EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009: REVIEW - MORECAMBE, Assembly Hall, August 13 2009

Morecambe and Wise hold a very special place in British culture. Their Christmas specials are repeated every year even now, 25 years after the death of Eric. Anything relating to them is bound to be lapped up by an audience pre-disposed to liking it anyway, simply because of the affection engendered by the beloved double-act.

Bob Golding does a fantastic job here in this one-man show, imbuing the scenes alongside his Ernie puppet with emotion, delivering the gags brilliantly, and exploring the inner psyche of the nation's favourite clown with surprising incision. He's got the vocal style off brilliantly with the patter (not so much with the singing - a little too polished for Morecambe, but that's a minor complaint) and he even looks a little like him, even though that's not entirely necessary.

I'll confess that in football, I support Luton Town FC, the same team as Morecambe - we're a rare breed, which is probably why I was the only one laughing at his gag about looking forward to seeing the Hatters win a cup final - "Arsenal!" (a play on his famous catchphrase, of course, but also a reference to the team's only major trophy win, in 1988, years after Morecambe's death). And the strength of the friendship between Morecambe and Wise, and the depth of the love between Morecambe and his dancer wife Joan, always makes me well up even when I read about it in one of the numerous biographies, so it's no surprise I found myself shedding a tear or two.

Much as I enjoyed Golding's performance, occasionally the material just reeks of being cobbled together in an effort to shoehorn in as many of Morecambe's catchphrases as possible - the laughs aren't for what's happening on stage in front of us, but because of the memories that are triggered. It's much more comfortable and genuine to watch the parts of the script that deal with Morecambe the man, not Morecambe's comedy legacy.

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