This play presents the story of two comedians whose double act is on the rocks. The straight man, Ben Keaton, is jealous of the laughter and love directed toward Joe Alessi, the clownish other half of the duo.
Like Ernie in the TV series, Ben wants to be taken seriously as a writer and has penned a truly dire play set in the French Revolution called 'A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple'.
He tries to stage his production while Joe attempts to thwart his efforts and trick him into performing a tribute to Morecambe and Wise that he hopes will save their partnership.
And what an excellent subject for a tribute. Throughout this play we are treated to a skilful recreation of the dry humour and all your favourite and fondly remembered sketches: Eric's paper bag trick; the song and dance routines; even the famous curtain from which hidden hands emanate to drag Eric off stage. Best of all, this time the humour is not restrained by the BBC's Victorian sense of decency.
This isn't just a comedy, however, the tragically small share of the limelight given to a straight man provides pathos too. As my Nan said on hearing the reports of Eric Morecambe's death, "It's a shame - the other one was never funny on his own." However, at least the name of Ernie Wise is known. Who remembers Eddie Braben who wrote their funniest sketches?
This play had a successful run in the West End and is always performed with a guest star. In the past this has included Kylie Minogue, Sting, Roger Moore and Liam Neeson. So just for the record, whom did they drag to the Nottingham performance? One half of the Chuckle Brothers? Jo or Twiggy? Actually no. It was a somewhat more respectable Brian Capron from Coronation Street, and a friend assures me that Nigel Havers was in attendance earlier in the week.
I cynically believed that anything I found funny when I was a kid in the 70's must be cheesy and tired by now. But the humour has survived and is even funnier in the warm glow of nostalgia. I don't need to tell you how the play ends. You know the song they were singing.
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