mostly david ephgrave

Last night, I watched ‘Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand’ on BBC4 (which documents his final gig at the pub theatre The Albany in London in 2003 to an audience of fellow comics) and was knocked out by how pitch-perfect his performance was; this despite being so ill, he sadly died a few months later. I’d seen clips from the gig previously and knew it was good, but seeing the majority of his set last night revealed the word “good” doesn’t do it justice; his timing and delivery was immaculate, truly immaculate,  managing to somehow be both polished and low-key in equal measure. The fact I’ve gigged at the Albany myself and could see people I knew among the crowd at the Monkhouse show only served to underline how immediate and brave that performance was; it’s a joy to watch a man still at the top of his game. It made me laugh to see him standing backstage before going on, knowing how tiny that area is. And to watch him perform to an audience that by rights should...