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may

A special Easter message from Jimmy and May 150 150 mhamer

A special Easter message from Jimmy and May

Here is a special Easter message from your favourite comedian Jimmy Cricket and his wife, May (posted on X – formerly Twitter):

“Happy Easter…

… may the blessing of this Easter fill your life with everlasting PEACE, JOY AND HAPPINESS!”

Click on the arrow in the middle of the image below to see some animation.

If you don’t already, you can follow Jimmy on the X social media platform here.

Have you bought Jimmy’s autobiography yet?

Don’t forget that Jimmy’s official autobiography is on sale.

Jimmy Cricket with his autobiography

Memoirs Of An Irish Comedian tells the heart-warming story of Jimmy’s illustrious life and 50-year career.

The paperback version costs £11.99 at online retailer Amazon. It is also available via eBook and audio.

Signed copies (£15.99 including postage and packing) can be purchased on this website here.

It is also available at Jimmy’s live gigs for £10, where Jimmy will also sign it.

One pound from the sale of every book goes to Mary’s Meals.

The charity supports feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Also read: Jimmy Cricket’s signed autobiographies now available by post!

Double celebration time for our favourite comedian! 150 150 mhamer

Double celebration time for our favourite comedian!

It was a double celebration weekend for evergreen funnyman Jimmy Cricket.

Saturday (16 October) marked the long-awaited return of the popular jam nights introduced by Jimmy and his wife May about 15 years ago.

And Sunday was the famous entertainer’s 76th birthday.

Double celebration weekend: Here back with our Jammers tonight, (now into our second decade), at #StVincentsParishCentre, (after a long 19 month break), Pauline’s raffle tonight will go to the wonderful Charity #marysmeals, my thanks also to singer #MikeHowarth, and Kate and Pat on teas & coffees! 🎭

Jimmy and May – a professional singer – have since 2006 hosted a regular night of entertainment in their adopted home town of Rochdale.

It provides a useful opportunity for Jimmy and other performers to try out new (and relive some old) routines.

They began it on a monthly basis and in the past few years have alternated hosting the jam nights with good friend and fellow entertainer Eric Devereaux.

It takes place in the lounge area of St Vincent’s RC parish centre in Norden.

They invite different guests who perform free of charge.

Jimmy Cricket's self-isolating message just before the start of the lockdown

There is a raffle and the selling of refreshments, with all proceeds donated to a chosen charity.

The popular comedian has nicknamed those who regularly support these evenings as ‘Jimmy’s Jammers’.

However, the event was inevitably put on hold early in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic – until Saturday.

Jimmy said: “Here back with our Jammers tonight, (now into our second decade), at #StVincentsParishCentre, (after a long 19-month break).

“Pauline’s raffle tonight will go to the wonderful Charity #marysmeals, my thanks also to singer #MikeHowarth, and Kate and Pat on teas & coffees! 🎭“

Mary’s Meals supports feeding projects for children in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Jimmy’s comedian-turned-priest son, Fr Frankie Mulgrew, is a long-standing supporter of Mary’s Meals.

Jimmy also expressed his gratitude for all the congratulations on his birthday.

He commented: “Can I say a huge, “Thank You”, to everyone who took the time to wish me, “Happy Birthday”.

“It was so very much appreciated! xx”

Can I say a huge, “Thank You”, to everyone who took the time to wish me, “Happy Birthday”, it was so very much appreciated! xx

Also read:

Jam nights are about to return!

Message of hope: After the storm comes the rainbow

Rochdale jam night is ‘lovely charity evening’

Coronavirus pandemic: We can do this together!

Mary’s Meals: Charity marks memorable milestone

Cookstown family businesses included a bar & undertakers! 150 150 mhamer

Cookstown family businesses included a bar & undertakers!

Cookstown in Northern Ireland, where Jimmy Cricket was bornJimmy Cricket was reminded of his childhood with a memory-evoking image taken of Cookstown, the County Tyrone town in which he was grew up.

The Northern Irish comedian was born James Mulgrew in Cookstown on 17 October 1945.

Now a popular all-round entertainer, Jimmy said he was recently sent the photograph seen here on the right.

He added: “As you can see, there’s a parade going through the town.

“But, if you look up, you can clearly see the name Mulgrew.

“My parents owned a bar and had an undertaking business at the back.

“And it didn’t finish there – my father was also a taxi driver and an auctioneer. He had four jobs!

“He was an entrepreneur and a character in Cookstown.”

Jimmy left school at 16 years of age and worked for the next two years in a betting shop.

He spent the summer of 1966 working as a Redcoat in Butlin’s holiday camp in County Meath.

That was followed by two more summers at the Butlin’s holiday camp in Essex.

By the early 1970s, he was living in Manchester and from 1972 worked at the Pontins holiday camps in Southport and Morecambe.

He became a household name though his TV series on Central Television in the mid-1980s called And There’s More.

Jimmy ended up settling in Rochdale in the North-West of England with his wife, May, herself a professional singer.

Also read: You Must Be Joking comedians meet up in Cookstown

Find out more about Jimmy’s life here

Christmas card features that eyesight trip by Dominic Cummings 150 150 mhamer

Christmas card features that eyesight trip by Dominic Cummings

Jimmy Cricket's Christmas card 2020

Dominic Cummings’ controversial trip to Barnard Castle during the first coronavirus lockdown is the subject of Jimmy Cricket’s 2020 Christmas card.

It features Jimmy dressed as Father Christmas telling Cummings: “They are the strongest glass we make in Lapland, Dominic!”

Boris Johnson’s former chief aide Cummings admitted he drove to Barnard Castle with his wife and child at the end of his lockdown-busting trip to County Durham.

He insisted he made the journey to test his eyesight before making the long drive home to London.

He had made the 260-mile trip north in late spring at a time when he and his wife Mary were displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

It led to claims they were enjoying a day out rather than self-isolating.

Police later found Cummings may have breached the law during the trip to Barnard Castle, but said they would not fine or prosecute him.

Cummings refused to leave his role despite the national controversy it caused.

Political theme

He finally left No 10 in November after an internal power struggle.

Jimmy also chose a political theme for his 2019 Christmas card – the way Westminster MPs have behaved over Brexit.

It showed him telling her majesty the Queen that all members of parliament are on the naughty list.

Tradition has it that Father Christmas (also known as Santa Claus) has two lists: the naughty list and the nice list.

He checks over his list twice. If you are nice you get presents. If you are naughty you get a lump of coal in your stocking.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly apologised to the Queen after the Supreme Court ruled his decision to prorogue (suspend) Parliament earlier this year was unlawful.

Read the full story: Christmas card features naughty MPs and the Queen

Northern Irish comedian Jimmy has traditionally created his own customised Christmas card over the years.

Jimmy Cricket's Christmas card features the Only Fools and Horses’ sketch staring regular cast members David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, plus special Comic Relief guest David Beckham

It is based on a photograph that has represented in some way an event from the previous 12 months.

In 2012 he picked a picture of Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, which was one of the iconic images from the London Olympics.

The followed year, it was a photo associated with the theft of his concrete wellies, which was widely covered in the media.

And his 2014 card (pictured right) featured a sketch which took place during that year’s Comic Relief event.

The card recalled the Only Fools and Horses charity scene starring regular cast members David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.

In addition, it featured former England and Manchester United footballer David Beckham.

Famous entertainer Jimmy was included on the card as if part of the get-together and referenced his famous Mammy!

Jimmy Cricket's Christmas card 2020

 

 

Keith Harris: ‘Great showman – we salute you’ 150 150 mhamer

Keith Harris: ‘Great showman – we salute you’

Jimmy Cricket appeared on Keith Harris’s holiday laughter show (with Orville and Cuddles) at the Royal Opera House in the summer of 1982

Jimmy Cricket has been paying tribute in his latest newspaper column to ventriloquist Keith Harris, who died last month.

Keith, who, with his puppet duck Orville, became a regular feature of Saturday night TV in the 1980s, was 67.

He entertained generations of children with his sidekick Orville, a bright green duck who wore a nappy and spoke in a high-pitched voice but couldn’t fly. He also gave life to the popular puppet Cuddles the monkey, whose catchphrase was ‘I hate that duck!’

In addition to fronting The Keith Harris Show on BBC One, he (and Orville) gave private performances at birthday parties for Prince William and his brother Harry, at the request of Diana, Princess of Wales.

His 1982 single, Orville’s Song, was a top five hit, selling more than 400,000 copies.

In his May column for the Preston-based Lancashire Evening News, Jimmy says: “Most ventriloquists that are successful discover one dummy that tickles people’s funny bone, but Keith was blessed with two.

“In 1983, holidaymakers were still visiting our summer resorts en masse and Keith’s show was a sellout from start to finish.

“Keith Harris – you weren’t just a superb ventriloquist, you were a great showman and producer.

“We salute you.”

Whatever happened to…? 150 150 mhamer

Whatever happened to…?

Jimmy Cricket feature in the Daily Express

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.

Jimmy Cricket and Friends 150 150 mhamer

Jimmy Cricket and Friends

Join Jimmy and his wife May for another great night of comedy and music on Wednesday, October 5, at St Vincent’s RC Parish Centre, off Caldershaw Road in Norden.

Admission and refreshments (tea, coffee, juice and biscuits) are free, though it is appreciated if you make a contribution to a charity which is chosen on the night.

Full details under October in the Tour Dates section