Geoff Thompson is a retired bouncer, martial artist, author, playwright, screenwriter and philosopher. We discuss childhood trauma, violence, the martial arts, ownership, writing, Chuck Norris, emotional growth and much more.
Geoff’s first book, Watch My Back, detailing his experiences working as a nightclub bouncer in Coventry for over a decade, hit the Sunday Times bestsellers list, was made into a stage play, adapted to a BAFTA nominated short film starring Ray Winstone, and a BIFA nominated motion picture for cinema. He has also written articles for national magazines and broadsheets, including The Times, Men’s Fitness (former columnist), GQ and FHM.
His work as a playwright started when he was invited to join The Royal Court Young Writers Group. He has gone onto write many successful plays that have toured nationally. His musical We’ll Live and Die in These Towns was produced and performed to great acclaim at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in 2018. He is also a BAFTA winning screenwriter, penning multi-award winning films for luminaries such as Ray Winstone, Paddy Considine, Orlando Bloom, Maxine Peake, Anne Reid, Alison Steadman and James Cosmo. Geoff Thompson is one of the world’s highest ranking (8th dan) martial arts teachers.
The prestigious Black Belt Magazine USA polled him as the most influential martial artist in the world since Bruce Lee. He lives in Coventry, West Midlands and has written over forty books. Some of his work in the self-help genre has been published in 21 languages and has appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list several times.
