JIMMY Rees sometimes can’t believe how his television career as boomed.
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The man behind Jimmy Giggle always wanted to be on TV but acting didn’t appeal.
It was a bit of a crazy ride to start with,” Rees says.
“I hadn't done anything professionally at all. I had done some amateur theatre and a bit of acting here and there but nothing paid.
"Then I sent this audition to the ABC and apparently I ticked all the boxes for the ABC so I got the job with Giggle and Hoot but it was a bit crazy to start with.”
He enjoys the crazy ride as Jimmy Giggle.
With a one-year-old yet to discover discover Giggle and Hoot – and that Jimmy Giggle is his dad – Rees knows there’s some interesting times ahead for his family.
“He doesn't watch too much TV so I'm not quite sure if he knows yet, we've got books with my face in it,” he says.
“We're trying to delay it as long as possible so I don't have to put on the act every night.
"It'll be cool for a while then it won't be cool at all. 'don't drop me off to school in your pyjamas'.”
Rees sees comparisons between what he now does and what he watched while growing up on a television diet of Sesame Street, Play School and Agro in the 1990s.
"I guess it's (Agro’s Cartoon Connection) a similar show to what I'm doing, a man with a puppet,” Rees says.
"It's funny how technology changes but a lot of the things that make kids laugh and learn never change, and Play School is a testament to that.
“It's craft and being nurturing and a likeable character who doesn't talk down to kids but includes them.”
The multi-award winning and much loved ABC for Kids hosts Giggle and Hoot focus on preschoolers’ lives and routines through songs, stories, friendship, laughter and imagination.
The live show, incorporating these themes, will play three concerts at The Cube Wodonga on April 23.
“It's nice to get out to the regions,” he says.
“We've been around for a while now but we have't been to these places.
“I don't know how to explain it, but the kids and parents really like the show and there's no negativity around. It is a nice thing to be part of … and it's great it's selling well.”
Joining Jimmy Giggle, Hoot and Hootabelle at The Cube will be the entertainment veterans Bananas in Pyjamas – B1 and B2 are now in their 22nd year and continue to be loved by children and parents globally.
