Jim Davidson speaks to Echo ahead of appearing at Wimborne’s Tivoli Theatre

“If you book tickets to see Aled Jones, you know you’ll be singing hymns’, he adds in a not-so-subtle dig at the ‘cancel culture’ phenomenon currently doing its best to stamp over opinion, debate and conversation. Comedy, unfortunately, appears to be a victim firmly in its grip.

“If you don’t like the act, just don’t book the tickets,” says Jim.

He hates the phrase, ‘cancel culture’, mind.

“I don’t really think it’s a cancel culture, as such. I think it’s more vindictive little people who have suddenly been given a sense of power. People on trustee boards at theatres and the like who don’t like a certain act and then decide, ‘no they are not welcome here’.

“Let people decide what they want to watch. If they don’t want to see it, they won’t.”

It’s a fair point.

His comments come amid the furore of Roy Chubby Brown’s ban from Sheffield City Hall. The venue claims the comic’s blue humour ‘does not share its values’ – but the decision has sparked a backlash from thousands of fans.

Despite unwavering demand from audiences, Jim himself has found himself on the ‘blacklist’ of venues more than once.

READ MORE: Our night out with comedian Jim Davidson at Weymouth Harbour

“I’ve been banned from some theatres after personal disagreements with the managers, but the latest one is a joke,” he says.

He’s referring to Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre – a venue he has been performing at for four decades and one he helped to raise £20,000 to save from going bankrupt around 30 years ago.

He claims he’s been told he’s no longer welcome there – but apparently not because there’s no appetite for his comedy from his loyal Midlands fans.

“Last time I appeared there about 18 months ago, I was told to park in a small layby car park near the theatre which only has room for one car. They said I’d be fine there, but when I got back there was a chain on the car park blocking me in.

“We tried to get hold of everyone but in the end we got a hacksaw and cut the chain to get out. We left our names and contact numbers and said we’d pay for any damage.

“Apparently though I’m not welcome back because of it.

“I love performing at that theatre and the audience there love me.

“It’s pathetic.

“I wasn’t even banned from there when I was accused of sexual offences but apparently I’m not welcome because of this. What’s the real reason?

“I can’t really believe that I’d not be welcome there after we go back so many years, so I am hoping it is a wind up.”

You may think it’s just comics on the ‘right’ of the political spectrum that have fallen foul of the cancel wars.

Group Deputy Editor for Dorset Vicky Nash with Jim Davidson on his boat in Weymouth Harbour in June

READ MORE: Comedian Jim Davidson gives views on politics and prisons during visit to Weymouth

But left-wing Scottish comedian Janey Godley would disagree. Despite her outspoken ‘woke’ views, love of Jeremy Corbyn and disdain for Donald Trump, the comic has become the latest victim of a cancel culture you could argue she and her supporters played some part in creating. After old tweets emerged with alleged racist undertones, she has seen her bookings cancelled and her adverts promoting the SNP’s pandemic policies pulled, apparently leaving her in an incredibly vulnerable state.

“The world’s gone mad,” says Jim.

“Whether I agree or disagree with Janey Godley, or even like her, it doesn’t matter. She has lost all of her work. Who decides this?

“I am a comedian. My job is to make people laugh.

“I don’t say anything racist, sexist or homophobic in any of my shows so there is no way they could ban me and use that as an excuse.

“It is my job to make people laugh. That’s it.

“You always have to look at it and think, ‘if there were people in here who are from the group I am going to take the p*ss out of, would I still say it?’ and my answer is always, ‘yes’. I wouldn’t say it if not.

“As long as you are respectful, people know you are just telling jokes to make people laugh.

“When I’m on stage I start getting carried away and end up a bit like a mad man with some of the routes I go down. I do one gag about whales and how stupid they are as creatures. I don’t really think they are, it’s just to make people laugh.

“If you write down jokes and see them in black and white without any context or irony, then of course some of them sound bad.

“These people trying to ban people doing their shows or having their say are just vindictive.

“Funny is funny.”

Never one to shy away from controversy, Jim is already preparing for the next bout of backlash after agreeing to meet Diversity dancing star Ashley Banjo for his upcoming ITV show Ashley Banjo: Britain In Black And White.

The documentary is being screened in October as part of Black History Month and comes a year after Diversity’s performance in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which depicted the murder of George Floyd in America.

Jim had raised concerns about the appropriateness of such a political dance on a Saturday night light entertainment show.

More than 24,000 people wrote to Ofcom to complain about the dance at the time, which were all later dismissed, and the dance went on to win the Bafta TV award for Must-See Moment.

“I was already being cast as the bad guy,” he says.

“I told him I support the slogan of black lives matter but not the political cause and that I didn’t think it was right for light entertainment on a Saturday night.

“But I said he has such amazing influence and could have such an impact with issues such as knife crime. There’s so much more he can do.

“But he thinks I am a racist for even questioning whether the dance was appropriate so I stormed off because it wasn’t a debate.

“Despite that, I actually liked him. He actually has an opinion and views, even if they are different to mine.”

If the reception from dancing supremo Ashley was, let’s say frosty, the exact opposite could be said of that from the heroic troops from 2 and 3 PARA, who were deployed to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of citizens following the Taliban takeover.

The star revealed he performed at their request after they returned to the UK from the operation and were quarantined. Jim’s long-time friend and fellow comic Bobby Davro also performed.

“They were just off the plane from Afghanistan and had to stay quarantined for five days and they were asked what they wanted,” he says.

“They said they wanted a show with me because of the work I’ve done with the forces.

“Boris Johnson had been to see them and I had to wait for him to bugger off before I went in. I wrote to him and thanked him for being my warm-up act.”

The forces' favourite, who has raised millions of pounds for veterans during his career, performed to around 300 members of the 16th Air Assault Brigade at their barracks in Colchester in a gig that was kept secret for security reasons.

“These are just young lads who had done an extraordinary job,” he says.

“But all the reports that said they had come back traumatised aren’t true. They know what they are doing.

“They were the best people to send in. They were there to provide humanitarian aid for the handover to the Taliban, but if the sh*t it the fan, they were prepared.

“It was an honour to perform for them and they loved it.”

Jim is now nine shows into his nationwide Unlocked tour, which will be making its way to Wimborne’s Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday, September 21 and Wednesday, September 22.

So far, he says, the tour’s been a smash.

Described as a ‘master of his art’ by critics who have given the show five-star ratings, he confidently says: “The audiences are loving it. They don’t want to let me off the stage.

“As I said, funny is funny. And we all need a bloody good laugh.”

*Tickets for the show cost £26 at the Box Office or £28.60 online.

Visit https://www.tivoliwimborne.co.uk/event/jim-davidson-2021/ to book