Jus' Like That! A Night Out with Tommy Cooper is a stage comedy and entertainment show featuring various comedians and actors as Tommy Cooper. Written by John Fisher and directed by Patrick Ryecart, it appeared at the Edinburgh Festival among others on tour. In 2010, Clive Mantle portrayed Cooper, and others such as Jim Davidson have also done so.
In order to train for the role, Clive Mantle mastered many of Cooper's magic tricks, studying under Geoffrey Durham for several months. [1] Mantle was thrilled to take on the role as Cooper is his ultimate comic hero, saying "It's such a big privilege playing Tommy - I genuinely love the man. He is one of the funniest comedians this country has ever produced. So this whole tour for me is just an immense thrill." [1] [2] Mantle considered the role highly challenging, given that he had to combine several aspects of skill, from the magic tricks to the joke-telling, the physical comedy, and emulating the distinctive voice. [3]
The show received considerable critical acclaim. Some people initially questioned the suitability of Clive Mantle for the character, given that he was well known for playing a solemn doctor in Casualty, [4] but he and the play were warmly received by critics. The South Wales Echo called it a "compelling, funny and moving play" and said " Clive, best known for his role as Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty, has had to get used to wearing a fez and conjuring up some magic for his title role of Jus' Like That! A Night Out With Tommy Cooper." [1]
Thomas Frederick Cooper was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m), and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army for seven years, before developing his conjuring skills and becoming a member of The Magic Circle. Although he spent time on tour performing his magical act, which specialised on magic tricks that appeared to fail, he rose to international prominence when his career moved into television, with programmes for London Weekend Television and Thames Television.
Stephen Glenn Martin is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated for two Tony Awards for his musical Bright Star in 2016. Among many honors, he received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2015. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comedian.
Prop comedy is a comedy genre in which performers use humorous objects, or conventional objects in humorous ways. The stages and films term "prop", an abbreviation of "property", refers to any object an actor handles in the course of a performance. Though some form of prop comedy has likely existed as long as there have been comedians, the genre reached its zenith in the vaudeville era. The vaudeville team Olsen and Johnson used prop comedy extensively in their long running Broadway revue Hellzapoppin.
Dylan William Moran is an Irish comedian, writer, actor, artist and poet. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.
Jerome Patrick Flynn is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier, Bronn in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, and Bennet Drake in Ripper Street.
Russell Allan Abbot is an English musician, actor and comedian. Born in Chester, he first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.
Greg Travis is an American stand-up comedian and actor.
Carl Ballantine was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go "hilariously awry" to the wisecracking Ballantine's mock chagrin. He has been credited with creating comedy magic and has influenced comedians and magicians alike.
Helen Margaret Lederer is a Welsh comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona.
Clive Andrew Mantle is an English actor. He played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty and Holby City in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series Robin of Sherwood. He returned to Casualty in 2016 as Mike Barratt for the show's 30th anniversary.
Patrick Geoffrey Ryecart is an English actor.
Matthew Arthur Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon. He is an English actor who is known for playing Jeff Collier in Casualty, DS Clive Barnard in A Touch of Frost, DS Davey Higgins in The Coroner, Albie in The Lakes, Mark Craig in New Blood and DS Simon Morgan in Manhunt: The Nightstalker.
Peter "Pete" Firman is an English magician, comedian, television presenter and actor.
John Edward Szeles, better known by the stage name The Amazing Johnathan, was an American comedian and magician. His act was mostly composed of hijinks, interaction with one specific audience member, and a few legitimate magic tricks. From 2001 to 2014, he was a year-round headliner in Las Vegas. Self-described as the "Freddy Krueger of Comedy", Szeles performed wearing his ever-present headband, and his shows frequently used gore; for example, pretending to suck on his own hanging eyeball, cutting his wrists, and skewering his own tongue. He was also good friends with fellow performer Criss Angel and helped him perform a variety of illusions, most notably during three guest appearances on Angel's Mindfreak.
John Marcus Bishop is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer.
Frank Mitchell was an American film actor. He appeared in over 70 films between 1920 and 1980.
Charlie Wernham is an English comedian and actor who is known for auditioning on the second series of the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent and for his role as Robbie Roscoe in Hollyoaks. He currently plays Mitchell in Bad Education and has appeared in The Inbetweeners, School of Comedy and Some Girls. He played Aaron Monroe in EastEnders from 2021 to 2022.
Des McLean is a Scottish stand-up comedian, actor, and a presenter for radio and television from Glasgow. Billy Connolly has cited McLean as his favourite comedian.
Riaad Moosa is a South African comedian, actor and doctor.