I missed the first (IIRC) showing of this at The Comedy Store in London back in December last year due to having pneumonia, and very nearly missed this show due to a lost booking until a very kind chap helped me out, something I am very grateful for.
Photo from www.edfringe.com
A packed out room full of people wanting to see this documentary Jim made was buzzing with anticipation.
The screen flickered into life to see Jim, hunched over in his chair, slow drawn out speech, looking like a very frail man, introducing his documentary...half the audience begin to laugh, much to the shock from the other half...I know the chap next to me tutted in my direction...until Jim sits up straight and asks "Too much?" - queue belly laughs from the whole audience.
For those not in the know, Jim has MS. But that's not really important...the fact that he is an impro god and very talented man is the important bit.
The documentary is Jim talking to Lee Simpson in his garden, recounting many tales of his life, often split in with other comedians and people from Jim's life telling their version of the same story...sometimes those sides even agree! Among those featured were all the rest of the CSPs (Lee (not just as interviewer), Neil Mullarkey, Josie Lawrence, Andy Smart, Richard Vranch and Paul Merton), Steve Steen, Steve Frost, Suki Webster, Mike McShane, Eddie Izzard, Greg Proops, Barbara, Dom, Mark and the lovely Jools from The Store and many others.
We are treated to wonderful archived (oh that sounds so wrong - makes Jim sound ancient, which he's not!) tv footage (although no breeches from Blackadder III - forgive as we do get to see him in S&M get up doing a tango) and photos. These photos take us through an impressive amount of curly hair...I like to think that Jim donated his hair time and time again and somewhere in the world, probably Liverpool, are a lot of very curly Sweeney wigs.
The entire room is filled with huge belly laughs...you know the type I mean, the ones that give you a stitch whilst also giving your abs a damn fine work out, and you feel a little bit tired afterwards.
Throughout there have been clips of Jim's last show at The Store...this is the place where I've had the pleasure of seeing him perform 2-300 times...I can't even be sure it's only that many...but sadly I couldn't make his final show. I'll admit I welled up at his little goodbye speech, actually it was when he said the word "goodbye" rather than anything else. I miss seeing Jim perform. I miss him owning the whole room. Miss him having us all hanging on his every word before creasing up...I hold him personally responsible for me choking on drinks on more than one occasion (I soon learnt not to take sips if he was on stage!).
Anyhoo, I digress and he'd hate me gushing about him, so will just state that the above is bollocks, he's completely average and I don't miss him at all - there, that should balance it up a bit.
The proceeds from the screening is going to the Multiple Sclerosis Research Centre. Richard and Mike were outside with collection boxes too.
Should you want to see the film yourself, you can pre-order it on dvd (I already have a while ago!) from Jim's website (and also see a clip) http://www.thesweeney.net/ - I urge you to do this, as again, all profits from sales also go to th Multiple Sclerosis Research Centre...which means you get to do something nice for charity and get to have a laugh whilst doing so!
I shall leave you with a photograph I took of Jim at my first ever EdFest in 2004 - I love this photo :-)
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