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A marathon evening of fun and frivolity with the wild-haired veteran comedian and friends.
Check the time of the last bus and arrange for the baby-sitter to stay over - this is one long show. And don't have too many drinks in the bar pre-show either, the first 'half' alone is almost three hours. This is a real marathon, and from the opening strains of Doddy's signature tune ("Happiness") which announces his arrival on stage to rapturous applause, we can be sure of an evening in which our chuckle muscle (which lies just below the diagram apparently) will be severely strained.
Although he was clearly suffering on the night from a chesty cough, it did little to slow him down or detract from his otherwise boundless energy in his quest to make us laugh. Whether it was his rapid-fire one-liners, or meandering stories with sudden killer punchlines the laughter never let up for a moment. His material was an eclectic mix of new and old (the blind dinosaur "D'you-think-he-saurus" joke was lifted right out of the film 'Jurassic Park' for instance). The old stuff still managed to be funny due to his zany delivery, and the the new abounded with lots of topical references revealing a remarkable knowledge of local geography (Q. what's a creche? A. a road accident in Bingley {local posh area}).
Of course Dodd's brushes with the taxman are well known and jokes against the Inland Revenue, and authority figures in general, still figure strongly in his material (Q. what is black and brown and looks good on a tax inspector? A. A rottweiler!). Those on the front row and the nearest boxes on the upper floor are drawn into the action as Doddy bounces jokes off them and ad-libs mercilessly at their expense - (a council worker? that's a bit of a paradox isn't it - you can't be 'council' and 'worker'!).
There was not so much music in his material as one might have expected, and mostly when he did burst into song it quickly turned into a joke. But his closing number, 'Absent Friends' was very touching and the pathos was made all the more immediate by references to past greats who have appeared at the theatre, and the fact that his will be the last turn there before it closes for eighteen months for a major refurbishment.
His guest's on the night were songstress Sybie Jones and silent magician Paul Derek. Sybie has a good voice but overall her arrangements were poor and it was not until she performed her own song, a folksy number called "Footprints in the Sand" that she revealed what talent she genuinely does possess. Derek's act consisted primarily of producing birds out of seemingly empty containers, and as with Sybie's act had it's high's and lows. Some of his tricks were plainly transparent, but a few at least were totally mystifying.
But the nigtht was all about Doddy and the veteran comedian has extraordinary energy for a man of his eighty-one years, being alone on stage for over four hours during which time the humour never relents. It takes an extraordinary showman to hold an audience for that length of time and Doddy live on stage is certainly that. True, a few scattered seats in the sold-out auditorium were not taken up for the second half (most other shows would already have finished by that time!) but the great majority stayed to the end and, like me, enjoyed every minute.
A real marathon of a show, over five hours of wholesome fun with a consummate entertainer. Real value for money.