The Comeback is a play about a bad comedy duo who are the warm-up act for an old bad comedy duo. The warm-ups dream of making it big while the old-timers are happy churning out the same old stuff that got them on the telly in the 70s. I would not have thought so much bad comedy in one show would make something quite brilliant, but it did, writes Michael Holland.
The excellent comedy duo who created this wonderful piece of theatre is Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen who are so good that for the first half hour I was looking for an escape route out of this bad comedy hell. Then I remembered that this was not a bad comedy duo but two actors playing those characters, and in amongst the unfunny dialogue were glimpses of true genius. They were actually producing comedy that was flying way over most of the audience’s heads and I had to stop myself from being one of the very few people laughing out loud on several occasions.
It was when Ben and Alex became Jimmy and Sid, the kind of act that filled TV programming schedules throughout the 60s and 70s, that it truly sunk in for me. The Comeback then became a tour de force, a wonderful mix of farce, slapstick, surrealism, with hints of the absurd as the two actors played all four characters in this echo of Noises Off.
There were brilliant sight gags and Keystone chases as the two couples battled each other to catch the eye of some Hollywood bigwig they had heard was in to see the show. And when some poor guy from the front was pulled on to the stage the crowd went wild when they realised it was David Walliams. Plus, more cheers when Matt Lucas appeared too. What a treat.
And they don’t give their surprise guests an easy ride. Walliams was ridiculed, slung in a closet (Ooh, er, missus) and tasered. The writers hope to have star guests in every night and in the past, before the original lockdown closed the show in 2020, they had Clare Balding, Ian McKellen and Danny Dyer in, so you never know who you will get to see.
But that added extra is just a nice bonus to the real fun and laughter created by Ashenden and Owen under the fantastic direction of Emily Burns. The Comeback should never again leave.
Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4AU until 25th July. Times: 7.30pm; Wed/Sat/Sun matinees 2.30pm. Admission: £15 – £55.
Booking: https://thecomebackcomedy.co.uk
Photos: Marc Brenner