JETHRO performed to what looked like a full house on Friday night, the spacious arena sporting very few empty seats. 

The Cornish comedian (real name Geoffrey Rowe), obviously has a loyal fan base (his 2017 tour is already sold out in many areas) with the mostly mature audience, with more men than women, fitting the average demographic of his fan base.

His routine was a mix of one-liners, anecdotes and jokes, interspersed with some quite pleasant and enjoyable singing, by himself or his warm-up act who had the audience singing along by the second song. 

The song choices contrasted with the content of the night, which was mostly toilet, schoolboy humour, with a sustained use of below-the-belt jokes involving both male and female genitalia. 

As well as the many sexual jokes which could, quite frankly, be considered offensive, Jethro also targeted gay people, Indians, those with speech impediments and breast-feeding mothers in his routine, with his country bumpkin persona occasionally managing to diminish the reality of the content.

Luckily, not all his jokes were offensive; indeed, some of his more innocent material was very funny. 

Many of us would say that such racial and gender stereotyping has no place in modern society, but judging by their enthusiastic response, Jethro’s audience would disagree.

Julie Benson