(Image: Alfie joey)
Alfie Joey shares some memories of his friend, comic Jimmy Cricket
I MET Jimmy Cricket through his son, Frankie Doodle. Frankie was a really good prop comedian who was leaving the comedy world to train to be a priest.
Conversely, I had left a religious order (Salesians of Don Bosco) to pursue a career on the comedy circuit. We got on straight away. Then Frankie introduced me to his dad, Jimmy Cricket.
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And I got on straight away with Jimmy. To be honest the whole family are so lovely, anyone would get along with them straight away. Warm, welcoming, generous…to meet them is to feel you have known them for years.
In a way, I felt like I had known Jimmy for years as he was a staple of TV light entertainment, which I loved. I had also seen him perform several times, years before I got to know him or the family.
In the early 90s I was a school chaplain in Liverpool and I took a gang of Scouse kids from the local youth club to see him in panto at the Empire alongside the twins from Neighbours.
In the year 2000, when I had only been performing myself for a couple of years, I went on my own to see Jimmy in Blackpool summer season alongside John Inman, Billy Pearce and The Nolans. Some line up!
So when I actually met him, through Frankie, it was a complete thrill. And there’s more… I couldn’t get enough of Jimmy’s stories so we started to meet and even started rehearsing together.
I was living in Manchester at the time, Jimmy lived in Rochdale so we’d enjoy jamming sessions where I’d enjoy listening to musicals and songs Jimmy was working on. He was very musical – he even agreed to play saxophone at our wedding!
Shortly after the wedding we moved back to the North East as I got a job at BBC Newcastle so those wonderful days of jamming at Jimmy’s house ended but we still enjoyed a number of shows together all over the North east.
We performed a benefit night at Ushaw Gardens, which was still a seminary at the time – Frankie Doodle was studying theology there, soon to be ordained Fr. Frankie Mulgrew in 2013.
There was a very memorable charity night with Jimmy and Norman Collier at Middlesbrough Theatre and I also supported Jimmy at The Customs House in South Shields.
Another gig I was just reminded of was joining Jimmy on the bill for a wonderful Irish evening at Stockton’s Arc along with The Wild Cats of Kilkenny.
As a family we saw Jimmy’s solo show at Jesterval, a comedy festival in a huge marquee by the River Tyne, there was a lovely Jubilee tour of the North East with the irrepressible Leah Bell and a spectacular show at City Hall in Newcastle where Jimmy worked with his pals, The Osmonds!
Oh, and he was fantastic in panto at both Billingham Forum where he played Muddles in Snow White and Darlington’s Civic Theatre as a brilliant Baron Hardup in Cinderella. We loved all of these shows.
Another great North East connection was the social club scene (my first home was Thornley Workingmen’s Club) where Jimmy learned his trade, all the more impressive as he was a completely clean act.
Sunderland comedy legend Bobby Thompson also encouraged the distinctive stage look, and Jimmy of course responded with those famous welly boots and the costume he kept from an appearance on The Good Old Days.
Jimmy was an exceptional comic. He always kept the act fresh, never used cruelty or cursing and was inserting new or topical jokes every time I saw him.
His energy and warmth never waned and that was true both on stage and off. He was an unmitigated joy to be around and this is also true of his wife May (a great singer herself) and his other children (by the way, daughter Katie is another great comic in the family too!!).
Both cheerful and charitable, Jimmy was dedicated to his Catholic faith right to the end, having been awarded a papal knighthood from the Pope for his tireless fundraising.
C’mere’, there’s just a wee bit more!! Before his 80th birthday last year, Jimmy asked me to illustrate a joke book he had been working on.
Every Monday, to cheer folk up during the pandemic, he’d been providing mirth on social media, posting weekly gags and it snowballed into a book.
With or without my doodles, this will be another jolly jigsaw piece adding to his lasting legacy of laughter and loveliness.