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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.

The ‘wellie wonderman’ 150 150 mhamer

The ‘wellie wonderman’

Jimmy Cricket and his family appeared in the Weekend and Titbits magazine in the 1980s

Jimmy Cricket and his family appeared in the Weekend & Titbits magazine in the 1980s

Jimmy Cricket was described as the “Wellie Wonderman” by a magazine during the 1980s.

Jimmy Cricket and his family appeared in the Weekend and Titbits magazine in the 1980s

The entertainer, famous for his wellies which he wears on the wrong feet, and his family were featured  in the issue of Weekend and Titbits on 19 June 1985.

Jimmy was pictured on the front page of the magazine holding a cricket bat and an article entitled “Wonder in wellies” inside includes a photograph (right) of Jimmy and his young family at the time.

This nostalgic look-back is courtesy of Amy Phillips who has set up a new website and blog (an online diary) about the variety genre under the title Variety Emporium.

Jimmy said: “I am most grateful for Amy featuring on this new website a look-back at one of the publications I appeared in during the 1980s.

“I  was also thrilled Amy recently came along to see my ‘Audience with’ show at the Ormskirk Civic Hall – it shows Amy really is a true supporter of variety!”

Jimmy Cricket and his family appeared in the Weekend and Titbits magazine in the 1980s