Posted Mar 14, 2005 by damepatty
The Goodies original cast has been reunited in Australia for a series of live shows as part of the Big Laugh Comedy Festival in Parramatta and Sydney, and also performing in Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.
I have just seen the final performance, March 13th at the State Theatre in Sydney. I'm reasonably sure that all the shows were sold out.
The show features Tim, Graeme and Bill (now in their sixties!) dressed in similar costumes (Bill was wearing a "Wallabies" rugby t-shirt) and reminiscing about the show. The set consisted of three covered "director's chairs" (also in similar costumes), a large screen to play film clips and a podium. The idea was that fans would write in questions and they would read them out and answer them, while weaving in rehearsed sketches and stories.
It mostly worked - certainly got lots of laughs! Graeme's comic timing was impeccable, Bill was a live wire, and Tim a little restrained but very debonair.
Sadly it wasn't nearly long enough - lasting 1 hour 45mins with no interval, and took a little while to get started. The great opening joke, which had them arrive not on the famous three-person "trandem" bike, but using a kind of three-man-stretch-walker (for the elderly) was really funny, but then they just got straight into the questions when the audience I think were prepared for more fun straight away.
As well as favourite "The Goodies" moments, the show also included re-enactments of Graeme's and Bill's audition pieces for Cambridge Footlights, and the "Jack the Ripper" mini-play from "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" - hilariously acted out with Bill also providing the sound effects.
The film clips, which I was really looking forward to, mostly consisted of ones I knew well from the DVDs, which was disappointing.
They finished off with an encore of "The Funky Gibbon" which was a curious mixture of live performance and recorded backing tape.
There was a lot of cool merchandise on sale (at "cool merchandise" prices) including t-shirts and hats and pins and things, and a glossy programme. The tickets cost $59 (which was pretty steep)
The word went round that various London producers were out in Oz to see it, perhaps to bring it to the UK, so hang on to your hats - The Goodies are coming for you, and you, and you . . .
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