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If you haven’t heard of Jimmy Rees, there’s a good chance your kids, or grandkids, know his cult persona, Jimmy Giggle, from children’s TV. Once dubbed “king of the kids”, Rees made his name as host of the ABC’s Giggle and Hoot from 2009 to 2019, during which time he and his wife, Tori, became parents.
“Our son Lenny was only two when I left the ABC, and then I found out we had twins on the way,” he says. “I was left scratching my head, wondering what I’d do next – did I make the right decision seeking a change?”
Instead of panicking about being a new parent and newly unemployed, he turned to adult comedy, leaving behind the signature high-pitched squeal and owl puppet of his alter ego for skits on social media that took aim at everything from parenting to politics. “I spent 10 years in front of the camera watching professionals produce my ABC show, and thought I might as well have a go at producing my own comedy skits,” he says.
Then, when COVID-19 hit, sketches critical of lockdowns, particularly in his home state of Victoria, struck a chord and boosted his following (he now has almost a million Instagram followers and 1.8 million on TikTok). It would lead to a full-time gig that now sees him about to embark on a national tour of Australia and perform in New Zealand for the first time.
Armed with youthful good looks and a radiant smile, Rees occupies the sweet spot between childlike curiosity and adult cynicism, his parodies taking on everything from US border control to supermarket self-service checkouts. He’s whip smart, boasts excellent comedic timing and says he’s become funnier since becoming a dad.
Born and raised on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Rees, 38, is the middle of three boys to parents Judy and Mark, his father having migrated to Australia at the age of 16 with his family. “Dad always loved comedy and brought his British humour with him,” says Rees. “He loved shows like The Two Ronnies, Monty Python and Hale and Pace – we’d watch them with him all the time. And we also loved Clarke & Dawe – the classic Aussie duo.”
As a child, Rees says he wasn’t fussed over and just got on with life. “I didn’t get the preferential treatment like the frontier child did! I was the middle kid and fell into that stereotype.”
He grew up close to his brother Tom, two years his senior (his other brother, Nick, is five years younger). Now, as the father to three boys himself – Lenny, 10, and twins Mack and Vinny, 6 – Rees says witnessing their antics is like history repeating.
Rees says he’s become even funnier since having his children.Credit: GK Photography
“Lenny can be a little annoying to his little brothers – completely normal – but one day Tori had had enough of our empty threats of ‘We’ll take the iPad off you’,” he says. “There was a basketball ring attached to the wall in Lenny’s room and I took it off. When Lenny realised what I’d done, he was like, ‘Dad are you serious?’ He begged for it back for two weeks, and I said, ‘Well, you haven’t hurt your brothers, so maybe in a couple more days. But maybe don’t trip your brother when he’s walking, and don’t randomly steal his piece of toast while he’s eating it.’
“I remember being that kid and driving our mum mad. I can’t resist being funny with my kids, but I have to bring on the stern dad sometimes.”
Having quit Melbourne’s Deakin University halfway through a media arts degree (the uni dropout got an OAM “for service to the arts as an entertainer, and to the community” in 2024), Rees met Tori while working at a pub in Frankston when they were both in their 20s.
When he got the Giggle and Hoot gig, he moved to Sydney, Tori eventually joining him. They married in 2013 and started their family in NSW, but home, and a desire to be near extended family, always beckoned. They returned to Victoria in 2019.
“Becoming a dad was something I always wanted to do,” says Rees. “I grew up in a loving family and knew I wanted the same. My kids now go to the same school as I did.”
But finding himself at home with three kids under five in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, while Tori worked at a local school as a relief teacher, did test him. “That’s when I started posting about being a parent in this tough situation, and being unable to use the park down the road,” he recalls. “I got into the momentum of posting videos daily and that routine led to more people viewing. It was a perfect distraction in a tough time.”
When it comes to feedback, Rees says his eldest son is his harshest critic, but that he also looks to him for clues on what is funny. “Lenny will laugh at something I didn’t think was funny: maybe I pulled a weird face, or put on a wig, or used a mannerism. If he is laughing, I take notice.
“And yes,” adds the man who describes his work as a pipe dream that actually came true, “being a dad definitely unlocks something in your brain to become sillier.”
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Becoming parents wasn’t easy for the couple, who struggled to conceive again after having Lenny. “We were thrilled when Lenny arrived. But when we decided to add to the family, we found ourselves in a difficult situation. We went down the IVF road and had a few miscarriages along the way. It was tough for Tori because IVF really messes with the hormones,” he adds. “And when people start telling you to relax and take a break, that it’ll work out; it’s the last thing you want to hear.”
Tori eventually fell pregnant, but a minor car accident at six weeks led to an urgent appointment with her fertility doctor. “They found a heartbeat, and we felt a huge sense of relief,” says Rees. ”We had another baby on the way.” Then Tori went for a 10-week scan and “came back with Polaroids of our twins. I couldn’t believe it. We were both in shock. It was the best news ever.”
Celebrating Father’s Day is a very laid-back affair in the Rees household, kicking off with breakfast in bed. “When I was a kid, we always cooked breakfast for our dad [on Father’s Day],” he says. “But he liked to go for a morning run, and often it was a question of, ‘Is he home? He won’t eat before a run.’ ”
At home with his own family, Rees loves a Father’s Day cuddle in bed and reveals that they’ve started their own rituals. “My kids get excited about the chocolate lucky dip tradition,” he says. “It actually started for Tori’s birthday and now comes out for Father’s and Mother’s Day. The lucky dip is filled with my favourite chocolates: Ferrero Rocher and Twix, mostly Twix. And there’s usually a socks gift from the school stall, too.”
For miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death support, call 1300 308 307.
Jimmy Rees’ In Reel Life tour launches in Hobart on October 25, with shows until December 5; frontiertouring.com/jimmyrees.
Styling: Simone Farrugia. Grooming: Julia Green. Jimmy Rees wears clothing by Best Jumpers. Lenny, Mack and Vinny wear clothing by Cotton On and Country Road and shoes by New Balance.
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