Famous Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket relived his successful showbiz career in a recent article in a British national newspaper.
The feature, written by Tony Padman, appeared in the magazine section of last Saturday’s Daily Express.
Daybreak presenter Gethin Jones (left) with Billy Fury tribute act Colin Gold (centre) and JimmyCricket
Jimmy Cricket returned to the “small screen” today.
The famous Irish comedian, who has made many television appearances over the past few decades and had his own series on Central Television in the mid-1980s called And There’s More, appeared live on ITV’s breakfast show, Daybreak.
Alongside him were fellow entertainers in Sentimental Journey, the family extravaganza running at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, East Sussex, from 1 May to 26 September.
Jimmy said: “Today the Olympic Torch journeyed through the town of Eastbourne.
“Daybreak had both weather and magazine inserts broadcast live from the resort to mark not only the torch event, but to also feature the British seaside resort as we head into the school summer holidays.”
The presenter who interviewed Jimmy was Daybreak’s Gethin Jones who was previously on the BBC’s Blue Peter. He joined the breakfast show back in May this year.
Jimmy, who told a couple of jokes live on air, was introduced by Gethin as “the legend that is Jimmy Cricket”.
Watch Jimmy with Gethin on Daybreak here.
* Performances for Sentimental Journey are at 8.15 each Tuesday and Wednesday night throughout the summer. Tickets cost £12 and £17 – go here for more information.
Jimmy Cricket on ITV's Daybreak with singers Colin Gold and Tracy Lea (Connie Francis tribute act)
Jimmy Cricket has been trying his hand at tennis – or an unlikely mixture of tennis and cricket! – ahead of an international sports tournament.
The Aegon International at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne starts on Monday (18 June) and for many top tennis players is an annual warm-up for Wimbledon which begins the following week.
Former world number one Andy Roddick is one of the names appearing at this year’s Aegon International after the 2003 US Open champion was knocked out of the current tournament at Queen’s Club in the second round.
Comedy legend Cricket, who is currently starring in the variety show Sentimental Journey at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre on Seaside Road every Tuesday and Wednesday until 26 September, could not resist a trip to Eastbourne Sports Park to see what happens when Cricket met tennis!
The Irish funnyman larked about for the cameras with his trademark wellies (on the wrong feet of course). His jovial banter lit up the huge all-weather tennis centre situated at Cross Levels Way, Eastbourne.
Sentimental Journey is a traditional, family friendly variety show, which has been playing at the delightful ‘hidden gem’ of a theatre since May. Audiences and critics have been enjoying the show and delighting in Jimmy’s hilarious routines which feature an array of ridiculous props, stories and jokes.
And “there’s more” as the cast also includes music from Colin Gold as Billy Fury, Tracey Lea as Connie Francis with comedy from Mike Lee and Barry Moon, plus the Showtime Dancers.
Tickets are priced at £17 – to book call the box office on 01323 412000 or go online here.
Eastbourne Sports Park is a collaborative project between Eastbourne Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, Sussex Downs College, Park College and Sport England.
All photos for this story courtesy of Peter Gurr.
Famous comedian Jimmy Cricket has been pictured sleeping on a park bench as part of a campaign to raise awareness about homelessness.
The Rochdale-based funnyman wanted to support the local ‘Chill-Out’ campaign in the town.
The Chill-out group has been concerned about cuts by the Labour-led council which would have see emergency bed provision for the homeless cut from about 500 beds to around 160 and plan their own mass ‘sleep-out’ at Rochdale Town Hall.
Those cuts would also see the introduction of a ‘Dial-a-Bed’ policy for those seeking emergency accommodation.
The Chill-Out group is apolitical but has attracted support from politicians of all parties, including Labour, plus others including concerned members of the public and medical staff.
Its protest was set for Tuesday 29 May to coincide with Rochdale Council’s cabinet meeting with the intention to raise the profile of the issue through peaceful action. Supporters of the campaign were due to meet outside the Town Hall and sleep overnight in tents to highlight the plight of the homeless.
Jimmy read an article in the local Rochdale Observer and thought the ‘sleep-out’ was a great idea.
Unfortunately, it clashes with his summer season at Eastbourne, but he still wanted to show his support so he decided to get a photo of himself sleeping on a park bench in the middle of Rochdale Town Centre!
The night before these photos were taken, Rochdale Council made a number of concessions in relationto its homeless policy in response to the ‘Chill-Out’ campaign.
These pictures are now going to be used for a slightly different purpose because instead of raising awareness, they are now going to be used to highlight this change in approach from Rochdale Council.
Jimmy with the two leaders of the Chill-Out campaign - Peter Hinchcliffe and Shirley Kennedy - alongside group member and former Rochdale Cllr, Jean Ashworth
Jimmy Cricket's car was written off after being badly damaged by a falling tree
Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket suffered more than just a bit of car trouble only 48 hours before he was due to begin his summer show in Eastbourne.
The vehicle which he and his wife May use for travelling to entertainment venues all over the UK was extensively damaged during bad weather near their home in Rochdale.
“We had a good opening night in Eastbourne, although two days before on the Sunday heavy winds brought a tree down on top of our car which was parked outside the house on the edge of Healey Dell Nature Reserve,” said Jimmy.
“It was a write-off and since then we’ve been driving around in hired cars. Thank God we weren’t in it.”
Jimmy Cricket is starring in a “royal” variety show in Eastbourne to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year.
Sentimental Journey is on at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, East Sussex, from 1 May to 26 September.
Jimmy Cricket’s appearance in a family entertainment extravaganza at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, East Sussex, this summer has hit the headlines.
The loveable Irish comedian features in two big stories about the show.
One is on the Eastbourne Herald website and here is an excerpt from the article:
Over the last few years Eastbourne has begun to finally shake free of its historic tag as a pensioner’s paradise but this summer one corner of the Sunshine Coast will be proudly plonking itself well and truly inside a time warp.
Having opened way back in 1883, the Royal Hippodrome Theatre has played host to stars of the stage as diverse as Peter Sellers, Ken Dodd, Vera Lynn and even escape artists extraordinaire Harry Houdini.
But despite surviving an unfair roasting from Sir Bruce Forsyth, who publicly laid into the venue’s facilities during an interview – he was starring at the Hippodrome when he was called up to compere at the London Palladium – the much-loved theatre has fallen on hard times.
Where once it staged regular shows, attracting sell-out crowds of more than 1,000 all year round, now the bill is limited to the summer months and played out in front of audiences which are often far more modest.
This summer though, the powers that be are hoping for a return to the halcyon days of yesteryear as the venue once again gears up for its summer variety show – the longest running of its type anywhere in the UK.
A Sentimental Journey kicks off on May 1 and runs all the way up until the end of September and boasts an array of acts ready to tread the boards in what promises to be a fun-filled and nostalgia twinged trip back to the 1950s and 60s – a time when variety ruled the world and places like the Hippodrome attracted the biggest stars in the businesses.
The line-up includes a Billy Fury tribute act who blossomed after an appearance on hit TV show Stars in Their Eyes and a team of show time dancers who will no doubt high kick their way through some of the popular numbers from yesteryear.
Comperes Barry Moon and Mike Lee will keep things ticking over with their mix of conversation and comedy while Tracey Lea appears as the much-loved Connie Francis.
Top of the bill and very much the main attraction though is a man perhaps best known for his letters from his mammy and an inability to tell his left from his right.
Jimmy Cricket has been charming crowds since first stepping onto a Butlins stage as a 18-year-old red coat back in 1966. England may have been winning the World Cup, but over the sea in the small Irish town of Mosney a young comic was developing a winning formula which would carry him through the next four decades and see him leave an indelible print on the comedy consciousness of all who saw him.
And Jimmy is also mentioned prominently in a feature on Whatsonstage.com, which says it is “Britain’s biggest and best theatre and performing arts website”.
The story is about Eastbourne’s Royal Hippodrome opening its doors again May with a five-month run of a new summer season show called Sentimental Journey – in which Jimmy will be starring.
Here is a section from the story:
The summer show, which is being produced to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, is a family variety show appropriately called Sentimental Journey. This will take you on a journey back to the time of the coronation (1953) with Stars in Their Eyes contestants Colin Gold as Billy Fury and Tracy Lea, as Connie Francis. The show will also have its own Show Time Dancers and alternating compères Barry Moon and Mike Lee. Headlining is a man who has been described as “one of the greatest front of tabs comedians” and family favourite, Jimmy Cricket.
I had an opportunity to talk to Jimmy about the show and the theatre in which it plays.
“This is the Cinderella theatre in Eastbourne and the fact that it could have closed makes me weep. I’ve gone out on a limb sometimes, when I see other theatres closing, and I have had irate letters back from some councillors asking why I am butting in, but I can’t just stand by and watch them go under.
“I was here three or four years ago. I stood in for Syd Little for a few nights in the summer when he had other commitments, and when I had the greasepaint on and I got the smell of the theatre in my nostrils I knew I wanted to come back. It’s wonderful to be here for a real summer season, with a time-honoured and classic variety show.”
Photos on this page supplied by Peter Gurr
Jimmy and the rest of the Eastbourne show entertainers
The family variety summer show will take the audience on a nostalgic trip
Jimmy Cricket is starring in a “royal” variety show this summer to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year.
The family entertainment extravaganza, Sentimental Journey, is at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, East Sussex, from 1 May to 26 September.
And it will take the audience on a nostalgic trip back to the 1960s and beyond.
Jimmy will be joined by fellow comedians Barry Moon and Mike Lee, world-renowned tribute acts Colin Gold and Tracy Lea – who perform as Billy Fury and Connie Francis respectively – and the Show Time Dancers.
Colin, who starred on ITV’s Stars in Their Eyes, has gone on to become one of the most experienced and acclaimed Billy Fury acts in the world. Halfway to Paradise was one of Fury’s best-known songs.
Stars in Their Eyes was a British television talent show that was screened on Saturday nights from 21 July 1990 to 23 December 2006 and in which contestants impersonated showbiz stars.
Connie Francis’ greatest hits included Who’s Sorry Now, Lipstick on Your Collar and Stupid Cupid.
Performances are at 8.15 each night. Tickets cost £12 and £17 – go here for more information.