John Cooper Clarke has announced details of a special virtual Christmas gig.

Clarke will be joined by spoken word artists and poets from around the country and the event will aim to raise funds for a number of organisations including Colchester Food Bank, Salford Food Bank, Manchester Food Bank and Colchester Arts Centre.

The gig will be streamed around the world from Colchester Arts Centre on December 12. You can buy tickets for the event here.

“Join us for John’s one and only gig of the year – I Wanna Be Yours at Christmas live streamed fro @ColchesterArts,’ a post on Clarke’s Twitter account read.

“John will perform a LIVE set – expect his greatest hits, readings from memoir, poems old & new, and plenty of gags.” You can see the post below.

Join us for John's one and only gig of the year – I Wanna Be Yours at Christmas live streamed from @ColchesterArts.
John will perform a LIVE set – expect his greatest hits, readings from memoir, poems old & new, and plenty of gags.
Tickets: https://t.co/iXZNMrPZcB pic.twitter.com/J68Vf1Hyt4

— official_jcc (@official_jcc) November 18, 2020

Earlier this week (November 16), Nick Cave praised John Cooper Clarke in the latest entry on his Red Hand Files website, calling the performance poet and musician “a brilliant, brilliant man.”

Responding to a new set of fan questions on his regular Q&A site, Cave was asked for his thoughts on Clarke.

“I remember standing in the audience at some little club, maybe 40 years ago, and watching John, staggered by his speed and virtuosity and mordant humour, and laughing and laughing and laughing,” Cave said.

He added: “So, if you’re in lockdown and feeling low and need to laugh, go online, check out John Cooper Clarke and have your faith in humanity restored.

“A brilliant, brilliant man.”

Earlier this month, Cave shared his thoughts on how to “find the right path” in life during an entry on his Red Hand Files site.