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AIDAN JONES 52 Pick Up

Aidan Jones
In 2012 comedian Aidan ‘Taco’ Jones set himself a new year’s resolution to drink one night of every week and document his ensuing adventures on a deck of cards. It all makes up his new show 52 Days, in which he recalls his diverse experiences including prison, heartbreak, fireworks and more card by card at the Belgian Beer Cafe from Friday, January 18 to Sunday, February 10 as part of FRINGE WORLD. BRAYDEN EDWARDS sat down with Jones to deal him a hand of poker where he gave a snapshot of a whirlwind year.

 

5 of Hearts:
Day 52 – December 25

This was my last drinking day of the year, and the horrific end of a four-day bender. I’d moved to Melbourne in July of that year, and went back to my hometown of Adelaide for Christmas. I was very excited to party with my friends again – some would argue too much so – and ended up being left behind vomiting on the couch while the rest of my family went down to our beach house in Marion Bay. What a nightmare.

 

9 of Clubs: 
Day 45 – November 8

When I first moved to Melbourne I got a job as a walking tour guide, which is hilarious in retrospect because I’d spent all of three weeks there and was already showing tourists around the place pretending I knew what I was talking about. At that point I’d never before had a job I loved and was good at, and the highlight of my year as a tour guide was a 24-hour fling with a beautiful American girl on November 8, 2012 – the day Barack Obama was re-elected as US President. I remember walking through Federation Square with her and seeing his victory speech playing on the huge projector, we stopped to watch, and all I could think about was how much I hoped she would kiss me.

 

2 of Hearts:
Day 16 – April 6
This is a long, long story which will absolutely be covered in the show, but the day this card covers falls in the middle of a weekend trip with a big group of mates up to a farm in the Clare Valley a few hours out of Adelaide. I had a massive fight with my girlfriend at the time, who had just moved from France to Australia to be with me, and we spent a 3-hour drive back to Adelaide staring out of opposite windows of my best mate’s car, in silence.

 

3 of Spades
Day 7 – February 18
This was one of my first days back in Adelaide after a 4-month stint as a volunteer journalist in Bolivia. I had been so excited to come back and see all of my friends again, and do all the drugs that came with that. Before I left for Bolivia I’d promised myself that I’d never go back to Red Square – the nightclub on Adelaide’s Hindley St where I spent most of my time age 18-20. I quickly broke that promise as soon as I got home, and fell right back into my destructive old patterns. I’d pay later, but for now, I was loving it.

 

Jack of Spades
Day 33 – August 9
This was just after I’d moved to Melbourne to pursue my dream of being a comedian, I did a gig at the local open mic which happened to be around the corner from the house I eventually moved into. I don’t remember the set, but knowing what I do about myself now, and what I was like when I started stand up, I fairly safely say that I would have walked away from a no-doubt horrific bomb with the absolute belief that I was a comedic genius and was destined for fame within the year. I got drunk to celebrate.

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