Review – The Last Laugh – Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne and National Tour

The Last Laugh is one of those wonderfully comforting evenings at the theatre that sends you home smiling. Warm, funny and packed with affection for a golden age of British comedy, the play feels less like a formal stage production and more like spending time in the company of three old friends who just happen to be comedy legends.

The premise is simple but inspired: Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse meet backstage in a dressing room somewhere beyond the ordinary rules of time and reality. From there, the play unfolds as a mixture of banter, storytelling and gentle reflection on what it really means to spend a lifetime making people laugh.

It would have been easy for the production to lean too heavily on nostalgia, but The Last Laugh has far more heart than that. Yes, there are familiar mannerisms, comic routines and nods to the stars’ most famous moments, but the play also gives each man room to feel human. Beneath the jokes are hints of ambition, insecurity, pride and loneliness — all handled with a light touch that never drags the evening into anything overly serious.

The cast are excellent throughout. Rather than slipping into exaggerated impressions, they capture the spirit of these much-loved entertainers in a way that feels natural and affectionate. Damian Williams encapsulates Tommy Cooper’s shambling confusion well and produces huge laughs, As Eric Morecambe, Steve Royle brings a cheeky warmth to the production and really lights up the stage, and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse emerges as perhaps the evening’s biggest surprise: witty, sharp and quietly touching beneath the polished exterior.

While it’s not always laugh out loud funny, the play is very amusing. The audience react well to the old-school one-liners, magic tricks going wrong or the three comics trying to outdo one another backstage. There is a lovely rhythm to the humour, with the script giving each character their own comic style while allowing plenty of playful sparring between them.

What makes the evening especially enjoyable is its obvious love for live entertainment itself. The play celebrates an era when variety shows and family television specials brought millions together, but it never feels dusty or dated. Even audience members too young to remember the comedians first time around seem thoroughly caught up in the fun.

The staging is simple but effective. The dressing room setting is filled with little details — faded posters, props and old costumes — that create a cosy sense of theatrical history without becoming overly sentimental. The atmosphere throughout is relaxed and inviting, perfectly matching the tone of the piece.

If there is a slight drawback, it is that a few references may pass over the heads of those unfamiliar with British comedy from the 1970s and 80s. Occasionally the play also pauses a little too long for emotional reflection when another joke might have served it better. Still, these are very minor complaints in a production so full of warmth and goodwill.

What really lingers after the curtain falls is the play’s affection — not just for these famous comedians, but for comedy itself. The Last Laugh understands that making people laugh is both an art and a gift, and it honours that idea beautifully. There is no cynicism here, no desperate attempt to modernise or reinvent these figures for a new audience. Instead, the production simply invites us to enjoy their company for 80 minutes, and that proves to be just right.

At a time when so much entertainment feels loud or self-important, The Last Laugh is refreshingly gentle. It is an evening filled with charm, nostalgia and genuine laughter, carried by three terrific performances and a script that knows exactly when to be amusing and when to let quieter moments breathe.

By the end, the audience leaves with the same expression: happy, slightly nostalgic, and very glad they came.

****   Four Stars