Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, Chris Cantrill, Katie Norris - Mark Muldoon's Comedy Diary

Written by: Mark Muldoon
Published: Monday 30th September 2024

Dunno if you've heard the gossip about how much money can be made in theatreland. Ever-reliable podcast The Rest is Entertainment entered the discussion recently, speculating that the two co-creators of a certain successful West End musical, "one of the very very few that isn't based on IP or a movie" are each making a six-figure sum a week. I'm guessing the show in question is Six, though feel free to make your own speculations.

You get the impression this year's high profile West End opening of Fawlty Towers: The Play hasn't been quite the commercial success its creators maybe dreamed it would be. I'm sure nobody's exactly regretting their involvement, but you sense its residency at the Apollo Theatre isn't destined to have quite the same staying power.

Why? Well, there was only really one criticism to level at it, but it felt like a major one: a lack of fresh comic invention. It was easy to imagine John Cleese had given himself about six hours to bolt together the script from three episodes of the original TV show. Hey, if you were happy to accept the production on those terms, you were in for a lovely evening.

Everyone else may have been left wondering: what if? What if somebody actually tried to breathe new life into the show's pretty bulletproof comedic framework?

Faulty Towers The Dining Experience has actually been trying to do exactly that since 1997, when it was first performed in Brisbane. Essentially it's an attempt to take Basil, Sybil and Manuel and place them in an immersive theatre environment, then throw in a three course meal for good measure.

The show remains true to its inspiration to a fault, and that includes the food, which is both 70s inspired and (perhaps related) mediocre. From what we observed, this also isn't the show to turn to in search of white hot improv talent.

But: there is fresh comic invention. The show riffs on ideas from the original TV series, then surprises you by taking them off in different directions, adding in their own (well honed) punchlines. And that, really, is the most important thing.

The most closely-related show that similarly combines a sit down meal with immersive theatre may well be Gingerline. If we're to compare the two, this is much better. Immersive theatre and sit-down dining were less comfortable bedfellows in Gingerline, plus the whole thing had less edge than a soft-play centre. Obviously Faulty Towers The Dining Experience have the BBC original to thank for providing a rock solid foundation, but they build upon it well.

The show is also somewhat unique for essentially being immersive theatre aimed at - and attracting - an older audience. Chris Cantrill is clearly thinking about similar matters in his Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated hour Easily Swayed, as he asks us if there's any 20-somethings in the room. When a fair few people respond, he warns: "there's nothing for you here".

So it is for the 40 year-old Cantrill, whose debut solo show sees him concerned about having entered middle age and moved to the countryside, with his child and his partner of 12 years. Much of Easily Swayed does feel like a cautionary tale against us repeating his error, as Cantrill is tasked with, say, making "rural" friends. Meanwhile, his love language to his audience is clearly millennial references - folks that recall pre-revival Jackass and Daphne & Celeste will feel particularly welcomed here.

It's possible you won't feel fully charmed by either the show or its humour until the latter stages, however - when its Proper Themes emerge, and you discover one of the funniest depictions of a mental health wobble you'll find in today's comedy scene (and comedy in 2024 could hardly be accused of lacking depictions of mental health wobbles).

Cantrill is also a member of acclaimed double-act The Delightful Sausage. Many of the finest debut shows in recent memory have come from acts striking out on their own after completing their training hours in sketch groups. You may be wondering why: do groups just tire of having to split all their income 2/3 ways? It's also worth noting that popular culture isn't exactly overwhelmed with sketch groups that have made it big over the last ten or so years. Going solo appears to be where the real money's at.

Perhaps that explains part of the reason for another of 2024's solo-debutants Katie Norris, also of sketch duo Norris & Parker. "I've been told I have divorced woman energy", she announces in this show, Farm Fatale. A little later, she states that she's looking forward to getting to know her future stepsons.

Norris's stories from London 30-something life are very popular with this, well, London 30-something audience. Tonight, in fairness, she clearly has a high number of friends in the room, which can often lend a gig a slight aura of unearned hysteria. If you stop short of saying Norris deserves hysteria, she's certainly worthy of considerable excitement. Acquiring previous sketch group experience does tend to result in a more assured, confident solo debut, and that's unquestionably the case here. One particularly bright section recalls her dates with a man who's a really, really big fan of James Acaster. Norris also joins the small pool of comedians who have discovered the comedic potential in neighbourhood-based social media. Elsewhere, a joke about her dad firing a gun is particularly well orchestrated.

Best of all, though, is the range of withering disdain dotted throughout the hour. The audience are also given a brief hint that substantial pain remains hidden from view - as if Norris wants you to know that there's an alternative, trauma-comedy version of this show she's resisting giving you. Instead, this is just an hour of comic joy that leaves you convinced you're in the presence of exciting talent. You hope she's rewarded with a corresponding level of commercial success.

Read previous editions of this column (featuring Nish Kumar, Olga Koch, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Stamptown and Milton Jones).

Mark Muldoon is also available on Instagram and Twitter. He's also exactly the kind of person to enjoy tales from 30-something London life, tbf.