Jethro
I’ve seen my fair share on comics – live and on TV – but no-one like Jethro. Untouched by the ‘PC brigade’, it felt like a rewind to the 1980s, and the packed crowd, mainly aged 50+, loved it. Rude, crude and hilarious with his delivery, Jethro is like the grandparent who says what they want and gets away with it. The situations his comedy is based around reminded me of Victor Meldrew – far fetched, over the top and ‘it could only happen to him’ scenarios. His delivery was similar too; he clearly enjoyed being on stage, at times laughing ahead of the punchline, saying us ‘poor bastards didn’t know what was coming’. Most gigs hit the mark, including what links the IRA and electricity companies, and what happened when his skittles team came round at bathtime. But being of a younger generation and having missed Jethro the ‘first time round’, I am probably more sensitive to some of his subject matter, at times thinking ‘he can’t say that!’ However, it is this, his crude and raw material, that has garnered his this great following. The downside seemed to be that his loyal fans had a lot of it all before.
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Rating:
29 November 2012
Zara Baker
