As a catchline for a tour, “40 years of arsing about in comedy” is a grabber. That’s how Harry Enfield describes Harry Enfield and No Chums!, and it certainly shows that he is still, well, arsing about to great effect as he casts an eye over his life and career
The show is a collection of anecdotes about his life and some of the characters he has voiced in television programmes such as Spitting Image, or created for shows such as Saturday Live and Harry Enfield & Chums.
He comes on stage as King Charles, whom he has spoofed in The Windsors. The references to cancer are unexpected, but then Enfield came to fame when alternative comedy exploded on our screens, and pushing boundaries, whether of taste or political comment, comes naturally to him – and, refreshingly, there’s a lot more of that during the evening.
After the royal introduction it’s a mostly chronological run through Enfield’s life and career, with some juicy biographical details that amateur psychologists might enjoy delving into – beaten at school by Benedictine monks, distant father and depressed mother, and using comedy to deflect attention from bullies; it’s all there.
He enjoys guying the audience, too (I saw the show at Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea), dropping the c-bomb early as he cheerfully insults them.
But it’s all so clearly good-hearted, and Enfield makes himself the butt of several jokes, even as he’s name-dropping for England (Nelson Mandela, David Cameron, Paul McCartney and many others make anecdotal appearances).
Enfield is also generous in his descriptions of past collaborators including Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke, giving them as much – even more – credit than he takes himself for characters that have entered the national consciousness.
Some sketches are revived verbatim, others, such as cockney loudmouth plasterer Loadsamoney and dodgy DJ Dave Nice, are given a modern overhaul. So Loadsamoney, who with his wad of cash came along at the height of Thatcherism, gives his take on the current economy, while we learn that Nicey is now a right-wing podcaster.
And we meet again Stavros the kebab shop owner, posh sexist Mr Cholmondley-Warner, woeful parents Wayne and Waynetta Slob and, of course, Kevin the Teenager, while a story involving one half of The Beatles explains the origin of The Scousers (“Calm down! Calm down!”).
On the night I saw the show Enfield seemed slightly underpowered, confessing to having a raspy throat. But no matter, the two-and-a-half hours in the company of so many quality characters was well spent.
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