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Wales Online
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
The Last Laugh is a brilliant comedy with a moving twist and added extra
The Last Laugh is a brilliant comedy with a moving twist and added extra Bringing Welsh legend Tommy Cooper to life The Last Laugh at the Wales Millennium Centre had me hysterics The Last Laugh is showing in the Wales Millennium Centre (Image: Steph Colderick) I have never been to the theatre to see a full comedy performance before, especially one that doesn't have a plot, so I was not sure what to expect when I sat down at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay to watch The Last Laugh. Featuring a portrayal of Welsh legend Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe, and Bob Monkhouse, this theatre production had me in stitches. It very accurately portrays the three British comedy legends who hold a very soft spot in the public's heart. There were rapid jokes, quick gags, and sarcasm galore which kept the audience entertained. With a run time of 90 minutes it was the perfect time to sit down, have a giggle and not get lost in the production. Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe was a standout; he nailed the character and was the comedian I personally found the funniest to watch and enjoy. What surprised me most about the production was the moving twist. While packed with jokes, the comedy also touched on very serious matters, like divorce, suicide, and what life is really like as a comedian who is on the road. This is all done very delicately, still with humour, and adds an extra depth and sentiment to the performance. It was not something I was expecting from the comedy, but it added to the show and showed the talented skills of the actors. The added extra was that the cast, Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe, Damian Williams as Tommy Cooper, and Simon Cartwright as Bob Monkhouse, did a question-and-answer session at the end of the performance. I have never been to a theatre production that has done that before, so it was really interesting to get an insight into the men behind the characters and learn about the comedians in a fun, interactive, and historical way. Article continues below Overall, if you love Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper, or Bob Monkhouse, I would highly recommend going to see The Last Laugh. It is fun, light-hearted, entertaining, and you get a lot for the price of your ticket.
Scotsman
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Theatre reviews: The 39 Steps
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The 39 Steps, Pitlochry Festival Theatre ★★★ The Last Laugh, Theatre Royal ★★★★ In a world where credible futures seem in increasingly short supply, it sometimes seems as if cultural nostalgia is becoming our only jam. Rock music survivors from the 20th century stage ever-larger stadium tours, tribute musicals whisk us back to the 1960s or 70s; and here, in Pitlochry and Glasgow this week, are two stage shows which have their own special relationship with our cultural past. Alexander Service and Chris Coxon in The 39 Steps | Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Patrick Barlow's brisk two-hour stage adaptation of The 39 Steps - first seen in London two decades ago - is probably best understood not as a version of John Buchan's 1915 novel, but as an affectionate send-up of Alfred Hitchcock's hugely successful 1935 film, designed to extract maximum laughs from the absurdities of extreme fringe theatre, as a cast of only four try to tell a story featuring at least 20 characters, with much help from bad hats, and worse facial hair. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To judge by Barlow's programme note for this year's Pitlochry production, he also intended his adaptation to add a little heart to what began as a brusquely masculine tale of Richard Hannay, a British imperial adventurer at a loose end, who finds himself in a desperate race to expose a deadly network of foreign spies before they catch up with him. And in Ben Occhipinti's Pitlochry production of Barlow's version - which follows and surpasses Hitchcock in introducing some female love interest to the story - Alexander Service as a handsome Hannay, and Blythe Jandoo in stylish Thirties form as all the women with whom he falls in love, both bring a real touch of romance to their performances. The problem, though, is that almost all other aspects of the plot are reduced to such Monty Python-style absurdity - as supporting actors Chris Coxon and Stephanie Cremona conjure up a bewildering series of dastardly villains and spoof Scottish peasants - that it becomes very difficult to attach any real meaning to the story. Liz Cooke's set is charming, with its little train circling the front of the stage to the upbeat strains of Vivian Ellis's Coronation Scot. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To my eyes, though, most of the comedy looks laboured and un-funny, in a post-1980s fringe theatre style that has had its day; and despite the best efforts of the actors - who received a well-deserved cheer from the audience as they took their bows - the show seems to me to lack momentum, and to be both less meaningful, and less seriously funny, than Barlow originally intended. The Last Laugh | Contributed There's a richer and more direct vein of comedy, by contrast, in writer and director Paul Henry's 80-minute play The Last Laugh, now on a UK-wide tour after its 2024 Edinburgh Fringe success. The show features a dressing-room conversation among three of Britain's most revered 20th century comedy stars; the great natural comedians Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe, and Bob Monkhouse, comedian and game-show host, who spent most of his life studying the structure of comedy. The Last Laugh follows other fine plays about comedy - notably Tom McGrath's Laurel & Hardy - in dealing with the strange, poignant relationship between comedy and death. Both Cooper and Morecambe died in mid-career, in the spring of 1984; and Hendy uses this fact to place all three stars in what turns out to be a dressing room on the edge of eternity. For most of its length, though, the show is a funny and fascinating exploration of comedy itself, as delivered by a generation of absolute masters. Damian Williams as Tommy, Bob Golding as Eric, and Simon Cartwright as Bob all make a brilliant job of evoking the special style and comic energy of the men they play; and they also bring an immense quiet skill to their handling of the play's huge range of emotional registers, from the daftly hilarious to the poignant, and finally to the tragic. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
The Herald Scotland
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
'When we saw him collapse live on stage, we didn't know what happened'
The memories of the death of Cooper over 40 years ago still burn bright. 'When we saw him collapse on stage we didn't know what happened,' the actor recalls. 'But this was the days of Ceefax, so we turned it on and discovered the reality. He adds: 'I've since found out that the girl who put Tommy's cloak on him at the final moment was so traumatised she gave up the business straight after.' Cooper, the six-feet four-inch magician whose every bone in his body was funny has since featured episodically in the performance life of Damian Williams. 'I heard a few years ago that producers were looking for someone to play Tommy, and they couldn't find anyone,' says the Essex-born actor. 'It was a friend of mine who asked if they'd seen Damian Williams, and they had no idea who I was. Anyway, I auditioned and was literally offered the part before I'd left the building.' The show is on at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow (Image: PAMELA RAITH) Willams then toured with that play. 'I kept coming back to him and then Paul Hendy wrote the (short) film The Last Laugh, which evolved into the current stage play." The actor acknowledges that playing Tommy Cooper is not about offering a standard impression. 'We've all tried to steer clear of doing that,' he says of the comedy trio. 'But it's hard to find footage of Tommy when he's not being Cooper. The routines are no problem, I love doing them, so for the rest you just have to try and imagine what he would have been like in those circumstances.' He adds, by way of example, 'Years ago I did a stage version of Up Pompeii, in which I played Frankie Howerd. And I made a choice not to be a Frankie Howerd tribute act. The play was funny enough in itself.' Williams does admit to picking up lots of Tommy mannerisms over the years, 'just by watching him and being a fan.' Yet, Cooper is far from simply being a gags machine. His personality adjective seems to cry out 'melancholic.' Is that fair? 'Yes, it is. He had lots of health problems over the years, and he drank quite a lot. You can see interviews with him, and you think 'God, he was pissed there.' It was a challenge for him to get on stage on time. The Last Laugh is packed full of gags, as you would expect, but it doesn't stay away from offering insight into the stresses, the pressures of performance. And it dissects the threesome's comedic abilities, with Monkhouse conceding the other two are naturally funny, while he has to work hard at it. 'And we show how these guys know what their job is – and that's to go out there and be funny, regardless of what they're having to deal with in their private lives.' What would have happened if these three entertainment giants had actually come together at one point? 'I think the play is probably very close to getting it right,' says the actor. 'There is a lot of pi**taking, a lot of banter, and Tommy and Bob were good friends, and Tommy was also really good friends with Eric. I've got a great photo of Tommy at Eric's daughter's birthday party at their home.' Read more Williams knew Bob Golding, who plays Eric Morecambe. 'We both play Dame in panto,' he says, (Williams is the winner of British Panto's Great Dame Award) both working for (writer/producer) Paul Hendy. And we'd seen Simon Cartwright in a play A Man Called Monkhouse. In fact, it was while watching the play that Hendy had an epiphany. 'He announced 'Hold on! I've got you playing Tommy Cooper, Bob playing Morecambe and Simon playing Monkhouse. There has to be something in that.' What Williams brings to his work is a range of experience few modern-day actors can claim. 'I left school aged 15 and managed to land a place in a rep theatre company,' he recalls, 'which is so unheard of now. And the bloke running the rep said, 'You don't need to go to drama school - because I can teach you everything you need to know.' And he did.' Rep theatre is (in)famous for chaos, sets falling down, catching fire . . . What are his favourite worst moments? He smiles. 'Well, there was one time we were half-way through doing an Agatha Christie play and this bloke wearing a hi-vis jacket walked across the back of the stage and began to measure the set. I thought 'What the f*** is this?' Did this lovely juxtaposition of period play costumes and modern-day health and safety uniform sit well with the audience? 'Yes, they were in stitches. And it turned out he was the lorry driver sent to collect the set and take it to the next venue. But he didn't realise the play was going on.' He laughs. 'And we kept on going on.' There were many such surreal moments. 'I remember once working on a play called Bedside Manners and I had to stand at a concierge's desk, reading from a big book. And as I opened the book, the lights went up and a butterfly flew down from the dress circle, in full spotlight and landed on the page. The audience gasped at the sheer delight of this moment, and I said 'Sorry, no pets!' and it flew off again, and I got a massive laugh. But after the show, some of the audience asked 'Does this happen every night?' And I said, 'Yes, of course. It's a trained butterfly.' "But that was better than the bat which dive bombed us for ever during a performance of John Godber's Bouncers. We couldn't get rid of it, and the audience were in hysterics.' The Last Laugh, the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, July 15-19
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Bombarded Bill Nye With Endless Anti-Vax Text Screeds
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a flood of texts to Bill Nye trying to convince the beloved 'Science Guy' of his anti-vax claims. The old text chain, sent before Kennedy became Donald Trump's health secretary, was revealed by Nye during a Men's Health profile of the children's television presenter. The barrage of messages from the prominent vaccine skeptic, which the magazine described as 'miles and miles of texts,' contained numerous links to articles and websites peddling vaccine-autism conspiracies that Nye said he paid no real attention to. 'Just no self-awareness,' Nye said. 'And if you read these articles he sent, they're all this speculation about autism and just cause-and-effect, and mercury in vaccines, that maybe there's a connection. I wrote him back and said, 'Okay, I'll read your book. I think you've confused causation with correlation. Your friend, Bill.'' The stream of messages did not end there, Nye said, even after he told Kennedy, 'Okay, no more texts.' 'He started again! So I cut him off,' Nye said. 'He does not have good judgment. He is not suited for this job.' The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. Kennedy has led a full-blown assault on vaccines as part of the Trump administration's campaign to restore public 'trust' in the lifesaving shots. That includes the shock move to fire all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an expert panel that evaluates vaccine safety and efficacy. All had been appointed under the Biden administration. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Kennedy said vaccines had become a 'divisive issue in American politics' and that public confidence in the health agencies that provide them is 'waning.' Nye said the increase in vaccine skepticism, which soared amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is having real life negative consequences on people's lives. That includes the reaction to a measles outbreak in Texas that primarily hit unvaccinated individuals in the Mennonite community. 'It was a religious sect with historically low vaccination rates. And the argument from the other side is: They have rights not to get vaccinated. No, you don't,' a frustrated Nye said. 'Unvaccinated people can, and usually do, spread a disease. And that's why we have these rules, for public health! It's not arbitrary. It's not about your rights. It's about my rights, people.' Nye didn't hold back on Kennedy's bizarre public stunts either—like chugging raw milk with health influencer Dr. Paul Saladino to promote the Trump administration's initially error-riddled Make America Healthy Again report on childhood illness. 'And then this thing where people want to drink raw milk. No, you don't,' Nye said. 'This is very well understood! Louis Pasteur! You guyyys! What is happening?' For more, listen to Bill Nye the Science Guy on The Last Laugh podcast.
Glasgow Times
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
The Last Laugh play about comedy legends coming to Glasgow
The Last Laugh, written and directed by Paul Hendy, will be performed at the Theatre Royal from July 15 to 19. This follows a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play re-imagines the lives of comedy legends Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe, and Bob Monkhouse. It is filled with jokes and stories, and is said to be "nostalgic" and "poignant". The lead actors will be reprising their roles from the Edinburgh run. Bob Golding will play Eric Morecambe, a role he previously played in the West End hit Morecambe at the Duchess Theatre. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance. Damian Williams will take on the role of Tommy Cooper, having previously played the comedian in the tour of Being Tommy Cooper. Simon Cartwright has been an actor and impressionist since the 1980s and has appeared on the award-winning Channel 4 show Toast of London. Jamie Wilson, the producer, said: "The team here at JWP were bowled over by the relevance of their timeless comedy and after seeing it myself in Edinburgh, I just knew it had to have a further life so many more people could experience it. "What is so brilliant about this play is the audiences who love and remember Eric, Tommy and Bob will be able to relive their comedy greatness and those that don't, will be introduced to the genius of these national treasures. "I'm so pleased these icons will be back on the London stage for audiences to enjoy." The Last Laugh's set design is by Lee Newby, music and soundscape design by Ethan Lewis Maltby, sound design by Callum Wills, costume design by Amy Chamberlain and casting by Kate Roddy.
