James Eoin Stephen Paul McKeown (born 24 January 1966), better known as Jimeoin (pronounced "Jim Owen"), is an English-born Irish comedian and actor. Jimeoin rose to prominence in the early 1990s in Australia, where he had his own TV show and where he still resides. He came to public attention in the UK between 2005 and 2008 while performing a tour of Australia's

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

and major cities, which was filmed for the

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of I ...

documentary ''Jimeoin Down Under''. He has also gained international recognition and is a frequent performer at comedy festivals, including the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, where he made his debut in 1993 and where he has since appeared every year.

Early life

James Eoin Stephen Paul McKeown was born in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

on 24 January 1966, the son of Irish parents. He grew up in the Northern Irish town of

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,003 people in the 2011 Census. It is a seaside resort neighbouring Portrush. Its harbour and scenic coastal paths form an Atlantic promenade lead ...

, where he attended Dominican College. After working on building sites in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for four years, he moved to Australia at the age of 22 and found work as a gardener.

Career

Jimeoin's UK television appearances include '' Sunday Night at the Palladium'' (ITV1), '' Live at the Apollo'' (BBC1), ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based ...

'' (Channel 4), '' The Royal Variety Performance'' (ITV), '' Channel 4's O2 Comedy Gala'', ''

Dave's One Night Stand ''Dave's One Night Stand'' is a British comedy programme made by Amigo Television and Phil McIntyre Television for Dave. The series featured stand-up comedians performing in their hometowns. It was first broadcast for four series from 10 October ...

'', ''

Edinburgh Comedy Festival Edinburgh Comedy Festival was a short-lived festival of comedy shows which operated during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2008 and 2009. Effectively a marketing campaign for the "Big Four" venues at the Fringe - Assembly, Gilded Balloo ...

– Live!'' (BBC3, three consecutive years), ''Monumental'' (BBC NI team captain, series I and II), ''

Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' is a British stand-up comedy television series hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre from different venues around the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first series was broadcast with six episodes in 2009. Each ...

'' (BBC1). He has also appeared on the '' Conan O'Brien Show'' in the US as well on a number of international specials for Montreal's '' Just for Laughs''. in 2016 he guested on John Lloyd's ''

Museum of Curiosity ''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as ...

'' for BBC Radio 4. He both starred in and co-wrote two Australian feature film comedies, '' The Craic'' (1999) and '' The Extra'' (2005), both co-starring Bob Franklin. He had his own comedy television programme, the eponymous '' Jimeoin'' (1994–95) which ran for three seasons. He played Convict Griffin in the sitcom '' Bligh'' (1992). He is also known for his extensive live comedy tours in Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. In 2013 he made his solo debut at London's

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

and began to take his tours into the arenas, starting with the Belfast

Odyssey Arena The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 2 ...

. In 2010 he completed a new series '' Jimeoin: Over the Top'' for

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Serv ...

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

and

Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...

. The series features Jimeoin travelling across sections of northern Australia, interspersed with stand-up routines recorded at towns visited along the way. During the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

, Jimeoin hosted Australian TV SBS's primetime comedy programme The Full Brazilian, teaming up with the network's live coverage of 2014's World Cup games. The 25 live-to-air, hour-long shows were a mix of Jimeoin's stand-up, sketches, chat,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

talk via satellite link to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, musical acts and guest comedians.

Personal life

Jimeoin married Catherine Arena in 2000, and they reside in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

with their four children. He is a fan of Australian football team

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium ...

. He said in a 2009 interview that he is "not really into that nationality thing" but revealed that he supports the

Australian national football team The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wi ...

, as well as rooting for Australia in other sports, because "Ireland's shit at everything".

Discography

Albums

Singles

DVDs

Filmography

Movies

* ''The Perfumer'' (1997) – Edward Pinchbeck * '' The Craic'' (1999) – Fergus Montagu (also writer/producer) * '' You Can't Stop the Murders'' (2003) – Burrito * '' The Extra'' (2005) – The Extra (also writer) * ''

That's Not My Dog! ''That's Not My Dog!'' is a 2018 Australian comedy film written and directed by Dean Murphy and starring Shane Jacobson. Each of the cast members in the film are portraying themselves. The film had a limited cinematic release from 15–18 March 2 ...

'' (2018) – Self

Television and radio

''As himself''

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, , ''Goin' Off'', , rowspan="5",

ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Comedy Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indu ...

, , , , rowspan="5", , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, , ''Crack'' , , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, , ''Forklift Truck'' , , , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, , ''Third Drawer Down'' , , , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , ''Jimeoin on Ice Live'' , ,

References

External links

Jimeoin's official website
* {{Authority control 1966 births Living people Stand-up comedians from Northern Ireland Male television actors from Northern Ireland Male comedians from Northern Ireland People from Portstewart People from Leamington Spa People educated at Dominican College, Portstewart Australian male comedians Television writers from Northern Ireland British male television writers 20th-century comedians from Northern Ireland 21st-century comedians from Northern Ireland Male actors from County Londonderry