Rik Mayall Live! (as support): The Sands Centre, Carlisle, 1989
Andy De La Tour: Stand Up or Die In New York: Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh, 2014
Andy De La Tour is the brother of actress Frances De La Tour (who notably appeared alongside Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale in the classic TV comedy series Rising Damp as well as working extensively for writer Alan Bennett on stage). Like his sister, he is a successful actor but also a very good stand-up comedian.
After a period away from the spotlight, De La Tour returned to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 with his new show Stand Up or Die in New York. I saw him perform this show and as the title suggests I discovered that he hadn’t been out of the spotlight at all, in fact he had been trying stand-up comedy to audiences in New York comedy clubs. At the start of the showing the Gilded Balloon he paid a very warm tribute to Rik Mayall who had at the time recently died. De La Tour explained that he had the honour of being the support act at Mayall’s live tour in 1989. After his Edinburgh show, I made a point of meeting De La Tour and told him that I had been in the audience of Rik Mayall’s tour in Carlisle in 1989 and remembered how funny De La Tour was as the support act. We reminisced about effortlessly brilliant Mayall was at making the audience laugh that night. As De La Tour warmly shook my hand, he seemed taken aback that I had such fond memories of that show. I did as it was an unforgettable evening of wonderful comedy from both acts.