On Saturday 25 September we were lucky enough to be in Oldham, just north of Manchester for the last night of a sold out run of Colin Smith's play "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now".
Let me tell you a little about Colin. He's by far the funniest person I've ever had the pleasure to know.
His wit is absolutely razor-sharp. He's one of those people who seems to effortlessly come out with the type of things that you usually find yourself on the way home saying "Aaargh, if only I'd said xxxxxx, it would have been so funny!" He's a master of accents too, switching from one to another pretty convincingly. He's also a bloody nice bloke and a good friend. An all-round good egg, one might say.
So - Colin wrote this play and The Lyceum in Oldham decided to put it on. Smart move. It was sold out every single night of the run, and on the night we were there, the entire audience seemed to have a great time.
Knowing Colin, I knew this play would be good. What I wasn't really prepared for though, was just HOW good it is. I laughed till I cried and my face ached. It's not all cheap gags. The humour is in equal parts intelligent, witty, risque, borderline offensive (just how I like it) and there's the odd cheap gag thrown in too. The whole cast were brilliant.
I was totally blown away by it and literally rendered speechless once it was over. I even cried a little.
The gist of the story is, this bloke wakes up dead, though he doesn't know it, and he's escorted to the afterlife by a scantily-clad "collector" where he has to endure a series of ridiculous (and hilarious) interviews in order to convince him he's dead and assess his life on earth.
He then has to decide which of his 3 dead wives he wants to spend eternity with. While he's fretting over this big decision he's put into temporary accommodation, sharing a flat with Jesus of Nazareth and Adolf Hitler (best comedy duo EVER). It was almost TOO funny at points. It was so funny it hurt!
The Collector (way better looking than The Grim Reaper!)
Comedy genius!
"Directly or indirectly, how many insect deaths have you been responsible for?"
Nice touch - Jesus reading 'Woodworker' magazine.
Special mention to camp Hitler and his fantastic facial expressions.
I don't even want to give away the ending, as I'm pretty convinced that if there's ANY justice in the world, this play will be picked up and will some day soon be playing in a theatre near you. When it is, do yourself a favour, go and see it. I defy anyone to not enjoy the hell out of this.
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