CityLife

Jus' Like That!

Jus' Like That: A Night Out With Tommy Cooper
The Lowry
February 22, 2010

This tribute to popular comedian Tommy Cooper is exactly what it says in the title, an evening with the eccentric magician who appears to get more tricks wrong than right while delivering one-liners straight from Christmas crackers.

In most shows of this genre the actor can get away with a few mannerisms to convey character but because Cooper's routines are so well known it means that he has to be spot on.

About six years ago Jerome Flynn, of Robson and Jerome, made a really good stab at playing Cooper at The Lowry before taking it successfully into the West End.

Now it's the turn of Clive Mantle, whom you'll recognise as Dr Mike Barratt from Casualty, Holby City and The Vicar of Dibley, to play the man with the fez. At 6'5'' he's about the same height as Cooper and even looks like him. He has the mannerisms but the laugh, needs working on and he seemed unsure, even by Cooper's standards, in the monologue.

However the pace improved in the second act showing the comedian's darker side with an acknowledgement of his drink and pill addictions. But they're only briefly touched on in a show which is a distillation of all his best comedy bits.

Written by John Fisher, with the magic tricks re-created by Geoffrey (The Great Soprendo) Durham, both men are members of the Magic Circle.  But it's Mantle alone who has to create the magic that makes the audience believe that for two hours he is Tommy Cooper.

It's twenty-five years since the great comedian died on stage in 1984 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End, but a show like this helps to keep his memory alive for the fans who were packed into The Lowry.

Tweet