For those of us of a certain age (and the majority of the audience at the Richmond Theatre last night were definitely of a certain age), comedians such as Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse are baked into our DNA. In the days before streaming, Sky and the myriad of television channels we have these days, there were only three channels up to 1982 (when Channel Four started) so anything shown on either BBC1 or ITV was watched by millions of people and it made the aforementioned comedians the megastars who we invited into our homes every week.
The Last Laugh is set in a seedy, second-rate dressing room in a theatre that could be anywhere in the UK. When the lights go up, Damian Williams as Cooper enters dressed in his iconic fez, an old vest, baggy Y-fronts and giant chicken’s feet! Like the man himself, Williams just has to stand there to get a laugh – the audience is warming to this almost before it starts. He does some business with a duck whilst shouting out to the unseen Mary (Cooper’s personal assistant) about how things aren’t working – in Cooper’s case, they never seemed to. Then Simon Cartwright enters as Monkhouse and they discuss why they’re there, how jokes work and other mundanities. Then Bob Golding arrives as Morecambe, trading banter with the others, playing his ukulele and cracking jokes. They discuss the pictures on the back wall, which are of old comedians such as Max Miller, Sid James, Max Wall and Tony Hancock, amongst others. Amid all the comedians’ banter and bonhomie, they’re also some melancholy as they tell their stories and bare their souls. However, it’s not all doom and gloom (far from it) and we get the various staples that have become iconic, such as Cooper’s bottle and glass routine and Morecambe’s “I’m playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order” line.
The performances from the trio are all superb, honed over not only a West End production of the play but a five-week run on Broadway. They have all the tics and mannerisms down pat, and it seems all three were born to play these parts and at times it felt like we were watching the real thing and not just facsimiles.
Paul Hendy’s play is a love letter to not only these three wonderful comedians but for simpler and possibly happier times. As well as being hilarious, it’s quite dark at times and we do get a little insight into their psyches. There’s the famous story of the man who goes to see a psychiatrist as he’s depressed and suicidal. The psychiatrist says he has the solution, “Go and see Grok the comedian – he’ll cheer you up”. The man replied, “I am Grok.” It’s not all fun trying to make people laugh. However, The Last Laugh does just that. There’s a little twist at the end, but I think most people would have seen it coming – the clue is in the title.
What is a little strange is that act one, which is around 80 minutes, whilst it is the end of the story, it isn’t the end of the show. There’s then a 20-minute interval after which the cast come back in their civvies, and Richard Hodder, who’s the cover (understudy), conducts a 30-minute chat with the cast and takes some questions from the audience. I found it all a bit odd and whilst we learnt about the actor’s journeys about how they came to play these parts, it did take away some of the mystery and magic of theatre and personally I could have done without it. The show ended with a singalong but at that moment I made my excuses and left – just like that!
Review by Alan Fitter
Direct from a sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Last Laugh is a brand new laugh-a-minute play which reimagines the lives of three of Britain’s all-time greatest comedy heroes – Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse.
Filled with great gags and touching stories, The Last Laugh is nostalgic and poignant and guaranteed to be London’s best comedy night out.
Eric Morecambe – Bob Golding
Tommy Cooper – Damian Williams
Bob Monkhouse – Simon Cartwright
Written and directed by 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
THE LAST LAUGH
Richmond Theatre, 17 to 21 June 2025
Then continues on UK tour to 23 August 2025
Book Tickets for Richmond Theatre
