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A door from Saudi Arabia – in Chipping Sodbury! 150 150 mhamer

A door from Saudi Arabia – in Chipping Sodbury!
Jimmy Cricket with the Moda House Hotel owners, Jo and Duncan, in front of the door from Saudi Arabia

Jimmy with hotel owners Jo & Duncan in front of the Saudi Arabian door

Jimmy Cricket encountered an unusual hotel door during his stay in south  Gloucestershire for the 2014 Chipping Sodbury Festival.

Promotional flyer for the 2014 Chipping Sodbury Festival

The famous entertainer was one of the featured performers for this year’s festival at Chipping Sodbury’s impressive Town Hall.

The organisers of the festival also arranged for Jimmy and his wife, May, to stay overnight at the nearby Moda House Hotel on the High Street in the market town.

Hotel owners Jo and Duncan have a door which is their pride and joy because it has been shipped over from Saudi Arabia. In fact, it cost more for the door to be shipped over to England than for the item itself!

So why the fascination with this attractive feature located within the hotel dining room? Well, Duncan was a hotel manager in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, so the door is a keepsake for both him and his wife to remember their time in the country.

Going local for new publicity photos 150 150 mhamer

Going local for new publicity photos

Jimmy Cricket’s Madcap Music Hall show

Rochdale-based comedian Jimmy Cricket, who has one of the town’s most recognisable faces, shopped local for his latest batch of publicity shots.

Jimmy is currently devising a new touring show for 2015 and a pilot version of the idea was launched several weeks ago at a theatre in Blackburn.

The show is entitled Jimmy Cricket’s Madcap Music Hall show and has his trademark antics all over it.

To assist with the future promotion of the show, Jimmy needed to get some publicity shots done.

And the Belfast-born entertainer went to photography business Norden Design, which is owned by Graham Sivills.

When approached about a photo shoot, Graham did not think twice about getting involved. Jimmy then gathered a few  friends together, including his son Dale, who works at his office, to dress up as mock cast members so the photo would appear action-filled.

Jimmy said: “When I thought I needed some new photos, I could not think of a better man than Graham at Norden Design.

“I have known Graham for a number of years and it was good to support a local business which offers everything a national studio chain does.

“The outfit at Norden Design studio is really professional – plus Graham has this great ability to take some marvellous photographs, while at the same time having some light -hearted banter and putting everyone at ease.

“I am really pleased with the images, which I’ll now use as part of the artwork and promotional material for this show for next year.”

Fergie favourite is latest Wellie winner 150 150 mhamer

Fergie favourite is latest Wellie winner

One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s favourite entertainers has won Jimmy Cricket’s latest Golden Wellington award.

Eric Devereaux has had a stellar career as a compere and male vocalist, his notable stints during the cabaret heyday of the 60s and 70s including being a host at iconic venues such as Cadishead Conservative club  in Salford.

Jimmy Cricket presents Eric Devereaux with the golden Wellington award

Jimmy presents Eric with the Welly award

He was good friends with Hughie Green – the legendary presenter of Opportunity Knocks – and was well-known on the Greater Manchester club circuit, with close ties to comedian Bernard Manning and impressionist Mike Yarwood among others.

Eric continues to be one of the favourite performers of Sir Alex, to the point where he has become an annual fixture for the former Manchester United manager’s birthday celebrations each year.

He moved to Norden in Rochdale to retire a few years ago, having been based for most of his life in Failsworth.

Rochdale-based comedian Jimmy presented the June Golden Welly award to Eric for a lifetime in showbusiness during one of  jam night concerts which he arranges every other month at St Vincent’s RC Parish Centre in Norden.

Eric is also one of the organisers of an informal northern network of performers who get together periodically to socialise over lunch at the Royal Toby restaurant in Castleton, Rochdale.

The network, known as the Wooden Hut club, has over the past five years attracted the likes of Jimmy, Buzz Hawkins, Smug Roberts, Bernie Clifton, Arthur Bostrum, Freddy ‘Parrot face’ Davies, Johnny Casson, Andy Prior, Graham Grumbleweed and many more notable entertainers.

Jimmy said: “Eric is so deserving of a recognition of his talents and of the wonderful career in showbusiness he’s had over the years.

“I just wanted to acknowledge this in my own way. In fact, the award was only a small part of the evening and the main focus was an interview I conducted with Eric that lasted the entire second half of the concert!

“This chat was a tremendous trip down memory lane. Everyone present was just amazed at the stories Eric told and also wowed by the photos he brought along to prove what a remarkable life story he has and continues to have.”

Reunion with fan after nearly 30 years 150 150 mhamer

Reunion with fan after nearly 30 years

Jimmy Cricket recently caught up with a fan almost three decades after they first met.

Jimmy Cricket with Lisa Roberts in Corby

When the famous entertainer was performing at the Viking Club in Corby, Northamptonshire, in the audience was Lisa Roberts and her husband Elio.

Lisa has a tale to tell that dates back a long time…

When she was six years old, her family had a holiday in the Devon resort of Torquay, during which her parents bought tickets to see Jimmy in his summer show at the Princess Theatre.

Unfortunately Lisa was ill at the time and so the family could not go and see Jimmy in action.Jimmy Cricket with Lisa in Torquay But as Lisa was a big fan, a couple of days later the family ventured down to the theatre’s stage door to see if they could catch a glimpse of Jimmy after the show. As Jimmy was leaving the theatre, he spotted them and went over to say hello.

Jimmy gave Lisa an autograph and they had their picture taken together (left).

And, nearly 30 years later, they had their reunion in Corby – and, of course, another photograph (above right)!

Lisa has been a nanny for 18 years and a maternity nurse for 10. Six years ago, when she was based in Tenerife, she set up her own business called Tenerife Childcare.

She moved back to the UK seven months ago and now runs the business from her home in Northamptonshire. She has 10 qualified nannies from Britain working in Tenerife for her.

A special visit from Dublin-based Irish TV 150 150 mhamer

A special visit from Dublin-based Irish TV
Jimmy Cricket and Martin Logan were filmed for Irish TV

Jimmy and Martin were filmed in Rochdale for the Irish TV relaunch…

Jimmy Cricket got a special visit from Irish TV to his home in Rochdale recently.

The Belfast-born entertainer was among several celebrities from around the Manchester area to be filmed as part of a relaunch by the satellite channel.

Irish TV camerman

… and meet the cameraman!

Irish TV, which is aimed at an audience based in Ireland and the overseas ex-pats market, has a Manchester-based presenter called Martin Logan. Jimmy has previously appeared with Martin on  the station.

The channel has just had a relaunch in Dublin which will see Martin present a new programme from Manchester each week.

To mark the occasion, Martin asked some Manchester-based celebrities with an Irish connection to wish the channel all the very best for the future.

So Martin came to Jimmy’s home in late April with his cameraman and they filmed some footage of the funnyman being his usual comical self.

Award for 22-year-old with ‘miraculous talent’ 150 150 mhamer

Award for 22-year-old with ‘miraculous talent’
Jimmy Cricket awards the Golden Wellington to Martin Finn, whose dad John watches on

Jimmy gives the Golden Wellington award to Martin as dad John watches

A young man described as having “remarkable ability” by famous entertainer Jimmy Cricket is the May winner of the Golden Wellington award.

Martin Finn,  from Atherton near Wigan in Greater Manchester, is  22 years old and suffers from autism, a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people.

Jimmy said: “Martin’s condition is so significant that it prevents him from speaking in sentences.

“However, he has a miraculous talent of not only being able to remember song lyrics after listening to them, but a tremendous vocal gift of being able to sing these songs with great prowess.”

When Jimmy heard about Martin, he invited him to one of his jam nights at St Vincent’s RC parish centre in Norden, Rochdale.

Martin not only wowed everyone present during the evening with his great singing talent, but Jimmy used the opportunity to present him with the Golden Wellington monthly award.

Jimmy added: “There has been much recent interest in Martin. As his parents originally hail from the Ireland, he is about to appear on RTE – Ireland’s national TV channel – and in particular on their flagship chat show called The Late Late Show [the longest-running programme of its kind in the world].

“There is also a fundraising quest currently active to raise enough money for Martin to record his own CD.”

Teaming up with ‘Demis Roussos’! 150 150 mhamer

Teaming up with ‘Demis Roussos’!

 Jimmy Cricket with fan Susan Barnes at the Jimmy & Alfie ShowA Demis Roussos impersonation was part of the entertainment when Jimmy Cricket joined up with fellow comedian Alfie Joey.

The Jimmy & Alfie Show took place at the Customs House Theatre in South Shields  last month.

Alfie has a real Tyneside connection as not only was he born in the region, he is also the current presenter of BBC Radio Newcastle’s breakfast show.

The show was well-received and Alfie even did an impersonation of Artemios ‘Demis’ Ventouris Roussos, a Greek singer who had a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1970s. His most famous single was Forever And Ever which topped the charts in several countries.

Jimmy said: “I was happy to spend some time after the show meeting and greeting those who were in attendance and was thrilled to have a chat with Susan Barnes.” (pictured above right).