Jimeoin
Jimeoin is a true comedy legend. Nearly three decades after Australia first fell in love, his ability to boil an audience down to a tear-filled, gibbering mess is stronger than ever. Anna Dowd caught up with consummate comic to discuss accents, eyebrows and the health benefits of group laughter.
The Top End has been on your touring route for many years now, any good yarns that have made it into the dinner party repertoire?
I could write a book on my travels in the NT, they stretch back 30 years. We booked a show based on the tides once so we could go fishing. I hired a 4WD and nearly hit a horse and had plenty of close contact with crocodiles on the Mary River. I’ve done shows as far out as Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt and just had a lot of fun up there.
Well Darwin is certainly always thrilled to have you back. What’s the flavour of your latest Turn It Up! tour?
I don’t have strong messages or opinions – trying to have a good laugh and gettin’ people to laugh is as much as I want from it. I don’t stay on any topic too long, laugh at my own shortcomings and about how laughing can be harder to come by as you get older. Some people seem to laugh a lot and some people stop laughing totally. It’s no small thing. But you feel like laughing collectively when you’re in a group, that’s the benefit of a live show. Like you don’t laugh as much if you’re watching comedy on TV, but if you’re with others and can feel the joy in the room, that’s what you’re aiming for.
I read that you didn’t really know what stand-up was when you first tried it arriving in Melbourne in your 20s?
The first time I saw it, I’d already done it! I thought it was just telling jokes. I was very naïve, certainly no scholar of it obviously. I knew what Billy Connelly was but didn’t really understand there was a whole world of people that did this. That was to my benefit really, I found my own voice right away because I was just being myself. And for the first time in my life, my accent, being a strong Northern Ireland one, was a positive.
Yeah I was throwing your name around with some friends to see what first came to mind, and the accent was at the top, followed closely by your eyebrows!
Yeah my eyebrows have been very beneficial to me. That’s really just another direct result of my accent, where you had to just really sell what you were saying with your face. You see that look of confusion on people’s faces when you’ve just opened your mouth. You wouldn’t want to have my accent here and be carjacking or anything, like, “get out of the car!” or “give me your money!” without some good facial expressions.
What’s it like to look back on 30 years of doing comedy as a job?
It’s nice to have moment like that to reflect. So much of life is just gettin’ on with it. I’ve a lot of gratitude for having this life in stand-up, and such a great country to do it in.
Grab your tickets while they're hot for a night of serious laughter therapy with one of the best stand-up comics of this generation.
Jimeoin Turn it Up!
WHEN SAT 31 JUL | 8PM
AT DARWIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
COST $59 | $54 CONC | $54 GROUP 6+
INFO yourcentre.com.au
