It must be hard to turn a much-loved 40-year-old half-hour radio programme into a two-hour stage show but I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue succeeded brilliantly.
There was a full-strength line-up of long-term panellists Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, with Jeremy Hardy, Jack Dee in the chair, and Colin Sell at the piano. And there was enough of the familiar radio programme with rounds – such as singing one song to the tune of another, or deflating pompous slogans and mottos – to satisfy fans.
Although you can’t be certain of it when listening to the radio, it’s clear that a lot of the wit really is spur of the moment and there is terrific comic chemistry among these six.
As the evening went on, the games became increasingly silly. Only one sketch fell slightly flat – a romantic dinner with over-attentive waiters finishing the couple’s sentences with suggestive double-entendres – but this is a minor quibble.
Some people dislike the radio programme as an example of smug BBC Radio 4 comedy for overgrown middle-class schoolboys, but it would have been hard even for them not to enjoy this lively, joyous and witty show.
- I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue is also at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne on February 11, 7.30pm, call 01323 412000
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