‘Jim and Dave have lost the dressing room’
Football and comedy go together like peas in a pod. I should know - I’m a West Ham fan and we’ve been making people laugh on & off the pitch for decades. Jim and Dave both know how football fans love to have a good giggle and so have brought their no nonsense, no holds barred comedy quiz to the Edinburgh Fringe. And the crowd? Well they lapped it up.
Songs, sketches, one liners and dozens of dodgy puns make this a fast-paced and well crafted gem of a show that shows off its silky skills for the crowd and then buries the metaphorical ball straight into the back of the net.
Opening with a musical tour through all 92 league clubs (yes, they manage to do it - with just a little help from Billy Joel) this was from the start going to be a rip roaring rollercoaster ride where everyone was fair game. Our comedy duo then quickly took the time to establish where the audience’s loyalties lie - checking for where any potential rivalries might be. (No dodgy Millwall fans were present during our show thank goodness). This was genius as it encouraged us all to be vocal from the start - which of course, as football fans, we totally were.
The quiz itself is light-hearted - no prizes, just playing for pride and bragging rights - and even though my team lost, in the spirit of the game I came away knowing that we definitely buzzed in first on that last question, the referee was blind and the whole thing was fixed anyway. It’s no wonder Jim’s team had seven stars on his board to Dave’s measly three. It’s rigged mate - it’s rigged.
With the use of a simple whiteboard and a projector the show had some excellent visual gags with video clips, animations and some well worked tactical diagrams that would make even Pep blush. The transitions were slick and the gags just kept coming - this was a show that had been rehearsed to within an inch of its very existence.
There was even a special guest during our performance as they welcomed comedian Jenny Tyler to the stage for her offering to ‘Football Room 101’. Both the boys and the crowd got to thoroughly grill her on her offering to the vaults but as the daughter of legendary commentator and broadcaster Martin Tyler, she’s probably well used to hard hitting questions about the beautiful game. It as a nice moment of relief before we got back to the serious business of mocking everyone’s teams.
My one gripe - despite the opening number it was very ‘elite’ football centric. We were in Scotland yet there was only a passing glance to Scottish football; there were odd references made at the start to lower league clubs but this was mostly just to fill in some untidy gaps and there was not one (believe me I was looking for one) reference anywhere to the women’s game. If the show continues to grow and tour (and I really hope it does) then I think it needs to take a look at where football is headed, which is slightly away from the Sky Sports tabloid version of the game which is currently dominant.
That being said - this was a crowd pleaser for those in the room at the time and from the laughter, smiles and general positive participation from the audience it was no wonder that the lads had packed out the room for their final show. Let’s not do this down - it was a cracking piece of comedy writing.
Will the tour move into extra time? From talking to the boys after they certainly hope so and I’ll be keeping an eye out to see if their team bus comes anywhere near me so we can put some jumpers down for goalposts and have a good kickabout.
‘Jim and Dave have lost the dressing room’ has now finished its run at Ciao Roma but you can get more information about them at
