Jim'll Fix It
A comedian with no country, Jimeoin talks Australia, returning to Ireland and why Johnny Rotten is better than Gandhi...
Craig Fitzpatrick, 05 Oct 2012
That sense of disconnect as a youngster had a large impact on his life. It also meant he connected completely with the punk movement. Music, more so than comedy, informs who he is.
“Yeah I was massively into punk. Johnny Rotten was my first comedian. It was 1976, at the height of the Troubles, when ‘God Save The Queen’ came out. We thought that was the funniest thing. People talk about Gandhi, who ever talks about the Sex Pistols? Equally as alternative as Gandhi. A non-aggressive stance.”
Better punchlines too. I’ve always felt Gandhi’s timing and delivery was severely lacking.
“I know a lot of solo musicians that really wanted to be a stand-up. Simply because when people come to your stand-up gig, they listen. Whereas these musicians are in pubs playing acoustic songs and it’s just fodder for conversation. People talking rather than listening. But then, on the music side of it, that was the thing as a kid, wanting to be in a band.”
He’s a content family man but... who does he reckon gets more groupies – comedians or musicians?
“Well...” he ventures cautiously. “I was at a Mighty Boosh show – and I’m not name-dropping! – but I was with David Walliams and he was going, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this!’ And he’s coming from Little Britain fame. So the girl hysteria at The Mighty Boosh was certainly something. I enjoyed the fun of it all, it’s just daft. They’re daft as brushes.”
In general, however, Jimeoin prefers the company of non-comedians. He reckons the funniest stuff comes from his kids.
“Everyone’s funny. Stand-ups can be quite disrespectful to people who aren’t stand-ups. I remember seeing a comic dismissing someone, going, ‘He’s not a stand-up’. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
If his material isn’t stemming from observing the everyman, it’s playing on life’s embarrassments. Though, he reckons, moments of personal mortification are getting rarer these days.
“I think I’ve moved on from when I used to think I was cool a wee bit recently. Which I think is a good thing. I still get embarrassed but now I can take it on the chin. You see it a lot as you get older... that dignity goes!”
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