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Bill Stitt

From Fry Family Genealogy Wiki

Bill Stitt is a mysterious, but celebrated character who is thought to live in Edinburgh. He is well known in Scotland as both a media commentator and as a singer.

He first found noteriety on the blogging circuit as a commentator on current events, with contributions ranging from the rambling to the outrageous, provoking both anger and confusion from other users. A number of pieces of his work are still available and rumours of a book based on his life persist.

1 Personal life
2 Life as an entertainer
3 The Jim Schidt controversy
4 Media Commentator
5 Politics
6 References

[edit] Personal life

Little is known about his personal life, but those who claim to have met the man suggest that he is of considerable age and has a strong resemblance to popular entertainer Tom O'Connor. His blogging contributions hint at a long career in the Scottish civil service, which was preceded by working on a maggot farm. His interests appear to include football as items have suggested that he is a fan of both Queen of the South and Manchester United. However, his contributions are full of contradictions, which have raised doubts over their authenticity. For example, one blog claims that he vividly remembers Spanish flu, which is thought to be highly unlikely.

[edit] Life as an entertainer

He has also found some fame as a noted avant garde singer and performer on the Edinburgh live music scene, usually performing solo. His shows are largely performed with what has been described as an "eccentric bravado" with an impressive vocal range and unusal style of dancing which recalls Duglas T Stewart of BMX Bandits. It is thought that most of the songs he sings are cover versions, but interpretations of "Delilah" (the Sensational Alex Harvey Band version) and "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus are so unique, that audiences agree he has made each song his own. Gigs tend to be impromptu and receive as much criticism as they do praise. He is currently without a record deal, a situation widely believed to his considerable age and erratic behaviour. One audience member recently described him as an octogenarian Pete Doherty, but whether Stitt is in fact in his 80s is unknown.

It is rumoured that a Scottish Screen produced short feature film based loosely on Stitt's life - "Is That a Doughnut or a Meringue?" starring Scottish comedy veteran Johnny Beattie as the Stitt-inspired character Drew Peacock - is due to premiere at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival in August. This will be Stitt's second link to the world famous Edinburgh summer festival scene. His ground breaking stand up comedy show "Is this the bus to South Queensferry?" - performed in a bus in the city's Grassmarket area - made a short-lived debut on the Festival Fringe programme in 2005 until pensioner power (the show was seen by many to mock the elderly), and a lack of funding (it was believed that Stitt hadn't paid for the bus), led to the show's premature end.

[edit] The Jim Schidt controversy

Rumours are rife that a Bill Stitt impersonator, calling himself "Jim Schidt" has taken to performing in the Edinburgh area in a similar style. A poor quality video claiming to be of Schidt exists on the Youtube website singing "Teenage Dirtbag" but it's difficult to tell exactly who it is. Cynics have suggested it is merely Stitt using a pseudonym to avoid another ejection from the venue. Another theory is that Tom O'Connor is in fact both men and is merely taking a different approach to his career as his audience becomes more selective, but this has never been proven.

[edit] Media Commentator

Stitt has had a number of thought provoking commentaries published on the BBC and Sky News websites among others. Sadly, "current" events are exactly that and webmasters regularly clear out "old news", meaning that not all his articles and comments are still available the view on the Internet. A number of small Edinburgh-based publishing houses are trying to hunt down Stitt with the idea of publishing his memoirs. A select number of highlights saved from the BBC website follow.

"I've paid my licence fee every year since it was introduced in 1946 at a rate of £2 a year and haven't begrudged paying it once. I rely on the BBC to entertain me and to keep me abreast of what's happening in the world. And what a great job they do! Balanced news, brilliant comedy, gripping drama across TV, radio and web. Job cuts will only lead to a decline in the quality of this great British institution. I'm right behind the Beeb workers."