Tommy Cooper was a genius. A one-off who only had to walk on stage to make you laugh.
For someone to have the temerity to try to portray him takes a lot of courage.
To bring the show to Tommy Cooper's home town, where a lot of the audience will have known him personally, takes even more nerve.
John Fisher has written a brilliant script which had the audience falling about with laughter and Jerome Flynn gives a tour de force performance, but he is not Tommy Cooper.
He tries very hard to adopt the mannerisms but lacks the perpetual look of innocence that Cooper had and there is not enough of the manic laugh that captivated his fans.
As a Cooper devotee it took me until the second act to really appreciate the excellent performance I was witnessing. The show is half an hour too long and I would like to have seen more of Cooper's private life.
That said, if people can go along with an open mind, they will find a very funny and moving show.
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