Jamie organises and hosts Karaoke Evenings in and around the Reading area.
Jamie started life at Drama School in South London but like most actors, left with very little work to apply for! Jamie fell into the cabaret circuit by accident and it was during this period that he discovered Karaoke dics! They were cheaper than buying individual backing tracks and after a while, Jamie had managed to build a good little collection.
Suprisingly, even at this point, Jamie had never seen any of his karaoke discs in action! It wasn’t until he tried one or two of them in a video disc player that an idea started to form and he set about purchasing more karaoke discs and equipment. It wasn’t long until Jamie was hosting Karaoke in a West London Restaurant which helped pay for further karaoke discs. Obsessed with buying discs, Jamie would use every spare penny he had to grow his collection.
One funny story that Jamie recalls is somehow being asked to host karaoke at the Russian Embassy. A lot of guests milled around sipping bubbly and eating canopes and there was Jamie and his friends – the campist trip you’d ever come accross – setting up equipment looking very underdressed. Alchohol affects everyone – regardless of social standing – and although Jamie and friends spent the first hour entertaining themselves – the Champaign effect started to affect guests and suddenly, the room was filled with people wanting to have a song! There were many funny escapades that night but Jamie insists that online is not the place to share them!
Since moving to Reading, Jamie has grown his collection to approximately 15,000 tracks – including duplicates – and adds to that on a monthly basis by subscribing to both Sunfly and Easy Karaoke disc subscriptions.
On a trip to the states, Jamie saw first hand how KJ’s (Karaoke Jockeys) were using technology to improve their Karaoke Shows and Jamie returned full of ideas on how to revolutionise his karaoke offering. By using computer based technology, Jamie saw that a new way of working was possible and spent the last few years converting his collection from disc to MP3+G. This meant that he didn’t have to carry all his CD wallets and boxes around with him giving him more space at venues and gave his back a little bit of a break! This also meant that he could introduce a Karaoke Kiosk – a touch screen system where singers could pick their songs and send their requests straight through to Jamie. Singers can now also use their smart phones to request their songs. Jamie is slowly eliminating Paper Based Songbooks as they are usually out of date the moment they are printed and cost a lot of money to keep re-producing. He will soon be introducing Android Tablets to compliment the existing Karaoke Kiosk. Of course for those who may be a little shy of technology, there are still some paper based songbooks floating around during one of his evenings but these will only contain the classic tracks.
Up until now only hosting private parties due to time restraints, Jamie feels that he now has the time to take on some regular and ad-hoc bookings. So why not contact him to see what he can offer you?
Jamie also hosts regular bingo evenings using modern technology that checks tickets automatically. Bingo tickets can also be customised to support a venues marketing – please contact Jamie for further details.
As well as hosting Karaoke, Bingo and Quiz Nights, Jamie can also supply Drag Queens and DJ’s – again, please contact him for further details.