There was a time when Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse were household names. They were everywhere – in their own TV series, Christmas specials, game shows and the usual tours to ‘end-of-the-pier’ regional theatres. But that time was quite a while ago – the 1960s and 70s – and therein lies the challenge for The Last Laugh, because it will really only resonate with audiences who knew them – audiences of a certain age.
Luckily on opening night, it seems we were almost all of that age. We knew the jokes, we could jump on the punchlines before they did, and we could sing along to ‘My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock’. Together, Bob Golding (Eric Morecambe), Damian Williams (Tommy Cooper) and Simon Cartwright (Bob Monkhouse), affectionately embody an entire generation of comedians and comic entertainment in this intimate tribute.
The play opens to an hilarious vision of Williams/Cooper in baggy underpants and enormous chicken feet looking rather lost in a shabby theatre dressing room. Cooper’s trademark fez is never far away. As soon as Golding/Morecambe and Cartwright/Monkhouse join him we realise the twist in the tale.
Unfortunately, the twist is so obvious in Paul Hendy’s script that the revelation – when it comes at the end of the play – is hardly one at all. That doesn’t really matter because the performances are so engaging and the banter between these three great comic characters is so strong, but perhaps it would have been better left unsaid. And as good as the script is in showing us the men behind the personas, it only really skims the surface of making comedy and what it means to be funny. It would be good to delve a little deeper. For some, comedy seems to come naturally, but Bob Monkhouse admits he had to work at every joke: “I have to sculpt it, chisel it,” says Cartwright.
Many comedians are, as we know, fairly tragic characters. The excellent dressing room set, designed by Lee Newby, includes black and white photos of many other leading comics of the time. The first picture is of Tony Hancock, a comic who was so troubled that he became an alcoholic and committed suicide on a tour of Australia aged just 44.
The three actors are each skilled at portraying their character. Williams has played Tommy Cooper previously in the play Being Tommy Cooper and in Paul Hendy’s short film of The Last Laugh, Golding played Eric Morecambe in this same play last year when it was one of the big hits at the Edinburgh Fringe and Simon Cartwright has played Bob Monkhouse, both in the film and earlier in his one-man show The Man Called Monkhouse. So they are all very comfortable as they bounce those trusty old ‘dad jokes’ off each other before they walk through that final curtain.
Read: Don’t miss in March – your monthly guide to the brightest and best arts in London
At the end of the play, Cartwright/Monkhouse says “at least we made people smile” and that’s certainly true of this show. The Last Laugh will make you smile and absolutely make you laugh out loud – providing you are of a certain age. This audience loved it and gave them a warm hug of a standing ovation.
The Last Laugh
Noël Coward Theatre
Writer and Director: Paul Hendy
Set Designer: Lee Newby
Lighting Designer: Johanna Town
Sound Designer: Callum Wills
Composer and Musical Arranger: Ethan Lewis Maltby
Wigs Designer: Craig Forrest-Thomas
Costume Designer: Amy Chamberlain
Casting Director: Kate Roddy
Cast: Simon Cartwright, Bob Golding, Damian Williams
The Last Laugh will be performed until 22 March, then touring nationally.
