COMEDY
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REEVES AND MORTIMER Health scare for Bob delays some of the nostalgic fun
Just hours before going into hospital for a triple heart bypass operation (which seems to have gone well), Bob Mortimer was tweeting about a piece of work he’d done with Matt Berry which was airing on the BBC iPlayer. This is the spirit of the man, doing something for a mate even in a moment which could have plunged him into dark despair. While the November and December dates of
Vic ‘n’ Bob’s 25 Years of Reeves and Mortimer: The Poignant Moments tour have been cancelled, the hope is that 2016 will be ushered in with the pair back on stage. For those of a certain vintage, catchphrases such as ‘what’s on the end of the stick, Vic?’ ‘you wouldn’t let it lie’ and ‘we really wanna see those fingers’
became the stuff of playground / office / courtroom legend and the duo promised all this and more on their anniversary tour. While often dabbling in their own solo projects (Reeves has exhibited his art and presented Brainiac while Mortimer boxed Les Dennis for Sport Relief and can split an apple apart with his bare hands), the magic truly takes off when they’re in a room together. Dubbed the Morecambe and Morecambe of 90s comedy, their influence can be detected in the surrealish works of the Mighty Boosh and most things their pal Matt Berry has been in. Get well soon, Bob. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Edinburgh Playhouse, Sun 31 Jan.
5 Nov 2015–4 Feb 2016 THE LIST 85