Comedian's marathon-style London tour (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)
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Will Adamsdale's comic creation Chris John Jackson is back and on a marathon tour of London
12:42pm Wednesday 12th January 2011 in Comedy By Helen Barnes
It sounds slightly ridiculous – 26 gigs in 26 days at venues barely a few miles apart.
But you would expect nothing less from life coach Chris John Jackson, the comic creation of Will Adamsdale.
After six years, Jackson is back on the road, touring London and dispensing his theory that “around every pointful action there is an infinite number of pointless actions."
“He’s really taking it to another level,” laughs Adamsdale. “I think the idea of doing a city is very exciting for Jackson because it combines both his enthusiasm for very grand gestures and also total incompetence and an inability to see it’s a completely impractical idea.
“It’s either completely incompetent or completely brilliant.”
Adamsdale’s show – which won the 2004 Perrier award – is a parody on the world of self-help speakers and their theories.
After a few years as a jobbing actor, Adamsdale made a conscious decision to write and perform his own material.
Having watched an infomercial by American self-help guru Tony Robbins at a hotel he found his inspiration for Jackson.
“He seemed such a funny character, almost like a superhero not a normal person, big and strong.”
People respond to Jackson, Adamsdale says, because they like somebody taking them in hand, but he also allows everyone licence to be completely childlike.
But Adamsdale admits his alter-ego is the antithesis to himself.
“I suppose everyone has extremes of their characters and performing is a way of bringing out something that is within you and you don’t normally show.
“He’s much more confident than me – he would take on any situation, whereas I’m a real ditherer.”
The latest situation Jackson confidently touts during the show is the Moving Things game, where he gets his audiences involved in moving something.
“I think we aren’t going to be able to move Trafalgar Square – I think that’s illegal,” says Adamsdale, “but I think we’re going to try and move a park instead.”
Adamsdale says his creation even seems to have developed a life of his own and as his micro-legend has developed so have Jackson’s theories and catchphrases.
“Push through with intensity is a phrase that has become really popular with people I know,” says Adamsdale.
“The most extreme example of someone taking on a Jackson catchphrase is an acquaintance I know. His wedding ring was inscribed on the inside with one of Jackson’s catchphrases.”
