GR in wheelchair.......
From left- GR, Felix Dexter, Owen O'Neill, Christian Slater, Brendan Dempsey, McKenzie Crook, Steven K Amos, Phil Nichol
This initially began at the Edinburgh Fringe, before transferring to the West End in London where it would play two seasons (at The Gielgud, then The Garrick) before a change of cast - with Shane Richie and Sophie Ward taking the lead roles - and a UK tour.
The first season was a riot and very pressured for lots of reasons, but a real landmark as an experience. Christian Slater was fantastic, the cast of mostly stand-up comedians were a hoot, and the whole thing sold out and did the business.
In fact Christian had such a ball he came back for that second season - pretty unusual.
Also the resaon why I made my stand-up debut, doing improvisation - to sold-out audiences in the West End. Well wouldn't you like to see Christian telling gags?
Cast included Phil Nichol, Brendan Dempsey, Stephen K Amos, Felix Dexter, Katherine Jakeways, Lizzie Roper, and Dave Johns (most recently seen as 'Daniel Blake' in Ken Loach's fabulous 2016 film) ... it really was a laugh!
The UK tour featured Shane Richie and Sophie Ward...
The picture above from a brief re-union in 2007, featuring from l to r:
(back) Phil Nichol, Owen O'Neil, Dave Johns (front) Me, Steven K Amos, Christian Slater, Lizzie Roper and Lucy Porter.
Below is a snippet from Producer Nica Burns on the start of 'Cuckoo's Nest' - it was such a hoot....