one4review | On 10, Aug 2024

What could be better, for those of a certain age, than to see Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse together on one stage, entertaining us with their own very individual comedy styles.

The three legendary comedians are backstage in a dressing room, each apparently preparing for their shows later that evening. They entertain us with great one-liners, reminiscences and songs, remembering other great comedians from the golden age, whose pictures all hang on the dressing room wall. We learn what it means to be funny, and whether some comedians have to work hard at it, while others just seen to have funny bones. The three discuss the benefits of double acts, straight men and who actually writes the various lines that they deliver. All agree that the most important thing is to get laughs and then more laughs. At the end of the day, their role is to make people happy, and that itself brings with it huge pressures. We notice that there is one picture that has fallen off the wall, which is hidden from us, and we begin to realise that things might not be as they seem; Cooper is busy popping pills, washed down with whisky, and complaining of chest pains. In the best traditions of British comedy, things get darker and more poignant as the play builds to its climax.

Written and directed by the award-winning Paul Hendy and staring Bob Golding as Morecambe, Damian Williams as Cooper and Simon Cartwright as Monkhouse, The Last Laugh is a superb hour of fringe comedy which I would highly recommend catching.

*****

Reviewed by Howard
Assembly George Square Studios – Studio One
13.20 (1hr 10)
Until 25th August (not 12th)