Review: Jim Jefferies and Pete Cain – Middlesbrough Town Hall Crypt
Jim Jefferies
Snow may have been bringing the region to its knees over the past week but while many other events and services are being cancelled the Jim Jefferies tour perseveres. On Thursday Jefferies brought Alcoholocaust to Middlesbrough’s Town Hall Crypt. He certainly managed to pull in the punters too, somewhat surprisingly given the weather conditions and emptiness of the streets outside. Perhaps Middlesbrough needed a laugh to shake the early winter blues.
Jefferies’ support act Pete Cain got the ball rolling with some taster jokes trying to gauge the audience and weed out the punters clearly not suited to the night of comedy that lay ahead. Cain set the tone perfectly for the rest of the gig with his liberal use of the ‘c-bomb’ at the top of the show and had some interesting ideas on how to deal with topical issues such as immigration.
But after a short beer break Jim Jefferies took to the stage, oddly sporting a thick black moustache. Immediatly, he explained how this show centres around his decision to quit drinking himself. Jefferies’ delivery is flawlessly bold and confident, at ease with his audience at all times, taking them through the journey of his interweaving stories at his own pace (aside for a couple of punters determined to stick their oar in).
Jefferies’ material and subject matter is often the cause of outrage, and understandably so when talking about issues close to the bone such as Madeleine McCann, a name which still makes a collective comedy audience wince and take a sharp inhale of breath with her mere mention. However over the years Jefferies’ angry, shouting, outrageous Aussie stage persona has had a transition into an unmistakably likeable and at times charming character in the perception of his punters.
He certainly has aspects of a working class hero about him, for his unashamed and unafraid comedy – Jefferies has a tendency to tell it like it is, or sometimes how it really shouldn’t be. Even his routines on breaking Hollywood and the benefits of doing so doesn’t set him apart from his audience, largely due to his personality and the self deprecation in parts of his work.
Truly inspiring tales of sex, life as a comic and a particular favourite routine involving a disabled friend of Jefferies’ asserts his position as one of the great storytellers in British comedy working today. Although you’re not likely to see Jim Jefferies doing the rounds on the panel shows or breaking BBC prime time any time soon, you’d be really hard pressed to find a better live act performing solo tours in small theatres and large venues in the UK right now.
Jim Jefferies is still touring ‘Alcoholocaust’ throughout December finishing with a residency at London’s Leicester Square Theatre. Find out more about the tour here. You can also catch him at the Whitley Bay Playhouse on Tuesday December 7th, details of which can be found here.
Jim’s DVD ‘Alcoholocaust – Live In London’ is available to buy now and has been reviewed by Giggle Beats here.
