Funniest performance of the year: The Play That Goes Wrong, Trafalgar Studios

An extra category this year as there have been so many funny afternoons and evenings. Eddie Izzard was very funny at the O2 (now available on DVD) and One Man, Two Guvnors was as funny as everyone says. Other comedies didn’t quite hit the mark, such as The Ladykillers. The Room Next Door was a good play with some very funny moments but the one performance that had me crying with laughter throughout was The Play That Goes Wrong from Mischief Theatre. They tried again with Peter Pan Goes Wrong which is probably just as funny for audiences who didn’t see the original but not quite as funny for those of us who did. I look forward to seeing where they go next – I hope it’s somewhere different.

Advertisement

Review: Eddie Izzard, Force Majeure at the O2 Arena

An Englishman and a Scotsman and an Irishman and a Welshman and a Frenchman and a Columbian and a Venezuelan and a horse and a helicopter walk into a bar. What’s this all about?” says the barman. “It’s an Eddie Izzard joke.” “OK,” says the barman, “but I won’t serve the helicopter.”

I suspect that isn’t funny if you didn’t see Eddie Izzard telling it but it is pretty much impossible to explain why he is so funny. Eddie Izzard’s show about gods and God (Steve God) is on for two nights but I noticed Mickey Flanagan has added a sixth date at the O2. Why? I’ve seen him live and he is funny, with his jolly banter about fingering and his Cockney walk, but can he carry out a sustained joke about Mark Anthony as a giant chicken with electronic legs? No competition.