Cuckoo Comedy Night
Gielgud Theatre, London W1
When I was doing karaoke at Christian Slater's birthday party (come on, how often do you get to start a review like that?), I remember thinking it was a terrible waste that Slater and his fellow Cuckoo's Nest cast members - for the most part, stand-up comics - weren't taking their musical skills, banter and improvised sketches on to the stage for a wider audience.
Evidently, someone else - probably the play's entrepreneurial producer, Nica Burns - had the same idea, so for four consecutive Saturdays, after the main play, the stage of the Gielgud Theatre will host an off-the-cuff cabaret of stand-up, monologues and improvisation compered by the Hollywood hellcat himself.
Although the audience had come for the spectacle of Slater, he didn't attempt a set himself (despite a talent for comic timing) and generously ceded the stage to his colleagues for most of the hour, confining his contributions to brief introductions. Stephen K Amos kicked off the first show with a smart routine playing on racial stereotypes, followed by Lucy Porter (who confided: 'I've been working with Christian for three months now and I've still got fizzy pants'), though the undisputed high point was Mackenzie Crook as Mr Bagshawe, the geography teacher we all loathed.
Sadly, there was no reprise of Slater's Sinatra impression, though it may appear in future shows, but he and co-headliner Frances Barber joined the ensemble for improvisational games at the end, led by Brendan Dempsey and Ian Coppinger, stars of the Dublin Comedy Store. It was all a bit ad hoc, but the cast's enjoyment was infectious.
