With his trademark dinner jacket, floppy hat and wellies, Jimmy Cricket was one of the most popular comedians of the eighties.
During this golden age for comedy and variety artists, Jimmy had his own series on ITV and was a regular on variety shows.
Now 77, the Tyrone-born performer is celebrating 50 years as a professional comedian with the launch of his autobiography - Memoirs of an Irish Comedian - in which he “counts his blessings” and never forgets the people that helped him achieve his dreams.
James Mulgrew was just two when his family moved from Cookstown to Belfast – initially Ardoyne and later to West Belfast.
Jimmy admits his school days were far from happy ones. Thankful to be able to walk home for his lunch and to listen to the radio and run errands to the local shops, he salutes the shopkeepers of the Andersonstown Road for helping him “polish my delivery” and “plant those early seeds” for his future career.
He left St Patrick's College, Bearnageeha Antrim Road, with no qualifications. However, in his book, he recalls that one of his biggest regrets from his childhood was not befriending or paying respect to writer and actor Joseph Tomelty.
“I used to see him meandering down Andersonstown Road. His long hair made him look just a tiny bit eccentric, so some of the kids in the neighborhood - me included, would shout derogatory remarks at him,” he confesses.
After school, a young Jimmy undertook many varied jobs – including being a message boy for Lipton’s, a building labourer, jam factory production operative, cleaning powder sales demonstrator, cinema projectionist and, for a very brief episode, as a busker in London’s Leicester Square.
“I threw my three juggling balls in the air. Unfortunately, before I could get into my stride, I dropped one. The sight of it rolling into the distance still haunts me to this day,” he tells me.
However, it was the opportunity to work as a Redcoat in Butlins Holiday Camp in Mosney, County Meath, at the age of 20, which gave him the opportunity to get on the stage and cemented his ambition to be a performer.
“My brother Brian suggested it. He said: “you keep getting told off at work for acting a fool. Well, here's a job where they'll pay you to act the fool”.
“In the 60s, Billy Butlin owned them and they all had a custom-built theatre with an orchestra, it was magical,” enthuses Jimmy, who never lost his broad Belfast accent.
He also credits The Irish News for playing a role in helping him on the path to show business with a theatre reviewer who saw his appearance at Stairway to the Stars in the Grove Theatre in Belfast’s Shore Road in 1968 giving him his first positive review and describing him as ‘having talent’.
“It was deeply gratifying to know that I just wasn't the idiotic boy who walked down the street in a pair of black and white crocodile shoes always wanting to be the centre of attraction,” he reflects.
Jimmy later moved to the north of England, where he still lives. It was whilst performing at Working Men's Clubs, that his catchphrase Come ‘Ere There’s More was born.
“I said it basically to hold the audience’s attention, because in a club they are sitting around the table chatting. It worked and they enjoyed it,” he laughs.
Upon his agent's recommendation, he also changed his performance name, choosing Jimmy Cricket, inspired by the Disney character Jiminy Cricket.
During his early career he learnt from other comedians. These included legendary Belfast comedian Frank Carson.
“Try to get work every night. Even if you have to work for nothing. That way, you'll be able to polish your gags ... how to deliver them better ... when to put in a word or leave out a word,” Frank advised him.
Sunderland comic Bobby Thompson talked up the value of on-stage comedy garments and inspired Jimmy to adorn his wellies, marked with the letters R and L – and worn on the wrong feet.
“Because I do a bit of eccentric dancing in the act, the trick with the wellingtons is that I take them to a local shoe man and he puts a real sole onto the bottom, instead of the rubber. It means I can slide across the stage a bit quicker,” chuckles Jimmy.
More than half his autobiography chronicles his attempts to make it in the fragile world of showbiz. I asked him if he ever felt like giving up?
“Of course everybody has doubts at some point in their lives, but I hung in there,” says Jimmy, joking that “the only time you start at the top is when you are digging a hole”.
Jimmy’s determination was rewarded in 1973 when he was given his first professional contract - supporting the Grumbleweeds.
His big break came through London Weekend Television’s Search for a Star.
Although coming second to impressionist Fogwell Flax, the priceless television exposure opened many doors, including an invite to perform at Night of a Hundred Stars in London, hosted by Terry Wogan.
It was an appearance on a Christmas special of his favourite show, The Good Old Days, that helped transform him into the Jimmy Cricket we still love today.
“They wanted me to wear an Edwardian outfit with a tail coat and soft bowler hat. Later, my manager told me that's your trademark now and we bought it.”
Jimmy soon became a household name. His And There’s More’ sketch show secured four series and in the mid-1980s he was snapped up to front Jimmy’s Cricket Team on BBC Radio 2.
Impressionist Rory Bremner was among those who broke through after bagging a slot on his hit TV show.
Also a panto favourite, he has fond memories of returning home to star in Belfast’s Grand Opera House’s pantomimes in 1988 (Cinderella), 1990 (Robinson Crusoe) and 1993 (Jack and the Beanstalk), in an emotional re-opening of the theatre following a terrorist bombing.
“That was a special year with every seat sold out. As good as the panto was that year, the real stars of the show were the mums and dads who brought their children along in a show of defiance.”
Jimmy also reveals that he played a small part in introducing May McFettridge to local audiences, by, together with concert promoter David Hull recommending radio presenter John Daly and his phone-in guest, of course, voiced by John Linehan to the panto producer.
“You can recommend people for the stage, but at the end of the day they have to cut the mustard. John was such a revelation with his quick wit and ad-libs.”
Whilst comedy has evolved greatly over the past five decades, Jimmy has never been tempted to stray from his own distinctive family-friendly act, which invariably includes a ‘letter from me mammy’ to be read out and some tunes on the saxophone.
Of the modern day comics, he has enjoyed working with the ‘clean’ Milton Jones and was a guest on Richard Herrings tour and podcast.
Looking back over his career, which included being honoured with a Papal Knighthood for his charity work, Jimmy says his goal has always been to entertain, but never embarrass the audience.
“It's a good day if I said something funny to someone and made them laugh, but it's an even better day if I've said something nice to them to make them feel good about themselves.”
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As well as his faith, Jimmy is thankful for the support of his wife of 49 years, May, his daughter Katie, who has done stand-up and is an award-winning playwright, his son Dale, a hospice events fundraiser, daughter Jamie, who is a teacher in America, and son Frankie a parish priest in Salford.
The comedy veteran has no plans at all to hang up his iconic boots, with monthly gigs at Blackpool’s Lyndene Hotel and this autumn he will be travelling back to Ireland, appearing at a special comedy and country show at the White Horse Hotel in Derry on October 9 (tickets available from the hotel from late August).
Memoirs Of An Irish Comedian ‘Come ‘Ere There’s More’ The Jimmy Cricket Story is available on Amazon.
