WITH everything that’s been going on over the last couple of years, goodness, we need someone to bring us sunshine.
And there’s so much joy that these two can give – yes, it’s Morecambe and Wise, well the nearest you can get to seeing the classic duo that brought fun, sunshine and love to homes ever since they teamed up to make us laugh.
Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens are playing Eric and Ern in the Olivier Award-nominated show of the same name, coming to The Hexagon next month.
Crammed full of renditions of those famous comedy sketches, and coupled with contemporary references in their unique style, the show evokes memories of times when whole families would huddle around the telly on Sunday evenings to share in the much-loved antics of Britain’s national treasures.
Ian and Jonty have been performing and writing as Eric and Ern for more than five years.
The research into their subjects is there for all to see in their staggeringly accurate portrayal of the most successful and much loved British comedy duo of all time. The performers themselves have a wonderful relationship with the families and estates of Morecambe & Wise – with all scripts given the families’ seal of approval before being performed.
“I have been fascinated with Eric Morecambe for as long as I can remember,” says Jonty.
“I took on his persona at school and it never really left me. He was the funniest and loveliest of men. We both feel it’s a privilege to play Eric and Ernie and some people have said it’s like we’re channelling them – some nights it does feel like that.”
Ian says: “We do treasure the relationship we have with each other – as did Eric and Ernie – and I think it’s obvious that we love performing the comedy of Morecambe and Wise.”
The pair met at drama school over 30 years ago and continued their friendship playing golf together at The Stage Golf Society in Richmond.
When Jonty was asked to play Eric at a charity show he knew that with his short fat hairy legs Ian would be the perfect Ernie Wise. Having brought the house down, the two then wrote some ‘bespoke’ material for their friends at the golf club.
It was these performances which set them off on an incredible journey, with rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, an acclaimed West End season at the Vaudeville Theatre, and an Olivier Award nomination for ‘the play wot we wrote’ – ‘Eric and Little Ern’.
Jonty said: “More importantly, the audiences love watching it – which is always handy. But it’s more than just watching a comedy show – there’s a real emotional connection, because we all remember watching it together. The audience reaction has been amazing.”
The show also has the seal of approval for Eric’s son, Gary Morcambe.
He says: “I went to see them at Edinburgh because I’d had many tip-offs about them, both from people inside and outside of the industry, and when I saw the show that’s when I thought ‘They really are good’. That first time seeing them gave me a bit of a shiver down the spine, actually, because I went in there slightly on the attack and I came out bewildered almost – because they were that good.”
The show will be performed at The Hexagon in Reading on Friday, April 1. Tickets cost £24.50. For more details, or to book, call the box office on 0118 960 6060 or log on to www.readingarts.com
