Morecambe, Cooper & Monkhouse generate laughter & nostalgia

Noel Coward Theatre

Paul Hendy‘s The Last Laugh imagines Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse meeting in a dressing room. For many of the critics, it was more of a tribute show than a fully formed drama but most enjoyed the laughter and nostalgia. All three actors were complimented for their impressions of the great comics: Bob Golding as Morecambe, Simon Cartwright as Monkhouse and Damian Williams as Cooper, with the latter receiving the highest praise.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

Gary Naylor at BroadwayWorld (5★) loved it: ‘we’re indulged in the incomparable pleasure, that greatest of therapies, the opportunity to sit in a room and laugh and laugh and laugh in commune with the men who sacrificed much for that rare, joyous and uniquely human(e) experience.’

Chris Omaweng for LondonTheatre1 (4★) was feeling nostalgic: ‘It might be easy for some to dismiss a show of this nature as an unnecessary venture into an era that has gone and will not return. But it was a pleasant reminder, or otherwise a pleasant revelation, that there was a time when ‘eff, cee and effing cee’ was never required to draw laughs from an audience, and the comedic appeal was more than sufficiently universal that it would be unlikely they would be cancelled even by today’s supposedly over-sensitive standards. The dialogue was very, very contrived, but that doesn’t matter too much when a show is as entertaining and engaging as this.’

LondonTheatre‘s Aliya Al-Hassan (4★) said, ‘The Last Laugh is a gently funny, affectionate, poignant show, and as comfortable to watch as putting on your favourite slippers.’ She described each performer: ‘Golding (as Morecambe) has lovely, amiable energy, wiggling his glasses and chuckling at everything. Williams is a hard-drinking, throaty-voiced, slightly morose Cooper. Physically he is an excellent version of the comic, lumbering around and getting laughs effortlessly. Cartwright likewise is an uncanny Monkhouse with pitch-perfect vocal cadences and a creosote-coloured face. He also shows the sadness behind the facial animation beautifully.

Theo Bosanquet at WhatsOnStage (4★) felt ‘Much of it feels like an elongated gag-off as the three trade one-liners and compete for the last laugh’, however, ‘This is a welcome chance to remember what made them so beloved’. Greg Stewart for Theatre Weekly (4★) called it ‘a nostalgic yet fresh exploration of humour, legacy, and camaraderie’, concluding ‘this play is an unmissable treat.’

Brian Logan for The Guardian (3★) explained: ‘There is no plot, there are no narrative surprises, just chat and banter among the threesome about their lives and the nature of comedy. Oh, and jokes. Lots of – usually terrific – jokes.’ ‘The script doesn’t dig deep,’ said the Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish (3★), ‘but still cuts below the surface, broaching what lasts and what doesn’t’.

The Times’ comedy expert Dominic Maxwell (3★) wrote, ‘This nostalgia act..is an excuse for talking, reminiscing, analysing.’ He declared, it ‘is thoughtful, often pretty funny, not quite as substantial as it wants to be, but done with enough panache that the time goes quickly all the same.’ Tom Wicker for The Stage (3★) commented: ‘What makes something funny? And what makes a comedian? Writer-director Paul Hendy’s production…is fairly compelling when answering the first question. It’s less successful as theatre when tackling the second.’

Nick Curtis of the Standard (2★) acknowledged there were ‘impressive impersonations’ and that it ‘generates easy chuckles from their old gags, gurning and bits of physical business’ but ‘the script is one of the laziest I’ve come across in a long time, with the three men merely insulting and encouraging each other to do old routines by turns.’ He ends with a paraphrase of one of Bob Monkhouse’s jokes: ‘I laughed when I heard this play was coming to the West End. I’m not laughing now.’