Jethro (comedian)

Infobox Comedian


name = Jethro
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birth_place = Cornwall
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nationality = British
active = 1993–present
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Jethro is the stage name of British stand-up comedian Geoff Rowe, based in Cornwall. Rowe was born in 1948 [ [http://www.jethro.co.uk/ jethro ] ] in St Buryan, a small village in west Cornwall.

After leaving school, Jethro was apprenticed as a carpenter and then worked as a timber man in a tin mine. However, aged eighteen he joined the St. Just and District Operatic Society and, in addition to his bass voice, locals found he had a talent to make an audience laugh. He began visiting the pubs of Cornwall to sing and joke and was quickly hailed as Cornwall's top comic.

Television

Jethro made his TV debut on Treasure Hunt playing a pirate co-host.

In addition to his appearances on stage and video, Jethro has made a record nine appearances on TV shows hosted by Des O'Connor. His first appearance was on the "Des O'Connor Tonight" show in 1990, followed by a return for the Christmas Eve show later that year – the first time a comedian had been invited back during one series. He also appeared five times on Jim Davidson’s "Generation Game" show, twice giving a demonstration of how to make a Cornish pasty. Jethro was also involved in one of the show's longest sequences of out-takes, removed due to his and Davidson's uncontrolled fits of laughter but later shown separately. Davidson has said that he regards Jethro as his favourite storyteller, one of his great stories being "Train don't stop Camborne Wednesdays".

He has hosted two shows of his own, "The Jethro Junction", on HTV and in December 2001 appeared in front of Queen Elizabeth II for the Royal Variety Show.

Other

Jethro lives in Lewdown on the border between Cornwall and Devon and in March 1995 walked the 100 miles or so from Land's End to Lewdown to raise money for the Bristol Cancer Open Scanner Appeal. He gave a show each night at a local venue and in total managed to raise £20,000.

His great loves are his horses which he shows all over the country and with whom he has won most major prizes, including Wembley Arena. He also runs his own venue, "Jethro's Club", where he performs each year for charity. He was one of the directors of troubled channel Sound TV. He also performed at Somerset County Cricket Club at the benefit dinner of England batsman Marcus Trescothick.Fact|date=October 2008

Jethro played over 100 games for the Pirates Rugby Team, now better known as the Cornish Pirates. His rugby interest was nurtured at Cape Cornwall School (a then primitive rugby academy in the far west of Cornwall!) under the guidance of Derek Small who helped produce other famous Pirate characters such as Colin ‘Dumbo’ Dymond and Graham ‘Granite’ Waters. He played in St. Just’s first-ever match back in 1967 and then in 1970 had his first spell with the Pirates. Jethro played his 100th. match for the Pirates in 1974-75Fact|date=October 2008

Stand-Up Releases

Video Releases

* 1993: "A Portion Of Jethro - Slightly Naughty"
* 1994: "From Behind The Bushes - Live!"
* 1995: "Live! What Happened Was..."
* 1996: "Not For The Vicar..."
* 1997: "The Beast of Bodmin Moor"
* 1998: "Go You Ahead Hmmn...!"

Video & DVD Releases

* 1999: "Ready For Battle!"
* 2000: "Says Bull'cks to Europe!"
* 2001: "Rule Britannia!"
* 2002: "Only For The Barmy!"
* 2003: "Stark Raving Bonkers!"
* 2004: "Off The Wall - Live"

DVD Releases

* 2005: "Live In Cuckoo Land"
* 2006: "Live From The Madhouse"
* 2007: "Live At Jethro's - Back Of Beyond"
* Oct 2008: "A Giant Portion of Jethro"

Trivia

*Jethro played Rugby for Penzance and Newlyn Senior First Team for 10 years 1967 to 1977 as prop forward. One of Jethro's teammates at the time was Brian 'Stack' Stevens who went on to become one of English Rugby’s most famous players.
*Jethro has released an earlier video called "Befor We Start", but this was only on sale at his shows. The title of this video is taken from JeThRo's trademark opening of his shows "Befor(e) we bloody start"
*Jethro is a skilled marksman. He is a regular competetor in DTL competitions at A class standard. He has been mentioned numerous times in the CPSA's Pull! Magazine as one of Cornwalls most prominent shooters.

References

External links

* [http://www.jethro.co.uk/ Jethro's official site]