Off to Deal in Kent for a weekend in tribute to Charles Hawtrey’s 100th birthday. Carry On rebel rousing!

This year has been very Monty Python-centric. No complaints from me. This morning I did an enjoyable pre-record for John Fardy at Newstalk Radio in Ireland. It’s due to air next Thursday, which marks 40 years since the last television episode was broadcast on the BBC. Tempus fugit. As do circuses!

A splendid week of West End theatre kicked off on Friday evening with ‘Shakespeare in Love’ at the Noel Coward. A stunning realization of the film by director Declan Donnellan, Tom Bateman’s energetic and winning Will Shakespeare leads an excellent cast. The following day it was the annual embrace of the murder pantomime that is ‘The Mousetrap’! This year’s experience had a poignant edge since the death of Richard Attenborough the original Sergeant Trotter, but all the familiar elements warmed the cockles. There’s even added Max Miller as an illustration of the filth playing on the radio. Fantastic! Finally, it was the Wednesday matinee of Mike Bartlett’s outstanding history play pastiche ‘King Charles III’. Delicious iambic pentameter, portentous direction by Rupert Goold and a uniformly perfect cast headed by Miles Richardson, it’s booking at the Wyndham’s until January. I urge you to see it.

To the London Irish Centre at Camden Town this evening for the Chortle Comedy Book Festival. I was hosting a double bill of Monty Python, with Carol Cleveland promoting her memoirs ‘PomPoms Up!’, followed by Terry Jones in conversation about the ‘Forgotten Heroes of Comedy’. A shed-load of fun clips included Arthur Haynes, Jake Thackray and Olsen & Johnson. I even sneaked in a little Marty Feldman. Well, any excuse to promote my biography of the great man. Terry also had some copies of his short story anthology ‘Evil Machines’ on hand. If you want to buy Terry’s book or pledge for our ‘Forgotten Heroes of Comedy’, head on over to the Unbound website.