Ian Cognito: A Life and A Death on Stage

Ian Cognito was a comedians comedian. We know this because lots of comedians (some well known, some less so) appeared on this documentary to say how amazing Ian Cognito was. I'm not convinced. It can be difficult to laugh at/with someone you don't like and Ian Cognito was clearly not a likeable person most of the time. An aggressive alcoholic with a chip on his shoulder about not being rich and famous doesn't make for good company or great anecdotes and this documentary does nothing to dispel that.

In between comedy club snippets of Ian's largely aggressive act, we are told how amazing he was, and whilst he certainly had some funny lines in his routine, ultimately he didn't seem that great. And this is part of the problem with this documentary - you expect at some point to be bowled over by his act and be left thinking why didn't I know about this guy, but this doesn't happen.

What you are left with is a rather sad figure who became less and less appealing as he got older and probably gained most of his notoriety by dying on stage.