Jamie's Journey
from Law to Laughs

Now hailed as ‘Britain’s premier blind comedian’ with a string of sell-out performances to his name, Jamie’s latest show ‘Designated Driver’ started its Scottish tour earlier this year, taking his unique brand of uproariously funny storytelling across the country.

It’s all a long way off from his graduation with an LLB back in 2006, when a career in comedy was a distant prospect.

“When I left Aberdeen I headed to London for a job in corporate banking,” he explains. “While I was there I dabbled in some open-mic stuff at the Comedy Café in Shoreditch and loved it, but I never considered it as a career until I lost my job because of the financial crash.

“I’m one of the few people glad that happened, because I could never have justified quitting a well-paid job to become a comedian.”

Overcoming adversity has been a feature of Jamie’s life from a young age, when he was diagnosed with the degenerative eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa. This became aggressive in his mid-to-late teens, but failed to prevent him gaining a degree in Ancient History from St Andrews University before coming to Aberdeen to study the LLB.

“I had a cracking time in Aberdeen, and stayed very close to the Machar Bar, which was handy – maybe too handy!

“I realised fairly early that I probably wouldn’t end up practicing law, but the legacy skills have been invaluable. Some comedians like to ad-lib but I’m more structured, so the analytical skills and ability to hone material that I developed at university have helped massively.”

Jamie’s first forays into his new career began in 2013, where he won a slot at the Edinburgh Festival Free Fringe, performing from midnight to 1am at a pub in the Royal Mile. His show - ‘That Funny Blind Guy’ - was a hit, but he still had work to do.

“Even though my shows were well reviewed, I had to earn my stripes on the ‘circuit’ before I got paid to perform in professional nights and booked to support headline acts. You have to do that before you can really count yourself as a comedian.”

Before long he had refined his act, which usually begins with some near the knuckle jokes about his blindness, including a visit to a swimming class for disabled people, where he likens the scene to ‘the final hours of the Titanic’.

But it’s Jamie’s observations on the absurdities of everyday life that have attracted critical acclaim, while his easy-going delivery has won him work as a voice-over artist.

With a string of tours under his belt he now has a loyal following, but he still admits to some trepidation when taking to the stage. “At the start of your career you can feel crushed when you have a bad gig and even now it can be terrifying.

“What you always want is roaring laughter and applause, and when that doesn’t happen you realise you have to work a bit harder. But sometimes you get audiences that you can’t gauge at all, only to find out right at the end of the gig that they loved it. That’s always a massive relief!”

@funnyblindguy