Conjuring up spirit of a comedy legend

The fez, the magic, the slapstick, the catchphrases.

When Channel Four remakes its top 100 comedians programme, which it seems intent on doing at least every five years until the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride into the town, Tommy Cooper will always be in the top 10.

Cooper was a comedian's comedian, respected in the industry, but he was also adored by the public.

Indeed, he was so adored that when his heavy drinking began to take its toll on his act, audiences were more than willing to forgive his bumbling.

Cooper's stage persona, built around his enormous 6ft-plus frame, was one of a child at play. A huge, overgrown child.

Clive Mantle, best remembered as Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty and Holby City, has the frame to bring Cooper back to life on stage. And if the early reviews of the stage show, Jus' Like That!, are anything to go by, he also has the skill to recreate the magician-comedian.

Jus Like That! A Night out With Tommy Cooper, is coming to York and Wakefield next week.

Mantle, it seems, was the perfect casting to play Cooper, and not just because of his suitably large frame.

"When I was a student living in a basement flat in Islington, I used to love watching Tommy and howling with laughter," says Mantle.

The show is written by John Fisher who worked for many years with Cooper.

"It's such a privilege playing Tommy – I genuinely love the man. He is one of the funniest comedians this country has ever produced. So this for me is just an immense thrill," says Mantle.

Audiences are just as thrilled because – 26 years after the late, great comedian died in front of a live TV audience on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End of London – Cooper remains toweringly popular.

Mantle says the show works so well because it evokes strong memories of the peerless performer.

"We're reminding people what an outstanding comedian he was and reminding them what made them sit glued to their TV watching him and roaring with laughter. The show also gives them a glimpse of what went on behind all that," says 52-year-old Mantle.

Mantle, who has harboured a burning desire to appear in this play for the past decade, adds: "Tommy also had this other string to his bow, the magic. He cottoned on to the fact that if he did 75 per cent of his tricks wrong, people would roar with laughter. But to satisfy his own inner child, every so often he'd get one right. Audiences would revel in that – the buffoon who almost by accident gets it right. So while other performers had one or two elements in their act, Tommy had three. It was this combination of elements that made him so special."

Having trained with Geoffrey Durham (The Great Soprendo), Mantle has mastered many of Cooper's magic tricks and can now make pigeons appear and bottles disappear.

He has relished learning this new skill.

"It's been a joy," beams the actor, who starred opposite Tommy's son, also called Tommy, in Robin of Sherwood during the 1980s.

"I've been performing tricks for my five-year-old and my wife, and they've been baffled. If you can baffle a five-year-old, you can baffle anyone."

Cooper's life on stage cast shadows into his personal life, with tales of his meanness, magnified by a drinking problem, a common feature of his life story.

"Towards the end he may have been drunk and stumbled over his words

to the point of being shambolic, but he was still a fantastic performer. Also, he had built up such a wealth of affection that the audience forgave him. That's reflected in this show. It's affectionate because we still love him," says Mantle.

As well as depicting Cooper on stage, the play reveals how the comedian's drinking spiralled out of control and made him occasionally harsh towards his loved ones.

Mantle says Cooper was drawn towards the booze by the relentless stress of his position.

"Imagine the pressure to be Tommy Cooper all the time. The only thing that could help him deal with the expectations of millions was alcohol. It's a frightening process. We all feel the need to satisfy the paying customers. If they've been good enough to put their hands in their pockets and come out to see you, you have to try to give them a good night out – and then some. He must have felt those pressures intensely.

"He went into a hell-bent nose-dive, and not even heart attacks could stop him. So many people tried to help him – Gwen, his wife, his children, and Mary, his mistress – but they couldn't.

"For him, the most enjoyable part of the day was once the work was done. His day started at 11pm, but Tommy didn't restrict himself to two or three hours. He'd drink through the night and would be found still going at 6am. He once appeared for breakfast at a hotel – not a usual sight – and demanded gin on his cornflakes."

For Mantle, such a long-time fan of Cooper's, playing his hero has occasionally been overpowering.

Early on in rehearsals for the show, the director brought in Cooper's favourite trademark fez, given to him by Cooper's late wife.

Mantle says: "I felt overwhelmed wearing it – it's such an iconic trademark. John's eyes were full of tears, and my eyes were full of tears. It was a bolt-through-the-spine moment."

Despite the darkness in his life, Mantle says this show is a celebration of Cooper's genius as one of our great entertainers – and a reminder of why he is a permanent fixture in the top 10 comedians run down.

Mantle says: "I hope it reminds people what an absolute genius Tommy

was and why he entertained four generations so brilliantly.

"He made millions of people's lives happier, and what could be better than that?"

Jus' Like That! A Night Out With Tommy Cooper.

York Grand Opera House, May 24, 0844 847 2322.

Wakefield Theatre Royal, May 25 and 26, 01924 211311.

Some classic Cooper-isms

"I bought some HP sauce the other day, it's costing me 6p a month for the next two years."

"So I got home, and the phone was ringing, I picked it up, and said 'Who's speaking, please?' And a voice said 'You are'."

"I rang up a local building firm. I said 'I want a skip outside my house'. They said 'We're not stopping you'."

"I had a ploughman's lunch the other day. He wasn't happy."

"Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off."

"I was a surprise to my parents. They found me on the doorstep. They expected a bottle of milk."

"Do you know it's been 70 degrees in the shade? I was clever. I stayed in the sun."

"I joined a golf club last week. It keeps coming apart."

"I feel wonderful. There's nothing like a cold bath. Full of hot water!"

"A man came out of a doorway and said 'Have you seen a policeman?' I said 'No.' He said 'Stick 'em up.'"

"I slept like a log last night. I woke up in the fireplace."

"A woman went to the doctor and said 'I've got a bad back.' The doctor said 'It's old age.' She said 'I want a second opinion.' He said 'You're ugly as well'."

"I'm on a whisky diet. I've lost three days already."