I Still Can't Get My Head Round Roy Jay
Consider me spook(ed)
The 1980s was a decade of British comedy that soared to giddy, genre-defining heights - The Young Ones, Blackadder and Only Fools and Horses to name just a few. But for every glimmering jewel, there was a leaden dud, a clunking monstrosity which repulses our modern palate and reminds us that mediocrity was still the order of the day - The Little & Large Show, Bottle Boys and Kinvig.
And yet, amid this sea of regrettable television, one man plumbed depths previously uncharted: Roy Jay.
I’m fascinated by Roy Jay in much the same way that I’m transfixed by footage of the nuclear explosion over Hiroshima. He’s so unique, so unusual and such an atrocity to inflict on humanity. Working all over the UK club circuit throughout the 1970s - with the occasional sojourn abroad - Jay developed his act to a point where, inexplicably, television came calling for his, uh, talents.
Appearing on light entertainment shows such as The Little & Large Show, The Main Attraction and The Laughter Show, Jay apparently thrilled audiences with his highly curious performances - the likes of which hadn’t been seen before or since.
Take this performance on The Bob Monkhouse Show from 1983. He slinks onto the stage, as if pulling himself along on an invisible rope, dragging behind him a sense of knowing absurdity. Jay quickly launches into singing Vehicle by The Ides of March before having the audacity to greet the audience as weirdos.
Then comes his signature tic - a startled backwards hop and an exclamation of “Spook!” What follows is a series of corny, mothballed gags as Jay peppers his set with random announcements of “Slither!” and “You’ll all be doing it tomorrow!” as he attempts to convince the audience he has them in the palm of his hand. And he does it all as he struts around with the confidence of a cat who’s not only got the cream, but also secured the freehold on the entire dairy.
Fast foward to the The Laughter Show in 1985 and, aside from the outfit, little has changed. Jay’s act remains as resolutely immovable as a lead-lined granite tombstone. Somehow, he’d managed to stick it out for two years (even securing lucrative adverts) with a formula which allowed him enough novelty to be granted an occasional presence on British television.
It’s an awful act - and I’ll go to court to fight anyone who says otherwise - but it’s so soul scarringly terrible that its absolutely unforgettable. There are so many questions which need answering. How were the seeds for this bizarre act sown? What were Jay’s artistic intentions behind it? And how was it allowed to get a foothold on television? Thankfully, I only discovered Roy Jay a couple of years ago - if I’d been exposed to him during my formative years, I dare say I’d have required years of intensive therapy.
Jay disappeared from British screens in the mid-1980s, not helped by an incident where he dropped his trousers at an indifferent club audience in Jersey. But , ultimately, he was undone by the limits of his own material. In a club, this sort of thing was fine. Up against the best that television had to offer? Well, it’s no surprise that Jay quickly sank into a sinkhole of mediocrity. A damning eulogy to one man’s career, but Roy Jay lingered just long enough to haunt us forever.
I found this online, it all sounds a bit far fetched, but who knows?
ROY JAY
Roy Jay was born in Oslo, the son of a Norwegian father and a Scottish/Ansh mother: He left Norway with his family at the age of four to live in south Wales, where he began hes education When he was eight he spent a year in Cork studying Gaelic and the violin, after which time he returned to his parents in Wales. The family was soon to move agan - this time to Atherton near Manchester
Following in his father's footstpes, Roy joined the Norwegian Navy at the age of fifteen and spent two years travelling the world. Once back in civilian life, he entered a talent compertion and won first prize of £5.00. As a result of this he joined a group and sarg lead with them in small Norther clubs and dancehalls.
It was not until he was offered the job at Pontins Southport as Assistant Entertainments Manager, that Roy.Jay began comedy, and in 1973 he topped the bill in cabaret following the Miss Gibraltar Beauty Contest which was broadcast by the Spanish Television Network. In Britain. Roy appeared in the clubs of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, until 1975 when he was offered a three month tour of South Africa. He did, in fact, stay eight months, during which time he appeared on television. He was rapidly gaining in popularity with South Aírican audiences, but had to return to Great Britain to fulfill recording and cabaret commitments. Since March 1976 Roy Jay has worked in most of the major clubs in the country, e.g. "Batley Vanety Club". "Ceasars Palace",
", Luton, "The Stardust Rooms" Usk.
South Wales and "The Fiesta Club'
Sheffield
I can very vaguely remember him appearing on TV screens in the mid-80's, but as stated, he didn't stick around for that long.Believe it or not, I found his oddball comic routine on Bob Monkhouse's show quite amusing, not especially for the obvious,routine jokes themselves, but his style and presentation, though it was a modus operandi that soon began to wear thin, and he became increasingly unreliable to producers due to an apparent drink problem which seriously began to affect his performances, being dropped from the series stated and an advertising deal with Smiths Square Crisps (being replaced in the latter by Lenny Henry). A later performance of a recently released single on Pebble Mill at One in 1986 to relaunch his declining TV career was not a success, as he appeared to have aged alarmingly and looked poorly throughout. It was his last known TV appearance, as he went back to performing in clubs,at home and abroad,and passed away in 2007 aged 59.