I went to French and Saunders the other day and was really excited to see two comedians I really admire up close (well not that close actually because of the seats we got).
Having no idea of what their show would be like I went in with a fresh mind and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. So many people either took the day off work or left work early that day that offices in Adelaide must have been fairly empty – I do exaggerate slightly.
Overall I was disappointed with the show. Perhaps their comedy doesn’t translate well from the small screen to the stage? I’ve never seen them live before so I can’t compare this show to others. Don’t get me wrong there were some funny bits like Jennifer Saunders doing her Madonna impersonation, but lots of it fell flat particularly during the last half. I didn’t leave there feeling all buoyed up like I was expecting. Their Mamma Mia film ripoff was pretty good and it was good to see the original sketch that inspired Absolutely Fabulous. Dawn French went into the audience and took away peoples’ chocolate so if you go see them don’t take chocolate with you if you’re up the front.
Probably the best bits were the accompanying videos that played to introduce a sketch and I thought that I could have just got the video and been just as happy with that and it would have been cheaper.
After the show finished I overheard some people say it was hilarious and others said they were disappointed too so there were mixed reviews.
Thats really interesting. I love French and Saunders and I loved them on the old series The Young Ones. And I adore The Vicar of Dibley. I did however wonder how funny they would be in a stand up comedy setting. I hope you weren’t too disapointed..
I was disappointed in their last F&S series on the telly; was flat and unfunny.
Yet my daughter loved the stage show when she went and saw them in Melb – however she did overhear another member of the audience say how tightly scripted the show was and how strictly they stick to it, no ad libbing, no diverting from the script at all.
She found them very relaxed and more natural afterwards in their dressing room.
I have seen a couple of their live shows on video and thought they were hilarious, so I’m disappointed to hear this show was not quite so funny… Thanks for sharing, I don’t feel nearly as disappointed about not going now!
Jayne, I would have loved to meet them. I’m so jealous.