Review – Jimeoin: What?!

If you haven’t been to see Jimeoin since his TV show in the nineties, you can be assured that not much has changed. That ‘observational’ style comedy about everyday stuff was really popular back then: Seinfeld was still enjoying premiere broadcasts and here in Australia, we embraced this smiling Irish ex-pat, making us laugh about nothing in particular. Seinfeld is still enjoyed by new generations today and while Jimeoin doesn’t enjoy that same level of global syndication, it does ensure he can fill some pretty big venues on an international stand-up tour.

For those with memories a little fuzzy concerning the TV material, Jimeoin is also a very self-referential comedian and explains his show and his jokes as part of his act. We’re told to expect quite a bit of mime as well. Some of these aspects are a little different to contemporary comedians, but it’s still very funny, even when you’ve seen some of it over fifteen years ago. While his style & observations still ring true, the man himself has aged & jokes are from the point of view of a middle-aged married guy with kids, rather than the playboy gadabout persona of a younger comedian. This means a lot of his jokes are at his wife’s expense, which harks back to really old-fashioned comedians from the middle of last century.

The cruel streak aimed at his family aside, Jimeoin delivers a show of very likeable stand-up that reminds us why his observational comedy is still as funny as it was in the nineties.