And Bob Monkhouse… a fixture of Saturday night time TV. From The Golden Shot reaching 17 million viewers at its peak, to Movie star Squares, Household Fortunes and Bob’s Full Home, Monkhouse was the consummate sport present host. Though by his personal admission, he wasn’t a naturally humorous man, he was a person obsessive about comedy, and he continuously tried to chisel, polish and craft the right joke. And boy, had been they good.
Arguably, their careers couldn’t occur now. These legendary performers all got here from the tail finish of selection and music corridor the place they’d honed their act. These males had performed all of them, from small golf equipment in London to the notorious Glasgow Empire so by the point they hit our TV screens within the 60s and 70s they’d years of expertise beneath their belt. As soon as they began in tv, a number of the finest comedy writers within the enterprise would assist them create the right routines. Nowadays, they must be on TikTok.
Sadly, there merely aren’t these sorts of audiences for TV any extra, even for these few who’ve their names on the high of a programme. Michael McIntyre’s Huge Present averages 7.5 million viewers. Good as MacIntyre is, these figures are nothing like what Morecambe and Smart, Cooper or Monkhouse had been getting 5 a long time in the past.
The explanations are apparent. We now reside in a multi-channel world. To paraphrase Pink Floyd [in Nobody Home], we now have 480 channels on the TV to select from. And there’s YouTube and all the opposite streaming companies as properly. Not is there that ‘appointment to view’, when all of the household park themselves on the couch at 8.30pm on a Saturday night to observe the identical factor on the identical time. The youngsters are of their bedrooms on their screens texting their mates, whereas mother and father are downstairs, watching The Weakest Hyperlink or Pointless Celebrities.
We don’t have that collective second any extra, when the primary query you’re requested within the faculty playground is, “did you see Are You Being Served final night time?”, or the canine saying “sausages” on That’s Life. Canine nonetheless say “sausages” however you’re more likely to see them achieve this in your social media feed. “Share” is now a button you press somewhat than one thing you do with your loved ones on a Saturday night time.
I don’t wish to get all dewy-eyed, however undoubtedly there’s a nostalgia for that bygone period. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to convey these three comedy greats again to life on stage in my play, The Final Snicker. The whole lot appeared easier then… they had been (or at the very least appear to be with hindsight) gentler occasions. I feel one of many nice issues is that you would be able to nonetheless watch Eric and Ernie or Tommy Cooper on TV and they’re nonetheless humorous… their comedy has a timeless high quality, which arguably you don’t get a lot lately.
Hopefully, The Final Snicker captures that, and likewise captures one thing of the actual males, their dedication to and obsession with the right gag. And possibly it captures the echoes of a household laughing collectively on a long-lost Saturday night all these years in the past.
Paul Hendy’s The Last Laugh runs on the Noël Coward Theatre (25 February-22 March), forward of a UK tour.
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