MAJOR news stories of the recent past came together at the New Wimbledon theatre last night to wish Prince Charles a happy 60th birthday.
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First up were Barack Obama and George Bush, as seen through the still sparkling eyes of Robin Williams. “America is officially out of rehab,” was the comedian’s pithy summation of the US election.
Bush has been a sitting target for the last eight years and there was a sense of comedians wringing the last drops of humour out of the hapless president. “My fellow amphibians, as you are no do doubt underwear, we have a new Precipice of the US, Borat Osama,” mimmicked John Culshaw, firing off his fine Bush impression for perhaps the last time in battle.
Then there was Andrew Sachs, the actor subjected to dodgy phone calls from Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, who reprised his famous role as Spanish waiter Manuel from Fawlty Towers alongside John Cleese, who MCed the whole event.
The routine between the two would have been pretty lame – Cleese asked Sachs to name the 11th letter of the alphabet, earning the reply, “Que?” – but for the poignancy of the occasion. Veteran show people, the changing of the Presidential guard plus a 60 year-old prince couldn’t help but add up to a high percentage of lumps-in-throats for the 1,700 audience, who had paid a minimum of £60 a throw for the charity birthday do.
On the same night he was laughing in the theatre, on TV Charles was moaning about his job. Asked directly if he took pleasure from being Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne said: “Well, I don’t know. Bits of it. It’s something I feel I must do to help as many other people as I possibly can in this country.”
