feeling listless

Comedy I could never put my finger on which of ‘The Fast Show’ characters I particularly liked because the show was as much to do with form as anything else. I always loved the northern vignettes with Caroline Aherne; the Brilliant character; Monkfish (mostly because it pointed up when we needed a reminder that every show seemed to be a bout a detective and they always seemed to be played by the same actor). The only characters which seemed not to be about form were Ted and Ralph which would account for how successful their one off special was. I like the incidental pleasures like The Patagonians and Ed Winchester. I’ve always liked repetition in unusual circumstances. Perhaps I liked them all. Perhaps I liked none at all. But the show had a quality which is why I needed to see them live, one more time.

'The Fast Show Live' at the Manchester Apollo was a £25 a ticket chance to say a final hello and goodbye to all the characters which have entertained us over the past ten years (collectively anyway -- a sitcom based around Swiss Toni will be a launch show for BBC3). The team could have arrived and run on stage and done their catchphrases, and although there was some of that, a genuine attempt has been made to bring new material mixed in with some of their favourite sketchs from the last live performance and the TV shows. It's a very difficult to show to review because much of 'The Fast Show' has been built around the surprise element; also the performers have nailed their characters so successfully opinionating on their performance is a mute point. Needless to say some of the classic moments features their attempt to do one of the signature characters without the presence of John Thompson, and via the topic humour which has crept in. Chase and see if there are any tickets left ...