Richard Hodder Archives - North West End UK

Humour being universal, maybe one of the worst insults is to accuse somebody of not having a GSOH – GOSH that would most certainly be true if you failed to find this show amusing. How could it not be, featuring Tommy Cooper, the surreal clown and shambolic magician who knew his audience so well he was damn near physic, whereas Bob Monkhouse could almost be psychotic, so obsessive, perpetually in search of perfection, maybe because of the tragedies in his personal life. And probably better known as a chat show host; the marmite comic, loved and hated in equal measure. As for Eric Morecambe, what more need be said. How about his being multi-talented, an actor, a musician (over half a dozen instruments) and a writer (over 30 books), including new TV series The Reluctant Vampire. All the mo...

Sad clown paradox is actually a syndrome where comedians with early life feelings of deprivation and isolation use an audience as a release so they can remove feelings of suppressed physical rage through getting laughs. Paul Hendy’s ingenious idea to explore this paradox by imagining a meeting of seventies comedy titans Bob Monkhouse, Eric Morecombe and Tommy Cooper in a rundown dressing room as the lights flicker spookily. Trapped together, these troubled and driven funny men engage in a game of comedy one-upmanship as they slowly reveal the demons eating away at all three of them. Along the way Hendy subtly analyses the eternal question of what is funny, and who better to do than three men who dominated primetime TV in very different ways. Cooper was a physical comic who just had t...

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The Last Laugh – Floral Pavilion

The Last Laugh – Alhambra Bradford