REVIEW: Eric and Ern at Melton Theatre

The duo’s popularity remains enduring so it was no surprise at all to see Melton Theatre packed to the rafters to enjoy the tribute show, Eric and Ern, which has moved from a successful West End run to a tour of the nation’s provincial venues.

It would be easy for this kind of performance to descend into a lazy impersonation of the comedy legends Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise but it is an incredibly affectionate portrayal of funnymen who were drawing TV audiences of more than 20 million viewers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jonty Stephens captures all the unique mannerisms and, more importantly, the comedy timing of Eric, to the point where you forget that its not the great man himself performing.

He has a great rapport with Ian Ashpitel, as Ernie – the all-important straight man in the act who sets up the pranks, the slapstick and the gags for Eric.

Some of the iconic jokes are memorably included with Eric explaining his questionable piano skills as him ‘playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order’.

And when the siren of a passing police car is heard, he quips that ‘he won’t be selling many ice creams going at that speed’.

You know the punchline is coming but it is delivered hilariously, accompanied by cheers from the audience.

The jokes keep coming and the nostalgia continues as the duo reprise sketches where they are seated on a sofa and sitting up in bed, a bored Eric reading a newspaper and Ernie working on his latest play.

There is also a humorous section where the duo invite two members of the audience onto stage to take part in an Elvis Presley-themed singing performance.

The interactions are brilliant with Jonty ad libbing just as you’d imagine Eric would have done.

Song and dance numbers punctuate the show to quicken the pace.

A hearty rendition of Bring Me Sunshine was the perfect end to an excellent show which conjured up warm memories of Christmases past.