Invited: Review by Joanna Andrews
“A good joke has many fathers.”
The Last Laugh is a love letter to the golden age of comedy.
Most of us have fond memories of watching Bob Monkhouse, Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe performing on primetime television. They were famous for their gags, their professionalism and their unmistakable energy, both onstage and in interviews. This play has all of those elements and more, delivered through three powerhouse performances from its leads.
The play opens in a wonderfully familiar old-fashioned dressing room. Damp watermarks stain walls that have clearly seen better days, while photographs of comedy legends and icons hang at the back — with one conspicuously empty space.
Oh my goodness, does that empty space come to mean a lot.
We begin with Tommy Cooper appearing onstage in his underwear. Fantastic. What a way to open a show.
The Last Laugh is touring the country, so I’m not going to tell you too much about the plot. What I will tell you is that from start to finish it is packed with gags we remember and affectionate homages to great moments from the careers of these three gentlemen, while also allowing us into their comedy minds and giving us a glimpse of the workings behind their genius.
There is wonderful banter between Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse about jokes: how they work, where they came from and, most notably, just how many of them Bob Monkhouse actually wrote.
Monkhouse was famously a craftsman when it came to comedy, meticulously fine-tuning his act, while Tommy Cooper perfected the gloriously polished chaos we remember so well.
With the introduction of Eric Morecambe, the trio — and the energy and dynamic between them — really comes together. They discuss their lives onstage with melancholy, but also enormous warmth and love for their craft: the good days, the bad days and the journeys that led them there.
There are musical moments too, which lift the performance and add another dimension, alongside some wonderful nods to the routines audiences know and love.
The play ends, as you might expect, with the last laugh for all three. It drives home the message that these were performers who were funny and beloved right to the ends of their careers — and indeed, their lives.
Writer and director Paul Hendy has been working on this production for many years. During the Q&A, Damian Williams spoke about his journey meeting Paul, meeting Simon Cartwright while he was playing Bob Monkhouse, and how the original cast eventually came together to bring the piece to life.
It is a tour de force from Hendy, a writer and producer I have admired for years through his work in pantomime. You can see those traditional comedic values dotted and woven throughout the play.
At around one hour and ten minutes, the play gives Simon Cartwright more than enough opportunity to show us the soul of Bob Monkhouse — a man he actually knew for many years before his death, and that connection really shows. I didn’t know it was possible to emulate Bob’s wonderful vocal cadence and mannerisms quite so accurately.
In Damian Williams, we have someone who has clearly studied and loved Tommy Cooper and his craft for years. It shines through in every syllable he speaks as the comedy legend. He hasn’t simply learned the mannerisms; he seems to have embodied Tommy as a performer.
Steve Royle, of Britain’s Got Talent fame and a true comedian to his core, brings all of his acting chops and nuance to Eric Morecambe. The physical comedy is there, of course, but so is the heart, particularly in the enormous love and respect with which Eric’s relationship with Ernie Wise is portrayed.
Following the play, the cast return for a Q&A, which I think is a particularly special addition. We heard them talk about their process, their love for their comedy heroes and the long journey this production has taken, from short film to national tour.
I hope The Last Laugh runs for a very long time and continues to be received with the same warmth and love shown by the audience at Darlington Hippodrome tonight.
The standing ovation at the end was thoroughly deserved and very much earned.
I wish everyone involved in the production the very best for the rest of the tour.
Go and see it if it’s anywhere near you. In fact, even if it isn’t — it’s worth the journey.