The Comeback
Description
Up-and-coming comics Alex and Ben have been booked in the warm-up spot for a beloved but fading double act’s comeback tour. Neither is delighted to be playing to a sparse crowd in a sleepy seaside town—but when it’s revealed that a Hollywood director is in the audience, both acts glimpse a final chance for their big break.
Cue sabotage, mistaken identity and full-on farcical mayhem, as the performance descends into a desperate battle for the limelight. With the action alternating between offstage and on, and the tone between Noises Off and Morecambe and Wise’s old-school charm, The Comeback is a heart-warming exploration of bittersweet nostalgia and the enduring power of friendship.
It is the joyful and dazzlingly funny debut play by The Pin’s award-winning Ben Ashendenand Alex Owen—"destined to become one of the great comedy duos"(Radio Times). It opened at the West End’s Noël Coward Theatre in December 2020.
Reviews
"Has plenty of charm… a high-energy meta-comedy."
- The Times
"A neat conceit, played to the hilt of escalating, exhausting buffoonery… an uproarious, gag-a-minute triumph."
- Telegraph
"Hugely enjoyable… a complicated, fast-paced farce."
- The Arts Desk
"Surreal, silly and very, very funny... will simply make you laugh your socks off."
- Evening Standard
"Has everything you'd want in a comedy show… The Comeback is jam-packed with gags; from throwaway one-liners to clever call-backs which only get funnier and never lose speed or outstay their welcome. But what makes it so clever is how emotional moments are brought in and out throughout the show; you aren't just watching farcical situations, there are real moments of emotion too… an unmissable show full of heart and hysterical chaos that will leave you smiling for days."
- Broadway World
"A bulletproof nugget of comic theatre."
- Guardian