Na lange tijd gewerkt te hebben in ‘men’s clubs’ en andere cabaret gelegenheden verkreeg hij populariteit op de TV, special als gastheer van in de quiz show Blankety Blank.

In mining a vein of determinedly glum humour, full of derogatory references to wives and mothers-in-law, Dawson was a natural successor to bygone exponents of northern working-class comedy. However, his best routines possessed qualities of verbal elaboration and near-surreal fantasy.