Performing Cohen began performing as a comic folk singer in the north of England in the mid 1970s while still at school. He moved to Bristol and became involved with the local punk scene, supporting local bands including
The Cortinas and
Shoes For Industry and setting up Wavelength Records which became
Bristol Recorder and after he left,
WOMAD. In 1983 he moved to London and became a stand-up comedian, winning a nomination for the
Edinburgh Comedy awards in 1984 for Tuxedo Junta which he wrote and performed with
Paul B. Davies. He went on to co-found
The Comedy Store Players and was a member of
Comedy Store Cutting Edge. From 1994 to 2000 he occasionally performed as lead singer with
Al Murray and
Jim Tavare in the world's first Jewish heavy metal group ''Guns'n'Moses
. After nearly a decade of absence, he returned to perform in My Life As A Footnote
and in 2012, performed Songs in A Flat''.
Writing Cohen is a prolific writer for television and radio as well as contributing columns to
NME,
Chortle and
The Huffington Post. He has written for
BBC Radio 4 including
The Best of British,
Dead Ringers which won a Sony Gold Award 2001,
The Sunday Format,
The News Quiz and
15 Minute Musical which he was also a co-creator and won the 2009 Writer's Guild Best Radio Comedy Show, to name a few. He also wrote for
BBC Radio 5's
The Treatment and wrote and presented his own documentaries
They Came From Nowhere,
I Want to Give Up Driving and ''It's About Time''. Cohen has written for a number of television shows including the
Rory Bremner Show,
Spitting Image, ''
Eleven O'Clock Show, Not Going Out and My Family. He has been a long time writer for Have I Got News For You
and Horrible Histories'' which has won a variety of awards including Best Sketch Show, Best Comedy Show at the Children's BAFTAs and Best British Comedy Show. He was a columnist for
NME/
The Face in 1984–5,
The Guardian in 2009 and has been writing for
The Huffington Post since 2011. He has been largely credited with inventing the phrase "comedy is the new rock'n'roll."
Theatre, film and television performance In television, Cohen has acted in
15 Storeys High and
Sixty Six and in 2004 was in
Suzie Gold.
Radio From 1991 through to 1999, Cohen contributed to
BBC Radio 1's
Loose Talk and
Songlines, of which he was co-creator. He was also a recurring guest for BBC Radio 4's
Loose Ends. His own series,
Travels With My Anti Semitism, appeared in 2000.
Novels His first novel
Stand Up, Barry Goldman was published in June 2021 The follow up
Barry Goldman: The Wilderness Years was published in November 2023. New editions of both these books will be published in September 2025. The final book in the trilogy will be published in January 2026. ==References==