Usually when a man wanders onstage wearing a sparkly shirt you think to yourself “oh here we go… cheesy chat-show host…”. For a moment, when Jimmy James walks onstage, this does flit across your mind; but then he opens his mouth and starts to sing and the crowd lowers their guard.
Jimmy does Divas. His set comprises of a large repertoire of impressions of female pop icons through the ages, from Billie Holiday to Madonna. His likeness to Judy Garland, Cher and Barbra Streisand singing is particularly impressive, especially given that this is, well, ”Jimmy” James.
Is not all songs, as he chuckles and chats casually in between numbers, even showing some video footage of himself during his Marilyn Monroe impersonator days and his likeness to her beggars belief if it is not the real thing.
He does have a couple of weaker numbers (which he himself admits jokingly before launching into them anyway), but frankly the standard is so high that this feels like nit-picking more than anything else. The audience are captivated from the get-go and by the end, they are utterly won over.
5/5
Catriona Ruth Paterson
