May 4, 2016 Theatre
Yeehaa! might appear to have a western theme, but really it’s only the slightest whiff. Once the cowboy hat comes off and the square dancing stops, Jimeoin returns to his quintessential self as the purveyor of universal truisms. Discussing everything from comedy show etiquette to coming home hungry and drunk, he shares his wry observations in a sing-song manner to which the audience replies with uproarious laughter. The audience, of course, are never far from Irishman’s mind. SkyCity Theatre might be the largest venue in the festival, but Jimeoin still notices every laugh, gasp, and chortle—and he’s not afraid to point them out.
Despite being the lone man on stage in front of over a hundred people, Jimeoin excels in the conversational. He sheds light on daily inanities (no scathing punchlines here) by voicing his amused stream of consciousness. The most trivial subjects expand into minutes of entertainment. How many challenges are there to drinking a good cup of tea? Quite a few, apparently.
Sprinkled with the odd undercooked joke, stop-gaps of confusion are largely brushed off with a shrug and a smile. His brand of comedy might lack the edge and punch modern audiences are accustomed to, but it still does the trick. He invites us to laugh at ourselves with jovial affability, and on a weekday night, that surely can’t be a bad thing.
Yeehaa!, 2-7 May, SKYCITY Theatre, Book tickets.
