In his Edinburgh fringe show Flying High the impressionist wants to convey the warmth and affection of the comic and Blankety Blank host
Who knew, growing up in the 70s and 80s, that we weren’t watching mere comedians, but the dramatis personae in plays that would one day light up the Edinburgh festival? Bob Monkhouse, Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Kenneth Williams have all had their biographies splayed across the fringe, and this year they’re joined by the great Les Dawson – rubber-faced Blankety Blank host, pretend-bad pianist and purveyor of deathless mother-in-law gags to the nation. And more besides, says actor, impressionist and fellow Lancastrian Jon Culshaw, who’s bringing Dawson (who died in 1993) back to life. “What a wonderful writer he was,” says the Dead Ringers star, “and what a passion for words. I want to remind people of that, and of the affection and warmth of his comedy.”
The solo show in question is called Flying High, and finds Dawson writing his autobiography while on Concorde to a rare Manhattan gig. The writer is Tim Whitnall and the director Bob Golding, re-assembling after their smash hit Morecambe (about Eric), which brought tears of nostalgia to many an eye – mine included – at the fringe in 2009. Whitnall also wrote a recent play about the 1970s singer and TV personality Lena Zavaroni, in which Culshaw starred. The Dawson play focuses in particular on Les’s writing ambitions (he was a novelist as well as a comic), and his circuitous route to fame, from inauspicious beginnings.
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