Comedy: Bob & Jim
In the spirit of the Brighton Fringe we’ve given musical comedy act Bob & Jim space to introduce themselves…
W e first met in rival street gangs so spent much of our time trying to shank each other and stealing pick n mix out of Woolworths. Like many delinquent youths, our lives were turned around by Fringe Theatre. We debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994 in a piece of feminist physical theatre in which Bob and several other boys enacted a choreographed sexual assault upon some of the prettiest girls in the fifth year, whilst Jim provided a moody soundscape on his Yamaha. It was well received and made two ladies weep publicly before midday.
When we were a little bit older, we started doing comedy. Beginning, like all young comics, at open mic nights, in those days we were considered something of a novelty act on the stand up circuit, because we had hats and a ukulele. Nowadays, thanks to marvellous institutions like the Brighton Fringe and YouTube, everyone has a ukulele and quite a few performers wear hats.
Shortly afterwards, we began a residency in a posh bar in Farringdon, where well-heeled City gents plied us with Stella Artois to amuse them with our hats and ukulele. Buoyed on by this early success and being finalists at various New Act competitions, we took a break from comedy for about five years.
When the internet became popular, we jumped on the YouTube bandwagon, producing hit video after hit video. After our two hit videos failed to get many hits, we returned to live performance as it felt like our natural calling. What we discovered, was a flourishing live sketch and character scene running alongside the long established stand up and cabaret circuits.
We set up a new residency, Bob and Jim’s Sunday Best, which ran every Thursday, and featured the cream of all the comedy genres. Since then, we’ve done all the festivals, including the Royal Festival Hall and the US Embassy, but Brighton Fringe is our favourite.
We’re very excited to be at the Burrow at The Warren this year with our Sex Fire which features some of our favourite neo-vaudeville electro-uke pop homages, educational mimes in the French style, and Shakespearean improvisations. We’d love to see you there, and please don’t feel uncomfortable about buying us a pint after the show, though we prefer ale to lager if it’s alright with you.
Bob and Jim are a musical comedy double act who will shortly be appearing on BBC Radio 4.
Bob & Jim: Sex Fire, The Burrow at The Warren, 3-5 May, 6.30pm, £8.50/7
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