WHEN SEAN Hughes played the National Stadium as part of the Liffey Laugh Comedy Festival, the number of young females screaming variations on the *Get your kit off* theme suggested that comedy had, as predicted, become a gateway to the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle for those who don't wish to go through the laborious process of actually playing rock and roll.
Jimeoin, who made his debut Irish appearance supporting Sean that night, doesn't quite fit into this category - he originally aspired to being a musician, but found that being funny came far more naturally to him. *I was never really interested in comedy in school,* he admits. *I always wanted to be in a band, I wanted to pursue that but it never happened.
*The first time I ever saw live comedy was the night I performed it. I went along to a pub one Monday night in Sydney and there was this try-out session where anyone can get up. That was the start of it.*
Jimeoin was born in Northern Ireland and
has been resident in Australia for the past few years, where he's become a television luminary and hugely successful stand-up comic. His reasons for moving were eminently sensible ones: *There's good weather, and it doesn't have the class structure problem that England has.
*I was living in London and working on a building site,* he adds. *I'd been there four years and was really sick of it, sick to the teeth. A friend of mine got deported from Australia and he was devastated about getting sent back to horrible London, so on the basis of what he said I headed over there. I went for a year's working holiday and liked it that much I applied for residency because I had no intention of coming back to London.
*That was the start of it really. I stayed and ended up doing comedy after a couple of years, and once I started doing comedy it took off rather quickly.*
Is there any difficulty selling the Irish sense of humour to the Australian market?
*Not at all, their sense of humour is really very similar. The only place that is a wee bit different is America - they seem to have a different sense of comedy - but in Australia comedy seems to go down very well in so far as they like the subtleties of the Irish and English.
*I don't like America really, it's quite interesting from a comedy point of view, they're at saturation point there and every word is sacred. It's all about television and Hollywood and everyone just takes it a little bit too seriously for my liking. I much prefer the relaxed, laid back feeling you get over here.
*Some of the best comedians in the world are American, but as a percentage of the number of comedians that there are over there, it's shit, it stinks to high heaven. I really like Bill Hicks. I saw him in Australia and worked with him once before. And I like Jimmy Tingle, but in general I just don't like their attitude towards comedy.*
It must be a strange sensation for someone
like Jimeoin, who has achieved national popularity in Australia to come back to virtual anonymity in his own home country.
*It's nice to get away from it, you know?* he says. *I get recognised over in Australia and it's nice to start again. Nobody's every heard of me here and they've got no expectations, and you get more of a cult following when you start out, with people saying 'That guy's good and I've never heard of him before'. In that sense it's good.
*It's another frontier to conquer, so I like that change. It's something to work to - not that being recognised is what it's all about, but I don't want to do what I do in America, so here is the only place outside Australia I really want to perform in.*
His television appearances, including a role in a sitcom, are frequent but, he says, *I don't really enjoy it to be quite honest. TV's a very hard medium to work. I like doing a spot from time to time, but it's quite an odd thing. I much prefer to do live comedy.*
What did he think of the *Sean's Show* series?
*I really enjoy Sean's stuff, thoroughly. The fact is that Sean is a very good comedian. If you do try to please everyone you just end up falling short and pleasing no-one, so I think the true test is that some people don't like it. That's fair enough, that has to be expected. A lot of people don't like what I do but that's just the way it goes.
*I suppose what I do would be sort of similar - it's very fringe alternative sort of comedy - although I'd like to think I was original at the same time. I certainly wouldn't use the same sort of subjects. Sean's probably better educated than I am,' he laughs, *I've a more whimsical point of view on things. My thoughts are just bizarre bin thoughts and stories.*
Jimeoin's comedy revolves around everyday
dilemmas, like falling asleep on trains and waking up miles from anywhere. *That's actually happened to me more than once, I tell you. I spent the whole day on the train because I fell asleep, and then I had to get a taxi from the station when I got back again because all the other trains had stopped running.
*I'd probably make a very good investigator. I'm terrible with names, but I'm very observant with things that people do, and I could probably tell just looking at people where they live and what sort of person they are. I really try and pick up on those things, y'know. I really hone in on little things in people's lives, but it's something you work at from a comedy point of view. The more I can get from the truth the more I get into it. I find comedy like confessions to me.*
Jimeoin's resolve to *have a go at everything* has led to the release of his debut album *Goin' Off*, a blend of comedy and original songs, including - it was only a matter of time - a rap version of *Danny Boy*, called *Danny Man*.
*I'm gonna try and combine music and comedy. A lot of people have advised me against it but I'll just see how it goes.*
Other projects recently completed include an intriguing comedy-cooking show and a documentary about *comedy-on-the-road*. A solo Irish tour takes place this month, with dates scheduled for the Project Theatre in Dublin on July 23rd and 24th.
It's smaller than the Stadium admittedly, but it's only the beginning here, and as Jimeoin remarks philosophically, *It doesn't really matter the size of the venue as long as the audience is there and you can get their attention.*