Jimeoin

Jimeoin (/ˈdʒɪm.oʊ.ɪn/; born James Stephen Eoin McKeown^[1][2] 24 January 1966) is an English born Irish stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in Australia in the early 1990s, and had his own TV show. He came to UK public attention between 2005 and 2008 while performing an "over the top" comedy tour Australia's outback and major cities, which was filmed for the BBC Northern Ireland documentary Jimeoin Down Under.^[3] He has since gained international recognition and is a frequent performer at comedy festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe.^[3]

Biography

Jimeoin was born to Irish parents in Leamington Spa, England^[4] and grew up in Portstewart, Northern Ireland. He went to Dominican College, Portstewart. He moved to Australia at the age of 22, gaining work as a gardener after working on building sites in London for 4 years.^[5] He lives in Melbourne with wife Catherine Arena and their four children.^[6]

He has starred in and co-written two Australian feature film comedies, The Craic (1999) and The Extra (2005), both co-starring his regular collaborator Bob Franklin.^[7] He had his own comedy television programme, the eponymous Jimeoin (1994–95) which ran for three seasons.^[3] He played 'Convict Griffin' in the sitcom Bligh (1992). He is also known for his live comedy tours in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In an interview with the Townsville Bulletin on 11 March 2009 he stated that "I'm not really into that nationality thing but I've been watching the Socceroos in the football and when it comes to sport I really go for Australia. Well Ireland's shit at everything so what choice do I have?"^[8] In 2010 he completed a new series Jimeoin: Over The Top for The Comedy Channel on Foxtel and Austar. The series features Jimeoin travelling across sections of northern Australia, interspersed with stand-up routines recorded at towns visited along the way.^[9]

Discography

CDs

• Forklift Truck (1997)
• Crack (1995) 2CD
• Goin' Off (1993)

DVDs

• The Jimeoin: All Over The Shop (2003)
• Third Drawer Down (2004)
• Jimeoin - On Ice (2010)
• Jimeoin - Live (2010)
• Jimeoin - Over The top (2011)
• Jimeoin - Something Smells Funny (2012)

Filmography

Movies

• The Extra (2005) — The Extra. (also writer)
• You Can't Stop The Murders (2003) — Burrito.
• The Craic (1999) — Fergus Montagu. (also writer/producer)
• The Perfumer (1997) — Edward Pinchbeck.

Television

As Himself

References

External links

• Jimeoin's official website
• Jimeoin at the Internet Movie Database
• Jimeoin at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Jimeoin on Twitter
• Jimeoin's channel on YouTube