.....I had been waiting outside the stage door of the Majestic Theatre in Retford in November 2008, to meet Jethro, star of the show that I had been to see. We chatted for a while and I had my photo taken with him!!
Thanks for giving me so many laughs, Jethro!
I have been to several of his shows, and he is my favourite comedian by far!!
Jethro is the stage name of comedian Geoffrey Rowe who was born in the village of St Buryan, Cornwall, in 1948. Geoff was brought up in St Just and, after leaving Cape Cornwall School, became a carpenter's apprentice. He later
Music ran in the Rowe family. Geoff's father, Hugh, founded the St Buryan Male Voice Choir, which is still going strong some 60 years later! Geoff hi
"What happened was....."
Generation Game Outtake (video)
worked as a 'timber man' in the Lavant tin mine, now preserved and looked after by the National Trust.
The Levant tin mine
Jethro's famous 'JESTER' number plate!
himself developed a powerful bass singing voice and, as an eighteen year old, joined the St. Just and District Operatic Society, taking part in local operatic productions. He also sang in local pubs where his natural talent for telling jokes was quickly recognised. As a rugby-playing 19-year-old (by this time
he was already nicknamed 'Jethro') he took part in St. Just Rugby Club's first-ever match in 1967, and later went on to play as a prop forward for Penzance & Newlyn RFC, known affectionately as 'The Pirates'.
Jethro at 19
Geoff made his television debut as a co-host on Westward Television's long-running gameshow Treasure Hunt in the 1970s but it wasn't until 1990 that he made the first of his nine appearances on the Des O'Connor Tonight show. He also appeared several times on Generation Game, demonstrating Cornish pasty making!
Apart from a couple of TV shows of his own The Jethro Junction for HTV in 2001, the comedian has shunned the medium in favour of shows with live theatre audiences. In any case, his brand of humour is far too risque for television!
Jethro & Jim Davidson in The Generation Game
Jethro's humour is story-based with a comic twist, like his famous The Train Don't Stop Camborne Wednesdays! His repertoire of adult material is delivered in his
Jethro at Salisbury in 1993
Jethro at Truro in 2002
Jethro at Falmouth in 2006
Jethro at Worthing in 2001
His jokes, often involving fictitious friends like Denzil Pemberthy and Slipalong Trevaskis, have his audiences rolling about in fits of uncontrollable laughter!
own unique, irreverent style.
(left) Jethro at Lewdown in 1997
Jethro at Torquay in 2003
Jethro lives in Lewdown, near Okehampton on the Cornwall/Devon border, where he has his own entertainment venue, Jethro's Club. Sadly, Jethro has had to stop performing there because of the demands made from giving over 100 performances each year on tour, taking in many theatres all over the country.
Jethro on stage at Torquay in 2003
Jethro's Club can be seen on his videos, with most of his 'sketches' being filmed in the bar, or the nearby countryside.
Sketches from Jethro's dvds are
The audience at Jethro's Club awaits his performance
filmed around Lewdown
Jethro on stage at his club in Lewdown in 1997
at a variety of theatres, with sketches included as well
Jethro's great loves away from entertaining, are his horses which he shows, and wins prizes with, at the top national events. This provides relaxation for him aw
Jethro has raised large sums for charity over the years including a walk from Land's End to Lewdown in 1995 for the Bristol Cancer Scanner Appeal, contributing £20,000 from shows th
There are two sides to Jethro - the extrovert performer and the very private man who doesn't want to be a celebrity, so much so that he never signs autographs! "When I'm on stage I love
Jethro at the bar of his club in Lewdown
Jethro reaches a wide audience with his recordings. He released his first video A Portion of Jethro in 1993 with 150,000 copies sold. The following year, his second video From Behind the Bushes (1994) sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and remained in the UK top twenty best-selling video charts for over thirteen weeks. I have copies of all of Jethro's commercial recordings, including Befor We Start, a dvd only on sale at his shows. This dvd's title is taken from the line he uses to open his shows, "Befor(e) we bloody start".
A selection of Jethro's videos and dvds recorded live on stage
Jethro uses his fine singing voice
during his performances
Click
Some people May find these videos highly offensive!!
VIDEOS
Visit Jethro's Official Website:
On stage, with nothing more than a table & drink, a microphone & stand, and a guitar which he uses for part of his performance, Jethro tells his jokes in his warm, Cornish accent, as he paces the stage from side to side. His rapport with his audience is instant and total, with the laughter virtually continuous as joke follows joke - without the necessity for applause between each one!!
Jethro
Click on a name below to take you to that page
I met Jethro again when he was in Mansfield for his show in September 2009. He kindly gave me a copy of his dvd A Day in the Life of Jethro. It shows
Jethro's commercial dvds remain as popular as ever, and his latest called Too Late to Grow Up (2009) is no exception. It is a recording of a show at The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole in July 2009, and there is also an audio book version.
away from the pressures of touring with his show which can take him to more than 100 different venues each year.
Jethro's latest dvd
Jethro's latest audio book
that he gave each evening at local venues along the route.
Jethro with his racehorse
love to make people laugh, but if I get recognised on the street I get embarrassed," he says
I saw Jethro's show at Newark's Palace Theatre in May 2009, and met him afterwards. I had another photo taken with him, and I gave him a printed copy of his page on my website. He tel
With Jethro after his show in Newark in May 2009
telephoned me the next day and told me that he thought it was "Bloody brilliant!!"
With Jethro after his show in Mansfield in September 2009
a typical day in his life outside show business, and his love of the beautiful Devon countryside where he lives and owns 1000 acres of farmland. We see
see his farm machinery business, his animal feeds company, his restaurant and his horses. His passion for the countryside shines through as he talks about it with great warmth. After watching this dvd, I felt that I knew Jethro as he really is.
A Day in the Life of Jethro
A selection of images from A Day in the Life of Jethro
Jethro with some of his horses
Jethro mixes his own animal feeds
Jethro talks about breeding horses
Jethro with his restaurant chef, Frankie
Jethro with his brother, Mal
Jethro plays pool at his club in Lewdown
Jethro with his favourite horse
Jethro uses sheep to restore his fields
Jethro discusses one of his horses
Jethro reflects on a happy life
Jethro at the theatre before his show
Jethro in his theatre dressing room
JeThRo!
'Flying Iris'
One of Jethro's great passions is his racehorse breeding organisation called Jethro's Bloodstock, with a number of their foals already racing. One which has proved very successful is Dolly Penrose who, after 2 seasons (in 2008 & 2009) on the flat trained by ex-England footballer Mick Channon, is now National Hunt racing. Carrying Jethro's maroon & beige colours, she won her first hurdle race at Exeter in December 2009, and then came 2nd two weeks later in another hurdle race at Taunton.
On one visit to Channon's yard to see Dolly Penrose, Jethro was so taken with a horse called Rocamadour (3rd in the French Derby in 2005) that he bought him there and then. Rocamadour is now a stalllion at stud. Dolly Penrose, along with Jethro's other racehorses, Baraquet, Flying
Dolly Penrose winning at Exeter in December 2009
Jethro's
silks
Dolly Penrose after winning at Exeter
Jethro's stallion Rocamadour
Flying Flagship & Doran's Lodge, is now trained by Chris Down at his stables in Cullompton, Devon.
Dolly Penrose (yellow silks) beating
Mudawin at Haydock in 2009
Dolly Penrose's first win,
at York on 11th July 2008
Jethro wanted to name his horse Dolly Pentreath (who was the last fluent native speaker of the Cornish language when she died in 1777) but the name had already been taken, so he used Dolly
Penrose instead.
With Jethro again outside the Majestic Theatre at Retford in June 2010
With a Jethro poster!