Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In the ‘80s, John created the first regular column about the burgeoning London stand-up scene. In 1990 he wrote a book about its effect on the Edinburgh Festival: “Comics: A Decade of Comedy at the Assembly Rooms.” That year he also devised and ran a live topical stand-up team show at The London Comedy Store, The Edge. (It was destroyed in 2020!) In 2009 John was diagnosed with RRMS, which cut short his main job as a TV casting director for “Black Books,” “My Family,” et al. Now, John writes “Fall Down Get Up Again,” an irreverent journey with MS, and also serves as MS News Today Forums co-moderator.

April 16, 2021April 14, 2021

An Upbeat MS Column for You Lucky People

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

The trouble with a degenerative disease is that things only get worse. In the long-gone days of my youth, I somehow wrangled myself into being an arts critic. Wizened journalists ... Read more

April 9, 2021April 7, 2021

Can You Care Too Much? Er, Maybe!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

One of the conditions of being released from the hospital a couple of weeks ago was that I had carers come to my home four times a day for six ... Read more

April 2, 2021April 2, 2021

To Have a Persistent UTI or Not? That Is the Question

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

If you read last week’s column, you’ll know I’ve just been through hell — which is a pretty big statement for an atheist. Of course, if there is a hell, ... Read more

March 26, 2021March 24, 2021

The MS Astronaut Returns After a 10-day Hospital Stay

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

So, where off Earth have I been? Nothing as adventurous as a space flight, I’m afraid, but a more prosaic litany of mishaps. First, I did crash, but that was ... Read more

February 26, 2021February 24, 2021

After a Full Dose of Steroids, I’m Still a Little Old Man at 63

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

“Let’s go for a walk,” my wife, Jane, chirpily suggested. This was a bit of a nightmare. I had to put on trousers. I perhaps cheekily get away with only ... Read more

February 19, 2021February 17, 2021

Here’s What Our Alternative Valentine’s Day Is Like With MS

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Ah, timing. It was early Saturday afternoon on Feb. 13, and my wife, Jane, had just flushed the toilet for me. The doorbell rang — my flowers had arrived. An ... Read more

February 12, 2021February 11, 2021

Britain Leads the World in Two Types of Jabbing

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I was 6 years old when British boxer Henry Cooper knocked Cassius Clay on his bottom. (It was that long ago, folks — 1963. This was before Clay’s religious conversion ... Read more

February 5, 2021February 3, 2021

Feeling on Top of Things Meant I Nearly Ended Up on My Bottom

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Would I jinx it? In last week’s column “How I’m Staying on Top of MS’ Many ‘Gifts,’” I wrote about being on top of all my MS-induced ancillary symptoms. Wendy, ... Read more

January 29, 2021January 28, 2021

How I’m Staying on Top of MS’ Many ‘Gifts’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

When I was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009, my first question to my neurologist was, “Will I end up in a wheelchair?” She patted this question back with ... Read more

January 22, 2021January 21, 2021

A Nod to the Long-running Comedy Show ‘No Sex Please, We’re British’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

“No Sex Please, We’re British” was a British farce that opened in London’s West End in 1971 and ran until 1987. It was panned by critics, but having “Sex” in ... Read more

January 15, 2021January 13, 2021

My ‘Great Escape’ During a Long Pandemic

Columns, Covid-19, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Unfortunately, mine didn’t involve a cool motorbike — it was the wrong kind, as somehow Steve McQueen had managed to steal a British one — and an impossible jump at ... Read more

January 8, 2021January 6, 2021

Sorry, This Is Not About New Year’s Resolutions. Get Over It!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Now I know what it is like to write like Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. Not because I have their talent (if only), but due to the inescapable fact ... Read more

December 18, 2020December 16, 2020

Santa Claus Is Still Comin’ to Town

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Well, 2020 was a weird year for everybody. It was even weird for magical creatures, as these days, an awful lot of people believe they exist! It’s tough now to ... Read more

December 11, 2020December 9, 2020

‘Well, This Could Be the Last Time, I Don’t Know!’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Don’t be so overdramatic, my wife always tells me. But as I’ve spent 30 years of my life as a pseudo-luvvie, I’ve earned the right to have a good and ... Read more

December 4, 2020December 2, 2020

The Thankful Rest of Thanksgiving

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I’m surprised I get anything done! Luckily, the parent company of Multiple Sclerosis News Today is in the U.S., so I didn’t have to write this column last week, due ... Read more

November 20, 2020November 18, 2020

To Be Forewarned Is to Be Forearmed

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

My travails with MS invariably deal with what it does to me. This week, dear reader, it’s what I did to my jolly old self! I’ve got a daily light ... Read more

November 13, 2020November 12, 2020

Of Mice and Men (and MS Research)

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

The other day, I was watching an arts documentary instead of another repeat of a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was about John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” ... Read more

November 6, 2020November 5, 2020

45 Minutes in the Life of John Peter Connor

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I have two regular carers at the moment. The first to arrive greets me with her usual efficacious, “Good morning, John!” She’s loud enough to wake the whole street. Luckily, ... Read more

October 30, 2020October 29, 2020

The Long and Winding Road to My Urologist’s Door

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Last week’s column, “The Loneliness of the Long-distance UTI Patient,” dealt with my dive into the Eastern (bloc) world of bacteriophages. It would be a fun exercise (and boy, do ... Read more

October 23, 2020October 28, 2020

The Loneliness of the Long-distance UTI Patient

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

When did I first become aware of the word “phage”? “Star Trek,” of course! It was an episode about a disease that was destroying a race somewhere in the Delta ... Read more

October 16, 2020October 14, 2020

Resistance May Be Futile, but the Borg Taught Me Something

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

OK, you’re not all science fiction nuts, so I’ll explain: The Borg are a cybernetic race and the lead baddies in the “Star Trek” universe — or, the way the ... Read more

October 9, 2020October 7, 2020

Fighting the Beast

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

It was 3 p.m. last Thursday. Things should have been good. I had filed the copy for my previous column the day before. Ultimately, some of my outrageous musings had ... Read more

October 2, 2020September 30, 2020

Everything You Wanted to Know About Poo, but I Was Afraid to Write

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Eurgh! Poo is what I fear most at the moment. I thought turning this column into a diary was cool. Following the greats, such as John Diamond, who chronicled his ... Read more

September 25, 2020September 23, 2020

The Terrible 62s, or the Rage of the Non-toddler Adult

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

It’s usually best to write with time for reflection. I often feel like a foreign correspondent reporting from the front line of my own bedroom! The shells of multiple sclerosis ... Read more

September 18, 2020September 16, 2020

Like Iggy Says, ‘All Aboard for Funtime’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I’ve been a moderator at MS News Today Forums for a while. One of my jobs, besides rejecting the interminable bots that try to become members, is to promote interaction. ... Read more

September 11, 2020September 9, 2020

Turn It Off, Then On Again

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

There’s always something! As a columnist, that comes in handy, as then I don’t have to think too much. Stop snickering at the back for thinking that I never think. ... Read more

September 4, 2020September 2, 2020

Einstein Said Time Is Relative, but Not For This Relative

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Albert Einstein proved that the faster you go, the less you’ll age compared with those you left at home. This effect, however, is imperceptible unless you have the ability to ... Read more

August 28, 2020August 27, 2020

There’s No Business Like Show Business — Till There’s No Business

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In June, I wrote a column about accepting I’d have to physically retire from directing and producing my own stand-up stage show, “The Edge.” Now, because of that which cannot ... Read more

August 21, 2020August 19, 2020

‘Apocalypse Now’: I Love the Smell of Hashish in the Morning

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Helicopters were whirling in my brain. Turns out, it was a solitary police one. Though it was another hot night, my wife closed my windows in case of a prowler. ... Read more

August 14, 2020August 12, 2020

Relapse, Relapse, Relapse, Profanity, Relapse

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Maybe I should have called this one “Short and Sharp 2.” Yes, I’ve had another relapse, following my last one in May. I can no longer clean my own tail, ... Read more

August 7, 2020August 5, 2020

It Was a Lazy Sunday Afternoon — Not!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

It all started on the hottest day of the year here in the U.K. My phone said it was 99 F. An old friend was coming over, and my youngest ... Read more

July 31, 2020July 29, 2020

The Mouth That Roared and Roared

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Strap in: This is not going to be a fun one. Even less so for me — though I’m writing this under the sort of drug load that Jack Kerouac ... Read more

July 24, 2020July 22, 2020

The Joy of Joining the ‘Downton Abbey’ Set

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

For an espoused leftie, you might be surprised that I’ve always had the brush of the rugged individualist about me. Not quite Bear Grylls, but grabbing a rucksack and hitching ... Read more

July 17, 2020July 16, 2020

It’s a Matter of Timing and Mic Technique

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In the U.K., stand-up comedy is currently dead. Like Python’s parrot, it “wouldn’t move if you put 4,000 volts through it!” That’s not strictly true. Our government has just stumped ... Read more

July 10, 2020July 8, 2020

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Woman

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In this case, the woman in question was yet again my wife, Jane. The hour in question was 4 p.m. on my usual day of writing. But on this day, ... Read more

July 6, 2020July 16, 2020

Here Comes the Sun, and It’s All Too Much

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Yup, it’s the annual whinge about what heat does to most of us, this time livened up by a headline that includes two Beatles’ song titles. (Yes, I did have ... Read more

June 26, 2020June 24, 2020

A Morning With No Opera but Enough for a Small Choir!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Last Wednesday my days of rest suddenly smashed to a halt. At one point it seemed like the majority of those who work for my local council’s social services (whom ... Read more

June 19, 2020June 17, 2020

All Quiet on the MS Front

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

It hasn’t been that quiet in my surrounding world! Last week there was a crow fight so loud in our back garden that it echoed down the chimney into the ... Read more

June 12, 2020June 10, 2020

So, Where Do I Start?

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Ah, it’s not the blank page that all writers fear that I’m worried about. Those days have long left me. Now it’s applying the discipline to stop! When I first ... Read more

June 5, 2020June 3, 2020

Retirement: My Very Own Blackstar

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

“At the center of it all” is the dignity of allowing myself to retire with grace. And it only took a world-shattering event to get me to come to my ... Read more