Martin Besserman

Martin Besserman has a light-hearted comedy style. He was drawn to Speakers’ Corner as a teenager in the 1980s by the eccentricity of the environment. Martin says he craved attention for his poems after his parents divorced when he was eleven and was made to feel welcome at Speakers’ Corner. It was a place where lonely, vulnerable people and intellectuals alike felt comfortable. As a cash strapped youth he discretely took collections for poetry recitals. He was impressed by “Quiz Queen Betty” who handed out jelly baby sweets as rewards for answering her “Trivial Pursuit” style questions, blackcurrant ones for hard questions; green for easy answers.   Martin still speaks and currently advocates vegetarianism.

Audio of Martin

"Enough attention"