John Dowie (born 3 August 1950) is a British comedian, musician, and writer from Birmingham. Dowie began performing stand-up in 1969 and established observational humor as a precursor to the alternative comedy movement. In 1972, Dowie performed a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe. He toured with Victoria Wood in 1977, assisting in the development of her stage patter. Dowie’s discography included the EP Another Close Shave (1977), featuring the song “British Tourist (I Hate the Dutch)”. As an inaugural artist for Factory Records, Dowie contributed three songs to the release A Factory Sample (1978) and released the single “It's Hard to Be an Egg” (1981). He issued the live album Good Grief (1987) before retiring from stand-up in 1991 with the show Why I Stopped Being a Stand-Up Comedian.
