Back in 1999 Jimmy played at The Room, Orange Tree Pub, Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2NQ. I’m not sure what it looked like 27 years ago – but it looks nice now (here).
Apparently they also used to put on plays but this October 1999 blog says that those productions stopped this October.
This old 2013 article (about the comedy club’s 20th anniversary) mentions that the comics that had performed at this pub’s monthly comedy gigs included:
- Jimmy Carr
- Simon Pegg
- Stewart Lee
- Graham Norton
October 8th 1999 (Friday)
Laughing Club presents:
- Juliet Cowan
- Stanley Rimmer
- Donald Mack
- Jimmy Carr
- Orange Girls
- Hommes Sans Noms
- Mark Felgate – compere
Show started 7.30pm and tickets were £6. Six quid for all of that??
October 10th 1999 (Sunday)
Laughing Club presents:
- Peter Buckley Hill
- Mark Felgate
- Terry Lynch
- Alun Cochrane
- Jimmy Carr
- Alfie Joey – compere
7pm show start and tickets were £5.
Who else was gigging?
That same weekend:
October 8th 1999 (Friday)
Ha Bloody Ha had this line up at Ealing Film Studios for £7.
- Andre Vincent
- Steve Best
- Ian Stone
- Kevin day
And Cosmic Comedy Club, Hammersmith had this line up for £10.
- Anvil Springsteen
- Alan Francis
- Paul Zerdin
- Paul Thorne
October 9th & 10th 1999 (Saturday / Sunday)
The Saturday / Sunday line-ups had comics that went on to be household names:
Bearcat Comedy Club at The Turk’s Head, Winchester Road had an 8.30pm show for £5 to £8 featuring:
- Ed Byrne
- Geoff Innocent
- Donna Mc Phail
- Phil Davey
And on the Sunday the Laughing Club show was at The Grange Tavern, Ealing. Ticket price not mentioned but the line-up was:
- Stewart Lee
- Liz Webb
- Clifford
- Milk Tray Man
- Micky Flanagan – compere
Background
At this stage in his career Jimmy was just performing above pubs and “going on stage after strippers” (his words) so there was no tour name yet. Just driving up and down the UK, sometimes doing 2-3 venues a night, trying to get spots on open nights and hoping to get enough to cover his petrol money.
There is a page (here) about the UK Comedy Circuit, which includes a list of old venues.
There is another page (here) for The Year 1999. It lists everyone that I can confirm were on the circuit with him, plus which comics were on TV / Radio that year.
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