Sunday March 11^th 2001 (no rest for the wicked) and Jimmy could be found at Cactus Comedy Club, Jaxx, The Place, Bryn Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Apparently, it was demolished in 2015 (can’t find any pictures of the comedy room).

The Staffordshire Sentinel (see BNA – here) had a short piece, about the gig, titled: A choired taste

It said:

Junior Simpson is the star turn as Hanley’s newly formed Cactus comedy club on Sunday night. A lapsed choir boy from Luton, Simpson hasn’t exactly taken the traditional route to comedy success, but his unique view of the world has made him a must-see on the stand-up circuit.

Compere for the night is Brendan Riley with support acts in the shape of Jimmy Carr and Steve Harris.

Background

At this stage of his career Jimmy had been performing above pubs and “going on stage after strippers” (his words) so there was no tour name, although that would follow in 2002 – see Tour Details here.

He was now starting to get more regular bookings and was appearing more in dedicated comedy clubs and bigger rooms.

In August he had performed the Rubbernecker revue at Edinburgh (here).

There is a page (here) about the UK Comedy Circuit and Pubs and Clubs 1998-2001 (here).