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jimmy cricket

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).

Events that helped make Jimmy famous 150 150 mhamer

Events that helped make Jimmy famous

jimmy_cricket_lookinPhotos and postings published on social media websites have revealed some of the events that made Jimmy Cricket a household name.

The Northern Irish entertainer’s supporters and friends have created a kind of nostalgia corner with their entries on Facebook and Twitter.

Right is a picture of the front cover of the Look in annual dating back to 1988. Look in was a popular weekly magazine aimed at the teenage markets during the 1980s.

Jimmy features primarily because he had a popular television series on ITV at the time and the magazine decided to run a comic strip which featured Jimmy’s character getting into different scrapes!jimmy_cricket_nostalgia

A big thanks to Amy Elizabeth Phillips for posting this on her website at www.varietyemporium.co.uk where it features on its dedicated Facebook page.

Back in 1987, Jimmy headlined a show at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool which was a trailblazer at the time as it started a trend of extending theatre-based entertainment attractions into the autumnal illuminations season (poster left, is also from the Variety Emporium website).

Supporting Jimmy on the show was none other than Brian Conley,  the English comedian, television presenter, singer and actor who at the peak of his television career was believed to be the highest-paid male television personality in the UK.

Alongside both Jimmy and Brian was a double act called Trevillion & Nine – the female half of which was Sadie Nice who is now a successful broadcaster on BBC Essex.

The other member of the double act, Paul Trevillion, went on to use his artistic talents to the full, producing cartoons for a range of sporting occasions and sporting publications.

Return to panto debut venue – 33 years later 150 150 mhamer

Return to panto debut venue – 33 years later

Jimmy Cricket first appeared in panto at the Charter Theatre in preston in Robinson Crusoe in Outer SpaceJimmy Cricket will be appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Preston's Charter Theatre

Jimmy Cricket will be performing in pantomime later this year at the Charter Theatre in Preston – where he made his panto debut in 1981.

The famous entertainer will be appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (poster below) at the Lancashire venue.

It will be 33 years after the Northern Irish funnyman figured in a version of a contemporary pantomime called Robinson Crusoe in Outer Space (left) when he was described as “Britain’s fastest rising TV comedian”.

Since his first foray into the land of fairytales, Jimmy has featured in 26

 

different pantomime productions over the years, taking in theatres across the UK located in:

Belfast, Glasgow, Nottingham, Bradford, Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Darlington, Billingham, Wolverhampton, Truro, Doncaster, Lichfield, Swindon, Torquay, Southport, Ashton-under-Lyme and Weston-Super-Mare.

On his arrival in Preston, he will be reunited with the creative team who produced last Christmas’s record -breaking version of Snow White at the Forum Theatre in Billingham.

Some of the cast have been retained for the Preston version, which has delighted Jimmy who is looking forward to a happy return to the Charter Theatre.