It’s the ultimate question currently facing mankind, a gargantuan question of morals and continence with such ramifications for humanity that it’s set the scholars and wise men of the globe into increasingly heated debates, which will no doubt leave them at loggerheads for years to come.

So what is this biblical, neigh apocalyptic question that’s on the lips of every thinking man in the modern world I hear you ask? Well if you’re very sure you can take it, here goes, but remember - with great power comes great responsibility:

**Can a TV comedian cross the boundaries of light entertainment on the goggle box and be taken seriously in the infamously harsh and critical world of serious London theatre?**

It’s quite a poser, I think you’ll agree vehemently. So to try and find an answer to the question that has flummoxed the worlds top minds, I have put together three case studies that should be able to tip the scales one way or tuther as granny would say.

Case Study 1 – Rob Mitchell in Fat Pig

The first of these three proactive comedians to take the tentative steps into live action theatre is Rob Mitchell who plays the drug toting, mother debasing looser Jeremy in the (in my opinion) hilarious Peep Show. I think the rules state that I’m allowed to give my opinions as this is not currently election time.

This production of FAT PIG sees Robs character falling in love with a Jolly FAT Bird (so many rules broken there) only to find that his so called friends mock him viscously.

==>> Spoiler Alert: In the end this week-spirited man crumples under the intense peer pressure, ditching his heavyweight beauty and choosing shallow friendship over love. What a guy.

Granted the show is a comedy which kind totally goes against the point of this post, but I had to mention it because stylistically this ultra-modern play is worlds apart from Peep Show. Although for a Peep Show Fanboy like myself, I found it hard not to burst out in fits of ecstatic giggles every time Rob Mitchell said a word or moved one of those comedic muscles. The more sensible members of the audience all laughed in the right places and gave rapturous applause at the end.

(For all you BT openworld fans the play also features Kris Marshall fresh from his middle weight title defence against a moving car.)

I loved this play and went twice, but to be perfectly honest with you Rob is right in my bad books at the moment because the night after I went to see him in the play I also chanced upon him in my local prêt a manager and he did not even say hello or raise an eyebrow. Even though I was sitting right there in the audience of 400 the very night before. What a bloody liberty!

Case Study 2 – Catherine Tate in Under the Blue Sky

The second comedy giant to dip her beautiful feet into the waters of theatrical glory is the flaming haired Catherine Tate, who incidentally I could never marry being of flaming-haired persuasion myself. You know what they say, “Two flaming heads does not a marriage make.” (It’s OK Cath I’m sure you’ll find someone.)

Personally I have never been sucked into the latest Dr Who craze as I don’t have any children that I need to give nightmares to, so my only knowledge of Catherine’s work is the few times I have seen her TV show and the card I got for my last birthday which screeched “am I bovvered” at quite a decibel whenever you so much as breathed on its little offensive flap.

I have to admit (although it pains on some deep seated, jealous and resenting level) that this an astonishingly brilliant production, the Tate woman is surrounded by a fantastic cast, including Francesca Annis, Nigel Lindsay and Chris O’Dowd, in this blood curdling, booze-filled insight into the life of teachers.

I knew the educators were hiding something during all those miserable years I spent at my expensive stage school, look at me now Miss Woods I’m a ruddy blogging machine! But I think we’ve all got some strange stories about past teachers, like when my PE teacher dropped me as the captain of the football team after I refused to shower naked in front of him, for example. Or is that just me?

So, was I bovvered that I couldn’t stop thinking of Tate’s familiar funny faces for the first few minutes of the show? (Did you catch what I did there?)

The answer is a big fat smouldering NO. I soon forgot about that when I saw her buxom figure acting all over the place; I would go so far as to say she was even better than Miren in The Queen! I became 100% absorbed in her performance as the brassy Essex lass whom everyone wants (and has seemingly had) a piece of.

I’m now going to spend a few seconds educating the ignorant short-sighted masses. So if that does not apply to you then skip this little bit:

Actually Before creating her now famous comedic characters on her own show, Tate had a long and healthy stage career, and that shows in this deft and painfully observant play. UNDER THE BLUE SKY is a must-see for anyone who’s been to school… however I still enjoyed it!

Case Study 3 – David Walliams in No Mans Land

And so it comes to the third man – David Walliams as he takes to the stage at the beginning of October in Harold Pinter’s masterpiece NO MAN’S LAND. You might agree that this is a rather appropriate title for this properly A list celebrity human fish, stuck in unfamiliar surroundings with no cross-dressing in sight. How will his comedy value stay shut?

My only previous experience with David Walliams and Drama was a TV special on the BBC in which he played a weird upper class gent who takes an attractive and intelligent young girl into the basement of his big Victorian house and then proceeds to tell her a whole bunch of nauseating and vicious tales about the British establishment for his own amusement. His literally bathed with pleasure in her fear. That particular piece of melodrama was the fourth and final part of a series that I mostly missed so I must admit that it flew over my head like speeding kestrel.

The Nobel Prize-winning Pinter is known for his dramatic pauses. And I can’t help but think that when those moments arrive Walliams will break the silence with a demented croaking noise or an impression of a vomiting old tart. But I must remember to learn from my experience of watching UNDER THE BLUE SKY. Comedians can do serious… and now I’m actually buzzing with excitement as to what Walliams will wow us with. Try and say that after a pint of G n T.

For a start, he already has several things working in his favour. He has a powerful voice, excellent presence and, like most top comedians, enviably perfect timing. Plus he will be surrounded by what will be one of the strongest casts in the West End, including Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore in four of the Harry Potter films) and David Bradley (Argus Filch in all of the Harry Potter films. Oh you know how I feel about that marvellous Potter boy) – they’re sure to help him create some stage magic for NO MAN’S LAND at the Duke of York’s Theatre after UNDER THE BLUE SKY has finished.

This Pinter-penned script should keep his comedy Walliams well under control. NO MAN’S LAND will be a real test for Walliams – but in all seriousness I think he’ll…….. RISE TO THE CHALLENGE as the actor said to the bishop, Ooo matron!

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