NewsRevue has been running for ever. OK, not quite for ever, but since 1979. It is the world’s longest running live comedy show, as affirmed by a Guinness World Record. Some people describe it as “The Mousetrap of comedy”, except in this case it is perfectly acceptable for me to confess, “I dunnit”.
I wrote for the show from 1992 until I ran out of steam towards the end of the 1990s. But I still hang out with the self-styled Class of ’92, e.g.:
We’ve lost some great characters over the years. In the last 12 months, sadly, we lost our founder and mentor, Professor Mike Hodd.
So when Emma shouted out that the Edinburgh run this year was to be at the Pleasance Grand, was dedicated to Mike and that the show would be previewing for a short while at the Canal Cafe Theatre, I decided to make the effort. (Not much effort in my case crossing from one end of W2 to the other). I checked my diary, booked a convenient slot and shouted back that I had grabbed a seat on Table 2, suggesting that other “Ninety-Two-niks” might choose to join me.
In the event, Barry Grossman, Mark Keegan, Jonny “Two Phones” Hurst and a couple of members of Jonny’s visiting family made up our table.
The show is good, as I’d expect for an Edinburgh run.
Lots of big numbers – a long Spice Girls medley to start and similarly long Queen one to finish.
Slightly less variety of material, in my opinion, than in our day, but then the culture of a fairly large group of comedy writers gathering most weeks, sharing ideas and watching the show before scattering to the four corners of the South-East and writing stuff…is ancient history.
Some of the news stories felt very early 1990s – an exhausted, useless Tory Government unable to control its (and our) own destiny. Royal family nonsense…we even had a “Camilla Queen” section of the Queen medley which echoed interestingly the late great Debbie Barham’s “No Camilla Queen” song from the mid 1990s.
I could go on…
…actually I already have.
It was great to see fellow writers at the Canal again – we usually meet in chain restaurants these days – and it was great to see the show again – my first visit since the pandemic.
