REVIEW: The Last Laugh
What does it take to be funny? And what does it feel like to be funny, to know that you’re bringing joy and laughter to millions of people sitting around their TV?
By Gary Murray, volunteer theatre reviewer
Lights up.
A man stands on stage alone. He is at once both awkward and defiant. That man is Tommy Cooper, once one of Britain’s best-loved comedy performers and one of three comedy legends brought to life in this wonderful play, on this week at the Devonshire Park Theatre.
In the 1970s Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse were all as big a stars in the comedy firmament as you could get. Audiences would gather around the TV in their millions to watch them. Theatres would often be sold out.
This play brings them together in one dressing room before a live theatre show.
It’s a typical dressing room in a typical theatre – shabby from a thousand performers and a thousand performances. The walls carry photographs of past comedy legends, a reminder that this doesn’t last forever. One day you’re at the top of your game, the next you’re gone.
Each is uncannily brought to life by Damian Williams (Tommy Cooper), Simon Cartwright (Bob Monkhouse) and Steve Royle (Eric Morecambe).
The three of them discuss comedy and life. What makes a good joke? If that sounds dry, then it really isn’t. The piece crackles with jokes and will have you laughing throughout.
Tommy and Eric were naturally funny men – and loved by the British public. Not Bob. Bob was different. He had to work at it. At times he was regarded as too polished, insincere. Out of fashion.
“I say funny things; you two are (naturally) funny,” he says to the others.
A man whose life was full of tragedy, he “chiselled” at it and deserves his place as a comedy legend.
Eric tells us that US comedian Fred Allen called it “the treadmill to oblivion.”
What does it take to be funny? Or what does it cost to be funny?
But also, what does it feel like to be funny, to know that you’re bringing joy and laughter – sunshine – to children, parents and grandparents sitting around their TV on Christmas night?
Knowing what we know – Tommy died on stage on live television, Eric just after a theatre appearance – there is poignancy at the end which could have been mawkish in lesser hands, but it stays just the right side of sentimentality.
The actors are playing their heroes. These are no mere impersonations. By the end of the play (80 minutes straight through) you’ll feel like you’ve had an evening in the company of the real comics.
And there is no higher praise than that.
Go and see if it you remember these greats; go and see it if you don’t.
It plays all the right notes and in the right order. “Just like that!”
:: The Last Laugh runs until Saturday 30 May at the Devonshire Park Theatre. Tickets here
:: Gary Murray was a professional actor for 14 years in theatre, radio, TV and even a couple of operas. After many years on the tech side of the ticketing industry, he now works at Tech Resort and is a volunteer reviewer for Eastbourne Reporter
