Review of The Big Night Out - Bull and Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills 13/10/04 - by epod

Last night I sat in a pub and listened to a guy talk shit for five and a half hours.

The guy in question goes by the name of Jimbo and his show is called The Big Night Out. He chats about stuff...or as he puts it: "the big issues". These are the same "big" issues that most people in the bar have already conversed about at length on multiple occasions (sex/lesbians/sex/politics/war/sex/etc). Sitting at the back of the room, on the same level as the punters as there is no stage, Jimbo blends in well - with the only exception being that he is armed with a microphone and an amazing talent that draws people into conversation and makes them laugh - that is if he doesn't offend them first with his explicit banter, and array of "f" and "c" words.

Firstly, a brief explanation of what the Big Night Out actually is (the bit in itallics is taken from the official Big Night Out site, read it in its original format here) :Even if you've seen Jimbo's show, it's still hard to explain, without being there. Everyone is different. Jimbo doesn't write the show, he just lets it happen. What makes Jimbo's show different from any other comedian is his use, of the audience. He doesn't pick on people, he just encourages them to hi-jack the stage. The results are extraordinay. For those who stay 'till the end, the night ends up being the ultimate entertainment package: A unique tapestry of high and low art, where the crowd and performers are merged into one.

The show started at 6pm, with only me, two of the organisers of said comedy night, a couple of people who had drunk too much...and a bloke called Eddie watching. The crowd built up slowly as the night progressed, and eventually there was a room of around 30 people. Within a few minutes of the show starting this creepy guy who was with a table of pissed blokes started hassling me asking my name and then when I didnt answer he persisted with hassling me and then took to asking if I was with Jimbo (he must have seen me give him a hug when I saw him before the show - big deal...) When I ignored him he just wouldnt stop, so I then went and joined Eddie at his table who at this point seemed to be relatively harmless. Said guy and his mates continued to constantly look at me and whisper things at me for about an hour until (thankfully) said pissed bloke left.

Billy, one of the drunk guys at the same table as said creepy guy, proved to be good value through the night. After conversing with Jimbo throughout the show, Billy's wife called his mobile phone and Billy let Jimbo answer it (which in hindsight Billy probably realises was a mistake, after what Jimbo said to her hehe). Billy eventually left after a few hours of the show, very drunk and with a lot of explaining to do.

Jimbo had a chat with Eddie who was a regular attendee of his other Big Night Out shows (Eddie actually told me later that he was stalking Jimbo). Eddie was wearing his very classy "I fucked a goat" shirt which he had got from Jimbo at one of his past shows. Jimbo said he was having trouble selling them so thought that maybe he could sell some more shirts if for example he made goat sized shirts that said "I fucked a human". Hehheh. Maybe. It could work... Eddie's "big issue" was about the fact that there was no pool table which of course was right up there with all the other big issues discussed that evening. Eddie bought Jimbo a present (a dickhead cap), and also dutifully re-inflated Jimbo's inflatable sex doll when ever it went down on him...er...I mean deflated...*wink*.

A chick was there who admitted to having a 5 year relationship with another chick. For the remainder of the night she and her friend were referred to as "The Lesos", even though her friend said she wasn't one. Basically this chick had dumped her boyfriend because he was a prick and then gone out with the chick. Anyways, she eventually broke up with the chick too cause she had cheated on her, and now she is back to blokes. Jimbo fired a couple of relentless rounds of questions at her, which covered pretty much every question that every bloke would ever want to know about lesbians. Classic.

Skye and her boyfriend, who are a couple and also regulars at other Big Night Out shows copped a barrage of very personal questions from Jimbo about their relationship, each of which were answered albiet with some hesitation. Skye offered one of the funniest comebacks of the night after being asked one too many personal questions, when she said with some concern, "Um, Jimbo how long has it been since you have had a root?".

One of the punters Jimbo spoke to said that he was a loans officer and when Jimbo asked him what he would need to apply for a loan, the loans guy said "Well, the first thing I would ask you is what you did for work". When prompted by other punters as to what he did for work, Jimbo just said that he was one of the plasterers working on the renovations at the hotel who thought he would give this a go. The show is so deceptively simple, I think a lot of punters left the show that night thinking "gees, that plasterer was great", not realising that The Big Night Out is his job and what he does as a living.

There was a couple on their first date and the chick said that she had just had a root outside in the carpark. When further quizzed by Jimbo on this, she admitted that she had made it up and it hadn't really happened. Jimbo then said with mock disbelief that he had been to heaps of pubs, but this was the first time someone had made up a story in a pub. The chick then went on to tell another story and instead of swearing, she said F'n, C. This not being acceptable in Jimbo's show, he took the mic back from her for a second and said the actual words, then she was able to get back to her story.

Eddie the Iraqi is, as the name suggests, from Iraq and yet another regular was also there. He said his real name was actually Aheed (not sure if thats the right spelling though, so I will stick to calling him Eddie). He suggested to Jimbo that he should go to Iraq and do some shows. Jimbo seemed all for it until Eddie said that he wasnt going to actually accompany him and that he would give him a friends address and would need dye his hair and get him a moustache and a horse?! Jimbo (who has his own dvd) says "Yeah Eddie, the next dvd release will be of my beheading". Eddie who was also acting as a bit of a waiter holding Jimbo's beer was saying "have a drink, come on hurry up get a move on". Yeah said a punter, that's what he will be saying at your beheading, "come on hurry up get a move on".

Admittedly, as the description above says, it is hard to explain without being there. There is a heap of other things that happened, but just hard to describe without, "being there". This is the second time I have been to The Big Night Out and yep, as the description says, every one is different. The thing that both shows had in common though were that there was no cover charge - and - they made me and the punters laugh.