FORMER children's entertainer Jimmy Rees has become an online sensation in recent years and it's translating onto the stage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Due to selling out his first ever Newcastle show at the Civic Theatre on Sunday, September 17, he's announced a second for the same day.
Additional Sydney and Melbourne shows have also been announced for his 12-date national Not That Kinda Viral Tour due to strong demand.
Rees, who played Jimmy Giggle on ABC Kids TV show Giggle and Hoot for 11 years, commands an online audience of 1.3 million TikTok followers and 157,000 on YouTube.
Videos such as the Nurse Test have been viewed almost 24 million times on Tik-Tok.
Other characters such as the "sassy" check-out assistant who scans various items from a particular group's point of view and The Guy That Decides Everything have also proven a hit online.
Rees explains the popularity of his humour is based on people wanting to laugh at themselves.
"If you categorise people into these [labels] like I am a stay-home mum or I am a daggy dad, as soon as you point out these things or say something they haven't thought of before or they don't realise about themselves, they find it really funny," Rees says.
The check-out videos are just different way of saying things that are funny as they're checking them out through a shop.
- Jimmy Rees
"The check-out videos are just different way of saying things that are funny as they're checking them out through a shop.
"I often think the comedy comes from scanning them multiple times or getting a return policy on it or getting a price check on something."
Tickets for Jimmy Rees' second Civic Theatre are on sale at frontiertouring.com/jimmyrees
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
