JIM’S APRIL FOOLS

Jim Penman was barely king for a day.

We bought word last Friday that the eccentric founder of Jim’s Mowing wasseceding from Victoria to create his own micronation.

Come Saturday,Penman claimed the whole thing was simply an April Fool’s Day prank designed to raise money for men’s sheds. Perhaps we were played. But let’s not forget,Jim went to the trouble of creating his own passports,stamps and website.

He did a photoshoot seated on the throne of Jimland,featuring a fake beard,robes and crown. And he had his PR agency shop the story to journalists at this masthead late last week,and it eventually ran the day before April Fool’s.

Prank or not,the story of Jim’s sovereign citizen turn struck such a chord because it was entirely believable. This is,after all,a bloke who penned a book calledThe Hungry Ape,elaborating on his bizarre theories about the differences between various races. He has 11 children,but is on record expounding on the benefits of limiting sexual activity.

And all that goofiness aside,Penman has never been shy about his dislike forDan Andrews.

Our takeaway here is that,in the year of our lord 2023,we’re all far too old and jaded for April Fool’s Day.

LOST AND FOUND

The Coalition might have been banished from power in NSW,but the detritus from their 12-year reign still litters Sydney.

Last year,the Lyric Theatre’s impresarioStephen Found told us he had no plans to rename the “Barra Bar” at the venue’s VIP room,named after former deputy premierJohn Barilaro.

It isn’t the only shrine to the National Party that’s lasted in the theatre. In 2013,then-arts ministerGeorge Souris threw a silver coin “as a symbol of strength and durability” during the opening night of War Horse.

Souris spent just three years in cabinet before getting the boot from Mike Baird in the interests of generational change,but that coin is still mounted on a ceremonial plaque in the theatre’s champagne room,where Found regularly takes guests for a bit of boozing and schmoozing.