In this the centenary year of Spike Milligan’s birth, Chris Larner and Jeremy Stockwell celebrate the life and work of this British comedy legend with laughs, songs, philosophy and utter, utter silliness.
Spike Milligan was a man whose tireless comedic invention redefined the landscape of British comedy. His influence is everywhere from Monty Python, Robin Williams and Eddie Izzard to The Mighty Boosh, Vic & Bob and countless others.
Playing Spike and those who surrounded him, Jeremy Stockwell – who also directs four new shows at this year’s Fringe including The Thinking Drinker’s Pub Crawl and Angelos & Barry’s A Matter of Life & Death – and Chris Larner – whose previous Edinburgh hits include The Frida Kahlo of Penge West, Vagabonds and his one-man show An Instinct for Kindness (Fringe First, 2011) – delve into the heart of Spike’s mayhem, finding the cosmic in the comic, the humour in the human condition and the undeniable idiot in us all. In a show of unbridled fun, they sift through the layers of Milligan madness and only find more of it.
Larner and Stockwell comment, Spike signed off his letters with the words ‘Love, Light, and Peace’. His hope was that nonsense would bring the world back to sanity. We think he had a point.
Jeremy Stockwell can also be seen playing Ken Campbell, in Terry Johnson’s Ken, at Pleasance Dome.
A Sockful of Custard is at Pleasance Dome (Ace Dome).
