John Leonard Smith, a 43-year-old taxi driver, lives in Wimbledon with his wife Mary, daughter Vicki and lodger Stanley.

The same man also lives in Streatham with wife Barbara and son Gavin.

The only difference is one John Smith works days, the other nights.

I am not giving anything away because this is the set up to Ray Cooney's latest farce from the West End, his sequel to Run For Your Wife.

For me, the problem is we have been here so many times.

Twenty years ago, this piece would have been splendid. "Cor," we would have shrieked "What a cad," we would have roared.

The opening-night audience did roar and shriek (a bit) and did have a genuinely funny time but I didn't.

The premise that the problems begin when Gavin and Vicki meet on the internet is all right but I think the master of modern farce has lost his way a bit.

I found the antics tedious and the jokes appallingly old.

But the company do it pretty well. Russ Abbot (Stanley) is as funny as he ever was - he has been off TV for far too long.

And when Henry McGee turns up as Stanley's senile dad, things step up two or three gears.

Abbot's timing and movement are excellent and McGee has lost none of his superb timing.

Somehow, the furious ins and outs of the farce were not quite crisp enough, although Christopher Beeny's harrassed husband and the two women in his life, Caroline Lyster and Anita Graham, moved smoothly from one ludicrous situation to another.

William Harry and Sophie Cooper do well as the children, too.

But there were too many high-pitched voices and I would have welcomed some different sound levels - it might have prevented me from developing a headache.

Judging by the audience, this is a crowd-pleaser but I am afraid I wandered out into the chilly night rather chuckle-free.

For tickets, call 01273 328488.

Review by Mike Bacon, features@theargus.co.uk