Barking Tales - JIM SMALLMAN

Event information

“Jim Smallman is not just a comic who tells brilliant jokes, he is a heart-warming storyteller, and his experiences will have you captivated and laughing out loud” – Three Weeks

Jim's a reformed alcoholic and drug addict who also suffers with bipolar disorder. The latter has led him to help with various mental health charities, and the former has led to me now adopting a straight edge lifestyle – meaning that he doesn't consume any alcohol, drugs or tobacco.

Jim has been performing since 2005 and has been all over the world swearing at people and being daft for money. You can usually find Jim performing all over the country (and beyond) pretty much every night of the week. He works for all the major clubs and promoters in the UK.

If you go and see Jim, then you’ll recognise him as being the chap with all the tattoos. His preferred description for himself (and if the Sun newspaper ever did some kind of report on him) is “heavily tattooed idiot”. He’s covered in them – and yes, that is Ron Burgundy on his right arm.

In 2011 Jim took his second Edinburgh show up to the fringe and it got lots of lovely attention and great reviews – so much so that he then filmed a version of it for a DVD.

Jims first hour-long show was “The Boy Next Door Gone Wrong” which won two awards at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival (Best Comedy Performance and Best International Show) and was nominated for Best Début Show at the 2009 Leicester Comedy Festival. In 2012 he was back in Edinburgh again with his third show “Let’s Be Friends” and his improvised advice show “Group Therapy”. Once again, they got lots of good press and a plethora of four and five star reviews.

Away from comedy Jim has worked as a radio presenter for BBC Local Radio, appeared as a guest on BBC Radio Five Live’s “Fighting Talk” and presented a weekly wrestling TV show for Sports Tonight called The Slam. Jim is a voiceover artist too, with his dulcet tones featuring in a fair few adverts (including Nando's) and his narration on National Geographic HD series Car SOS.

Television
Presenter – Sports Tonight Live – The Slam
Panellist – Sports Tonight Live –Talking Balls
Panellist – Sports Tonight Live –Sunday Show
Guest – BBC 1 – The Big Questions

Radio
Presenter – BBC Radio Leicester – Saturday Morning Show
Presenter – BBC Radio Leicester – Weekday Afternoon Show
Panellist – BBC Radio Five Live – Fighting Talk
Recorded Set/Host – BBC Radio 4 Extra – The Boat Show
Guest – BBC Radio One, BBC 6Music, TalkSPORT, Kerrang, XFM

“Beautiful comedy from the stand up who wears his life on his skin” – The Sunday Times

“It’s obvious that Jim Smallman is a natural born compere. He has such an easy rapport with the audience and tells his tales with a fluidity and energy that keeps everyone attentive. He could talk the hind legs off a donkey, but you suspect that the donkey wouldn’t really mind… he’s an instinctive storyteller who draws out the humour in every anecdote. On the comedy spectrum, he falls somewhere between Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman… his silver-tongued banter is likely to charm most audiences” – Chortle

“A talented comic” – Time Out

“Unapologetically, shamelessly life-affirming… a storyteller of warmth and humanity” – Fest Magazine

“Smallman’s a terrific presence, all effervescent charm and bounciness. Even the vague grunts offered by the audience are enough for him to spin into properly funny gags” – The Skinny

“Smallman has the crowd completely hooked… razor sharp jokes and observations come from his wonderful self-deprecating stories” – Hairline

“Smallman, as articulate as he is, is an unpretentious comic who takes real visible joy in provoking a laugh… he is very funny” – No Borders Magazine

“Smallman is an accomplished performer and a joy to spend time with… He deserves to be playing much bigger rooms” – Festival Journal

“A comic who has set a benchmark for this kind of comedy” – New Current

Plus support from Dave Williams who's a quality circuit comedian whose crisp one-liners and surreal nonsense have earned him headline slots at some of the countries most prestigious comedy clubs

and Mike Milling, plus MC Harriet Dyer "Loveable and delightful" ThreeWeeks

(Profit goes to Manchester Mind, £6 on door.)