Following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Last Laugh – imagining dressing-room conversations between Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse – heads to Brighton on its way to London.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Flewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to
00:06speak to Paul Hendy, mastermind of so many brilliant pantotes for so many years up and
00:10down the country. But speaking today about something rather different. Paul, your play,
00:15The Last Laugh, is heading towards Brighton Theatre Royal before a London run, and it
00:20brings together three heroes of yours, is that fair to say? Who are they?
00:26Three heroes of the whole nation, I think, for a certain generation anyway. Yes, Tommy
00:32Cooper, Eric Morcombe and Bob Monkhouse. And I've written a play which, as you say, is
00:39coming to Brighton and the West End. And it's about the three of them sitting in a dressing
00:43room talking about life, death, comedy, what it means to be funny, what it means to be
00:50really funny. And it was at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, and people loved it, seemed
00:56to connect with people. I think people who remember these comedians felt they were sitting
01:02in a room with these comedians. So, yeah, very, very much so.
01:05Imagine those conversations. Obviously, you've got to really enter their minds, haven't you?
01:10But the fact is, you've lived with them, happy memories of them all your life. How easy was
01:15it to slip into their way of thinking? And presumably, they all think in different ways,
01:19don't they? Absolutely. And they each have a different
01:24approach to comedy. Tommy was a naturally funny man. He couldn't help but be funny.
01:30He would just sit down or just stand there and people would laugh. And sometimes that
01:35was a little bit of a curse, I think. Eric Morcombe, once again, a naturally gifted comedian,
01:41but by his own admission, would need writers. He and Ernie always said they needed writers,
01:46they needed material. And then you've got Bob Monkhouse, who, once again, he himself
01:52said, he wasn't a naturally funny man. But he was a great student of comedy, and he could
01:57write a great gag. So you've got these three very different approaches to comedy. Bob Monkhouse
02:04would look at Tommy Cooper, who just stands there and is funny, would have an audience
02:09in hysterics, you know, whereas Bob Monkhouse had to work really hard to get an audience
02:13like that. Do you imagine they would have got on? Would there have been rivals, do you think?
02:19Oh, they got on. I mean, they were all undoubtedly friends. They all knew each other.
02:24I think there would have been a lot of banter, dressing room banter, and there's a lot of that
02:29in the play. So lots of jokes, very often at Bob Monkhouse's expense. But Tommy Cooper taking the
02:37mick out of Bob Monkhouse, there's a lot of that. But I think there was a lot of love there and a
02:41lot of respect as well for each of them. They all know how difficult it is, how difficult comedy is.
02:48So to get to the top of the comedy pole is very, very difficult. And I think they all knew that
02:54and all respected each other for that as well.
02:57It sounds a fantastic piece. Paul, good luck with it and really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.
03:04Thank you, Phil.