One of the most successful comedians on the planet, Jim Jefferies, has just finished a tour of the country. The show became one of the hardest shows to get a ticket for with venues swiftly selling out.
The tour was gruelling with one stretch delivering 15 shows in eleven days with only one travel day in the middle and whilst Lighting Designer Tim Bradsmith may not have had a large rig to set up, the schedule and the fact he was also Production Manager kept him very busy.
“When it comes to lighting, I’ve always been a big fan of less is best,” he said. “I taught production economics at WAAPA and even as a production manager for The Angels back in the 80s, they always let me hold the money because I’m in the business of making money for the band as well as making everybody around me happy.”
Tim has been in the business for a few decades and says it doesn’t matter who you are on a tour, everyone gets the same respect. During his career, Tim has toured in over 100 countries with over 10,000 acts and it doesn’t matter if the shows are for 250,000 or 250 people, he gives them all the same effort.
“A lot of younger band’s coming up are only successfully for maybe eight months and during that time they piss up all their money against the wall on a tour production company or unthinking promoter,” he added.
Tim has a formula for lighting Jim Jefferies starting with ‘light the money’ and so the followspot is the most important piece of lighting equipment. The show starts with some lighting razzle-dazzle to announce Jim’s imminent appearance on stage and then settles into static looks.
Tim discussed beforehand with Jim what feels good for him in regards to the colours and feel of the show. Knowing Tim quite well, Jim trusted him to do whatever needed to be done. Travis Hogan from Frontier Touring had a fair amount of input and sixteen of Frontier’s Astera Titan Tubes were implemented on the tour.
“I designed the show and then Travis came to the first show and we bounced a few ideas around,” remarked Tim. “I’m not fussy on the brand of fixture I use as long as it’s a comparative light. The Martin MAC Vipers were replaced by Claypaky Mythos at one gig which was fine.
“I asked Chameleon for MAC Auras for a couple of our big shows and they sent me the ShowPRO R3 to try out. I had read about them and seen one at a trade show but I was blown away by their power and punch! The R3s are dynamo little units!”
Owning four production companies, Tim understands the economics of getting a reasonable light and says he will certainly be purchasing some R3s after the tour.
The rig comprised twelve wash lights (MAC Auras, ShowPRO R3), six Martin MAC Vipers, six Duets, a DF50, and one ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr 15?-30? Zoom with the Jim Jeffries logo. Added to that were two trusses, and six motors and Tim toured his own HedgeHog 4 console.
“Normally I’ll use any console you throw at me but the HedgeHog 4 is economical to move around the country and so easy to transport,” he commented. “I’ve used consoles in the Eastern Block with Russian on them! I own MA Lighting, Chamsys and High End consoles but I refuse to use an Avo … whoever put the flash buttons on top of the faders … my brain just does not work that way.”
Tim admits he only has seven cues during the show but says that is all that is needed.
“The last Jim Jefferies tour had something like 140 cues and they spent way too much money on production,” he said. “You’ve got to keep it simple.”
