May 17, 2013 Theatre
SkyCity Theatre
May 16, 2013
I had last seen Jimeoin perform at the comedy festival in the late 1990s, which was the last time it was acceptable to wear cargo pants, but there he was last night, back in them.
He mocked himself for it, saying he didn’t really have ‘a look’ at the moment and didn’t feel especially comfortable with what he was wearing, but still, there they were. There was really no getting around it.
It might sound trivial but it’s actually not because there is a serious question here about the importance of moving with the times. Can you still be relevant doing observational stand-up decades after you started doing observational stand-up?
It also seemed that Jimeoin may have had some upper teeth missing. I have no verification, but his performance seemed gummy at times.
Last night’s show was blighted by a crowd sprinkled liberally with dickheads. One woman in the first few rows continually yelled stupid comments and ‘jokes’ and one unfunny idiot made multiple fart noises. But worse, there seemed to be a cultural acceptance of coming and going. At one stage, a group of four men in front of me left, only to come back a couple of minutes later. What were they doing? What could have required a group visit in the middle of a one-hour comedy show?
I had never seen such a dick crowd and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was endemic to Jimeoin shows. Do people see cargo pants and assume anything goes?
I can’t remember the jokes Jimeoin made in the 90s but I would guess they were probably about going out drinking and trying to have sex with girls. Last night’s jokes were more domestic, about things like coming home drunk and trying to have sex with your wife.
He also did a lot of miming and some very good musical comedy. He read briefly from his humour journal and even told a joke. It was solid, reliable stuff. That’s not a criticism. You knew you were going to laugh and sometimes quite a lot. People go on about new, edgy comedians but, you know what? Sometimes edgy ends in disaster. Jimeoin is never going to end in disaster. He’ll probably still be around in 20 years, even gummier, just as funny, and cargo pants will be back in.
