It's all true. Not a word of a lie. Jim Bowes has indeed been a tea shop owner, an Ibiza DJ, a reality TV show contestant, a retro clothing shop owner, a husband and a £27,000 game-show winner. He's not 40. He's a mere 25. And he's got nothing to show for it, apart from this one man show he's taking to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 4 to 12 August.
 | | The blindly confident Jim Bowes |
This intimate invite-only preview at South Hill Park, Bracknell on Thursday 12 July allowed us to see his full-length performance for the first time. Laugh? We all did. Employing his naturally zesty personality to the max, he bounces into a rap pastiche with some comedy break-dancing. It's all about Gordon, who apparently is a p**** (not a moron) for failing to appear at their two-man rap-off challenge. But Jim's not bitter. A slide-show ensues with all the 'celebs' he's once been compared to, from the pleasingly androgynous Brett Anderson to the plump big-nosed Stephen Fry. One of his garish 'retro' shirts threatens to steal the show. He's wearing it tonight, it makes an appearance in a newspaper article on his game show win (which turns out to be bitter-sweet), and then lo and behold, we're watching footage of his nightmarish time on some army boot camp reality show called The Carrot And The Stick - what's he wearing? That darned shirt. It arguably gets the most laughs. Shirts aside, it must be cathartic for Jim to yawn open the split seams of his life and expose all before an audience. It's a talking picture-book version of a tumultuous autobiography - one that could rival Dale Winton's. But it's just as effective for us, who feel we can heartily guffaw at Jim's misfortunes, and therefore can look at our own with greater ease. This all has a purpose of course. Looking on the bright side, like bubbly Mr Bowes is prone to do, he's worked out a formula to make the most out of hellish hiccups and bamboozling boo-boos: LK + D/T = B.C.. I'm afraid you'll have to find out what it means for yourself. I will tell you this however. Like The Diceman (by Luke Rhinehart), it's an alluring theory to deal with life's potential which, with this one-man show, Jim has actually gone and done. No need to book yourself in with an expensive American psychiatrist, go and see Jim Bowes - he's got the winning formula, and you're guaranteed a lots of laughs along the way. | 
