From kids’ TV shows to lockdown skits, who is the real Jimmy Reese?
Reese orders fish and chips (“delicious,” he says later) and shares a scallop and beet salad.
In his videos, Rees may look like an Energizer Bunny, but in reality he’s relaxed and his sentences are punctuated by friendly laughter.
Reese and his wife, Tori, grew up in Mount Eliza, and after 10 years in Sydney, returned once with their three young sons. couscous and hoot It ended in late 2019 to get closer to my family.
They now live very close to Reese’s childhood home.
Reese got her first taste of entertainment in high school, where she got involved in drama productions, playing mostly silly characters.
“I’ve taken a completely different career path…comedian to me is this and I’m not.”
“I was sure I was a clown. I wasn’t sure about anyone else,” he says.
However, upon leaving school, he says he struggled to find his place in the world. bottom.
He remembers being obsessed with comedy talk shows robewas started in 1999.
“I just wanted to be a fool [Rove McManus] I was on TV with my friends. I never admitted it to anyone. ”
Here Reese proves to be one of those naturally talented and annoyingly successful people. couscous and hoot role.
He admits that he met his wife, Tori, and started dating when he was 21 when he was working at the Mount Eliza Pub. He says she gave him the “ass kick” he needed to pursue a career in television.
“I sent him one DVD video, went to the audition and got a call,” he says.
“This is my first audition process, and I’m assuming there are 100 others. [I’m up against]But I was the last one. It all happened within a few weeks. ”
He and Tori, then 19 and studying education, wrapped up their lives and moved to Sydney in 2009 after only nine months of dating.
couscous and hoot, he says, was wonderfully silly. It allowed him to embrace his quirkier side and hone his knack for making fun of shared human experiences, which he incorporated into his comedy.
“I was in my 20s or 30s, wearing pajamas, talking to owl dolls, singing silly songs, and playing with cardboard props. he says.
When the show was canceled in 2019, Rees says he felt a mixture of shock (which had been his life for a long time) and exhilaration. He was ready for the next chapter. During his tenure as Jimmy Giggle, he had personally written down ideas for his comedy skits.
He had developed a large following online, mostly of young mothers (some of whom joined the cheekily named Facebook group “I Could Teach Jimmy Giggle a Thing or Two”).
Reese decided that her next career move would be to create comedy videos for social media, grow her online audience, and secure sponsorships. This is something ABC couldn’t do.His plans were accelerated in 2020 when COVID-19 struck and his couscous and hoot The farewell tour is canceled.
“It was basically income for me, but it all went down to zero and then I was like, ‘Oh shit.’ I took out a loan. So I had to ask for it online,” he says.
Rees says he treated his new venture like a full-time job, shooting and editing videos from 9am to 4pm every day from his locked down home. He started with parent-related comedy, riffing on funny things kids do and how his life changes after starting a family.
His big break came unexpectedly, months after the pandemic, from a completely different topic.
“One day I was like, ‘I’m sitting here every day watching my wife glued to the TV and Daniel Andrews holding up a purple banner telling us what to do. It’s watching… like drama. This is ridiculous.”
Reese determined to shed some light on a depressing situation impersonated himself The Victorians were well aware of the coronavirus update.
“It was more shared around Victoria than it was in real life,” he recalls.
“It became clear that people wanted and needed that humor, so I kept doing it.”
“We have three kids, just moved, and got a bigger mortgage. So I had to ask for it online.”
From there, Reese began his work. “Meanwhile in Australia” The series ridiculed the country’s peculiar rules as opposed to interstate quarrels, and later he Characters in “Ladies of Brighton” Pfizer’s jab was inspired by the vaccine rollout, joking about over 50s claiming to wait to hide their age. .
“There were really interesting things going on,” he says.
He currently counts 2.5 million followers (mostly between the ages of 25 and 45) on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. And the demographic has changed from almost entirely female to his fifth male.
As we were having lunch, the lady next to us leaned forward and chatted with us while we took our picture. Her teenage son used to watch him on ABC Kids, she said, and is thrilled to see Rees in person.
This kind of interaction has become very normal for Rees. He now has fans of all ages and, he says, finds himself constantly stopping at school drop-offs, cafes, and sporting events.
“I didn’t realize how famous I was until the end of lockdown, and I still don’t consider myself famous. Part of me still thinks I’m an ABC children’s presenter. I think so, but my wife says:
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“A lot of people come to me and thank me [in lockdown] They feel they owe me a hug because they gave them something to laugh about.
As for his income, it is said that he earns more than he did during the Jimmy Giggle era.
“Yeah… just a little more,” he laughs shyly. “It’s pretty crazy.”
His 2022 Australian tour began with 12 scheduled shows and was extended to 39 due to demand.
late last year, he man to decidewhich puts his skit into writing.
the title is popular series he It started when Reese realized Supermarket packaging weirdness: Why are raspberries the only berry with a pillow? Why don’t cans of beets have ring pull openers like other cans?
“I was laughing at myself as soon as I started thinking about it. It’s really funny.”
A successful lease allowed us to rent a warehouse in Mornington. As his work continues to evolve beyond his COVID-19 humor, he stores sets, cameras, lighting and props.
One of his latest hit series is “POV” (an acronym for Point of View). Generation Z To office employee, gamer When parents of millennials.
“I didn’t realize how famous I was until the end of lockdown…I think part of me still thinks I’m the host of ABC’s children’s show.”
He also hired his friend David to work with him four days a week. They know each other well: David he was his third of the four Hoots. couscous and hoot.
In 2023, he will star in task master A show from the UK on Channel 10 where comic book Tom Gleeson sets five comedians with wild tasks.
Reese says it “feels good, it’s amazing” to be among the cast of comedians, but he’s still adjusting to the title and wants to write a new show, but it’s one of this year’s major shows. It is undecided whether he will appear at the Comedy Festival.
“My management has never managed comedians.
That includes the way he tours. Given that Reese is primarily known through the prism of the characters he portrays, I ask him who the real Jimmy is.
“I have a pretty big family,” he says. Instead of completing the tour in three months like others, he spent about eight months making sure he had enough time to go home and be with his wife and children. I completed the tour.
“I’ve never been away more than a few days at a time. I don’t want to be away,” he says.
“I have a young family and the house is pretty chaotic, so part of me feels sorry for my wife being alone, but I miss it!”
At the end of our meal, Rees once again demonstrates how committed he is to pleasing others. I noticed she barely touched the salad I ordered. He’s full of fish and chips, but he grabs a fork.
“I feel sick,” he says. “I’ll have some.”
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https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/victoria/from-children-s-tv-to-lockdown-skits-who-is-the-real-jimmy-rees-20230104-p5caak.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_national From kids’ TV shows to lockdown skits, who is the real Jimmy Reese?