| Jim Bowes on tour | Jim Bowes: Quiz Shows, Rap offs and Blind Confidence One-man show at the Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh 4-12 August 2006 10-11pm His Reading Fringe Festival date will be confirmed nearer the time. |
As 2006 dawned Jim Bowes realised he was a man in decline. The last 10 years had been amazing but not entirely without their side effects. A lot had been achieved but somehow there was pretty much nothing to show for it. The Reading resident's theory was that if a single element of evil could be pinpointed and removed from his life then many more fantastic years lay ahead. Soul searching, a bachelor pad, flat pack furniture and the memories of friends past and present meant enough was pieced together to make the formula of Jim's life. | "As ridiculous as it sounds I think it was life changing." | | Jim Bowes |
He's now written a one-man show which he will be performing at the Reading and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. So how did the Reading gig compere come up with the idea? "I was sitting in a pub in Bristol with my cousin and we were both looking through a jobs paper – she saw about three jobs she could apply for and I thought she could apply for about 30. We then arrived on the idea of blind confidence. "Then I was doing a gig in Farnham and this guy called Keith came up to me in the toilet, he said I should take a show to Edinburgh. It seemed like a good idea and so that's what I'm doing." It's as simple as that if Jim is to be believed - and en route to writing the show he's already felt some positive effects: "Writing about things in my own life definitely made me see things differently" he said. "At the start of the year I felt a little insecure with all the self analysis but I feel that the process was positive and I now feel happier than ever with who I am and why I do the things I do." Talk about turning a negative into a positive. Let's not forget though that this show is also very funny, a chance to laugh with Jim at his own life. He said the show has taken a life-time to write as he has culled 25 years of experience into his performance. It's certainly paid off, with a great response to two 20-minute previews. He may be used to walking on stage, having been a musician and currently still a compere, but reassessing his life in front of an audience has been one of the most nerve-wracking experiences. "As ridiculous as it sounds," he said, "I think it was life changing". Laugh at Jim or laugh with Jim. Steal his equation for an unpredictable rollercoaster lifestyle. Fame, fortune, good times and hedonistic fun can be had by all… interspersed with pain, shame and poverty! Quiz Shows, Rap Offs And Blind Confidence is a live documentary of a one man show with its World Premiere at the Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh this summer. | 
