Barry Cryer and Friends: An 80th Birthday Celebration: Palace Theatre, London, 2015
An Evening with Andy Hamilton: Blackheath Halls, London, 2023
Drop The Dead Donkey: The Reawakening (Co-Writer): Theatre Royal, Norwich, 2024
Andy Hamilton, co-writer of TV comedy series Drop The Dead Donkey and Outnumbered (with Guy Jenkin), appeared at Barry Cryer’s 80th Birthday Celebration at the Palace Theatre that I saw in London in 2015. Hamilton was a panellist on stage, as he is on the radio, in a live version of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue created especially for the celebratory evening.
In June 2023, I watch Andy Hamilton’s one man show at the Blackheath Halls in London. The very jovial, chatty comedian and writer was on tour and was extremely entertaining. The first half of the show included the description and analysis of the construction of several different sorts of jokes which, from a comedy writer’s mind, was enthralling. The second half was a Q & A from the audience. After the show, it was a joy to bump into the comedy legend at Blackheath Station and to chat all the way back home on the train about his passions for football and comedy.
At the end of 2023, it was announced that much-loved TV series, Drop The Dead Donkey, would be revived on stage with most of the original cast and both original writers. I went along to the Theatre Royal, Norwich to watch a packed Saturday matinee in April 2024. After 30 years, the writing was still razor-sharp with trademark bang up-to date news references, thanks to Hamilton and Jenkin with each character reminiscing what they have been up to since working for GlobeLink News. Each original cast member – Stephen Tomkinson Neil Pearson, Jeff Rawle, Ingrid Lacey, Robert Duncan, Victoria Wicks and Sally Smedley, was showered with applause as they appeared on stage one by one. Within the first half hour, it became clear that an unnamed business tycoon had funded a shiny new News broadcasting station, and the team were recruited back together. The differences with working in the past and the present such as advances in technology (including a very annoying coffee machine) all came under fire, and the acting and script was a delight. By the end of the performance, it was as though they had never been away.
Hamilton is a very intelligent, clever man and is one of Britain’s best comedy writers.