Jocky Wilson Said @ Gilded Balloon

Darts fan or not, Jocky Wilson Said is a one-man show that would easily please most. It manages to be both funny and engaging – and crucially, it offers a compelling window into the troubled soul of this local hero from Fife. The story takes place on the arid plains of the Nevada desert, as Jocky descends into the madness of heatstroke, stranded on his way to an exhibition in Las Vegas. A riff, perhaps, on Wilson’s 1982 ban after he allegedly threw a punch at an official during a championship.  

It is refreshing to see a show that tells the story of a man born in Kirkcaldy, just 30 miles from the hubbub of Scotland’s capital. Grant O’Rourke delights in every aspect of the man, with passages lifted directly from his 1983 autobiography Jocky, such as the haunting line: “There's only one person to blame for the situation I'm in, and that's me.”

O’Rourke succeeds not only in the East Neuk dialect, but also the many other accents he pulls off with aplomb; from an American cowboy, a jobsworth darts official and longtime rival Eric Bristow. And he reminds us often of Wilson’s proclivity for drink, fags and sweets.     

Above all, this is a play that manages to encapsulate the complicated character of Wilson – from his upbringing in a children’s home just miles away from his mother, to eccentricities such as his refusing to brush his teeth and believing his gran’s story that “the English poison the water”.

---

Jocky Wilson Said, Gilded Balloon at the Rose Theatre, until 24 Aug, £11-12