In celebration of Morecambe & Wise

Theatre Royal Portsmouth offers a celebration of Morecambe & Wise on Saturday, November 7 at 7.30pm in the company of Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens.

They are promising an “evening packed with classic Morecambe & Wise comedy, songs and sketches celebrating the centenary year of the nation’s favourite comedy legends.”

The Olivier Award nominated duo will deliver a nostalgic evening evoking memories of a time long ago when whole families would huddle around the telly on Sunday evenings – and when Morecambe and Wise were pretty much obligatory festive viewing.

For the duo, it is great to show the equal part that both Eric and Ernie played in the double act.

As Ian, who plays Ernie, recalls, there was once a broadsheet article with the headline ‘Does Eric Morecambe really need Ernie Wise?’

“And there was a famous comic, who I won’t name, who said that Ernie Wise was one of the luckiest men alive to have had Eric Morecambe as his partner.

“But I think what people forget is that Ernie Wise was like the older brother to Eric Morecambe. He looked after him in more ways than one. Eric couldn’t pay bills. He didn’t carry money. Ernie looked after everything.

“But Eric also needed Ernie to bounce off.

“Ernie’s comic timing was superb. Ernie was standing next to Eric Morecambe and he was feeding him all these lines, and his timing was just brilliant. It had to be.”

And Ernie was happy with that, though, as Ian says, the dynamic changed slightly when their wives came along. Ernie’s wife felt that Ernie should have been given much more credit.

The point is that within the inner circle there was absolutely no doubt. Those that knew knew that Morecambe without Wise was just unimaginable: “The families knew just how important Ernie was, and Eric most of all appreciated him.”

A few years ago, there was a fair amount of fuss when Morecambe’s rediscovered comments disparaged the comedy talents of Monty Python. Ian believes they probably have to be seen in context – plus the fact that Monty Python notoriously divided people.

“It certainly divided us in my house. My brother was a huge Monty Python fan while my mother just could not understand it.

“I am a little bit surprised that Eric really didn’t like Monty Python because all comedy has something in it.

“But also in Eric and Ernie’s work there was definitely quite a lot of stuff that was actually fairly left field...”