The Crown Jewels - Garrick / Tour

I'm guessing as usual the tour cast will be different...fingers crossed its not awful casting

Agreed, it's terrible but I suspect it's not the final artwork. At least I hope not. Almost as bad as the McKellen/Allam monstrosity discussed elsewhere.

Announced for the Lowry in September with the same cast

Not for me but it's just going to be an old-fashioned lark, isn't it - summer fun for all the family, etc.

Mellie for me. Yay.

Are there outer aisles in the Upper Circle?

"April Fools is on a Saturday this year"
"I'm not logging in on a Saturday, post it on the Friday instead"

The new poster is a bit better to be fair!

Haven't seen any reviews yet

It looked a bit carry-on to me.

I went to this tonight with a front row ticket that cost me just £13 and I'll keep it short - it was absolutely terrible.

If you're into dated, cheesy and slightly offensive humour that would be at home on Blackpool's north pier, then this is for you. Al Murray relies heavily on audience participation (Something to keep in mind if you're a shy person - I was at the front and was on edge all night), picking people out and making jokes about their general appearance, accent, nationality etc. Some may find this funny, but I found it a bit embarrassing and out of place in the year 2023, especially when he picked on a female audience members weight, referring to her as the 'fat one in the third row'. To be fair, she seemed to find it funny, but I didn't.

To add to the totally unfunny jokes, the plot was also so boring and paper thin. This would usually be ok in a comedy focused show, but the jokes were just so bad that so many parts of the show felt tedious and pointless.

The only redeeming features for me were Mel and Carrie, who did really well with the material they've been given. As expected, Mel is so naturally funny and saved many potential tumbleweed moments with simple facial expressions and quips. She came down into the first row and told me off for eating crisps (I ate them during the interval and had sat the empty box next to my seat), and kicked the box away with her fan saying get rid of this mess at once in her character. She totally stole the scene from Al at that moment, which was expected as there wasn't any opportunity to just slag off the audience at the time.

Carrie had a relatively short part and was off stage for long periods at a time, but I thought she played the role of the spoiled brat Elizabeth really well and also sounded wonderful in her songs, the best I've heard her sound in a while to be honest. Her comedic timing still isn't the best and a couple of her joke lines didn't land, but this was never Carrie's strong suit and her really great singing made up for it, receiving quit a big applause. I'd say she did great here, but to be honest I feel that both her and Mel are a bit above this show.

Overall, I try to give everything a fair chance, but this was just unbearable for me and the first show that I was genuinely considering leaving at the interval in a very long time.


*On a completely show unrelated note, I also experienced one of the rudest audience encounters in a while when getting to my seat. I was in the front row on the far left, but I'm not familiar with the Garrick so accidentally entered from the right side door and had to cross over to my seat, passing the stage. There was more than enough space for me to walk and no one batted an eyelid, until I got to an older man who decided to extend his feet to touch the stage as I approached, blocking me from walking. It was clearly deliberate, but I politely asked him, "Sorry, can I please get past you" to which he answered "Sorry are you a part of the show? NO". I was slightly taken aback by how unnecessarily rude he was, so just said no I'm just trying to get my seat, then had to walk over his leg, almost losing my balance and falling into the stage. I was there alone tonight and the exchange made me feel really anxious and annoyed as I was waiting for the show to start. I just don't understand why some people go out of their way to be horrible to others, especially since there was about a metre of space between the people at the front and the stage, and he was clearly just trying to make an example of me for entering through the wrong door.