, he’s poetry’s answer to Mark Thomas, able to make the depressing enjoyable.' Chortle
'He’s a man on a mission – and with a just cause and a cannonade of verbally astute poems, how can he fail?' Apples and Snakes
'funny, intelligent, refreshingly angry and often moving' Cockpit Theatre
"Pumped-up Pete and his gripping poetry wrestle audience into submission." Petersfield Herald
"....think a more melodic Ben Elton, minus the shiny suits." Petersfield Post
‘A totally unique act’ - BBC Oxford
'Sublime' - Nightshift Magazine
'Quality subversive entertainment' - Oxfordshire Music Scene
‘Hilarious live act’ - Headstand 209 Radio
‘Pete’s been carving out a very exclusive niche as a solo performer… toe tappingly contagious and dangerously infective’ - Moshka Music
‘Heart-rending and blackly comic simultaneously…brilliant characterization’ - Laura King, Back Room Poets
‘His unbelievable energy seems the key to his success, with a powerful and funny physical stage presence. He makes you laugh like a schoolgirl who has just found out what a penis looks like’ - Hammer & Tongues
‘His performances are captivating and hilarious’ - Brighton poetry
‘Bill Bailey got the most laughs, closely followed by Pete The Temp’ - Oxford Mail
‘The hard working funny man of poetry’ - Apples and Snakes
‘A powerhouse of performance who has brought joy and mirth to crowds all across the country’ - Slam Sandwich
‘Comedian and poet Pete the Tempo rocked the house with some sing-a-long anthems, making the audience, laugh, join in and participate, warming the crowd’ - Greenhouse Effect Farm- Shop
‘A rabble-rousing, one-man riot of a performance poet’ - Poetry Kapow
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