Famous comedian Harry Enfield is back! Reviving his iconic characters such as Loadsamoney, Stavros, Mr. Don’t, and the working-class Wayne and Waynetta Slob, with his new Harry Enfield and No Chums tour, coming to New Theatre Oxford on Monday November 2!
It’s been 11 years since we last saw Harry Enfield on tour with his friend Paul Whitehouse in 2015, so why wait over a decade to get back on stage? “The folks from Fane Productions approached me. It sounded fun. You know, if people ask me to do something, I tend to do it. Otherwise, I’m just quite happy sort of pottering around, really,” Harry says blithely.
‘I imagine that Loadsamoney now runs Pimlico Plasterers and has gone to live in Dubai in case Labour tax him more’
But when you consider that Harry Enfield’s characters became an integral part of UK culture, their catchphrases repeated ad nauseum up and down the country, his comedy shows some of the most successful of the last three decades, the only question is what took the award-winning comedian him so long?
“When I was young and performing characters in clubs, I was really nervous. That’s why I stopped as soon as I could. Now I’m so old I don’t care anymore,” he explains.
But Harry has some new tricks up his sleeve on his new tour, revisiting memorable duos like Smashie and Nicey and the Surgeons, as well as looking into how his characters were conceived, how they evolved, their cultural impact, real-life inspirations and personal anecdotes.
He’s also introducing a new character we haven’t met before: “There was one that the BBC wouldn’t go for, but I’m still going to do it on stage, so if you buy a ticket you’ll see that,” he promises.
‘when I was young and performing characters in clubs, I was really nervous. Now I’m so old I don’t care anymore’
Rewatching his old programmes to prepare for this tour Harry says: “I thought they were really funny, which surprised me. Because at the time you do these things and you move on and don’t really think about it anymore, but a lot of it I thought was really well written. We really got something right about a lot of things.”
And have his characters evolved in the meantime? “Yes DJ Nicey is back! He has a podcast and it’s very, very, very right-wing. He keeps getting cancelled and coming back. Angry Frank is still angry. And there are some new characters thrown in too like The Surgeons that I did in the BBC series Harry & Paul.”
‘Wayne and Waynetta are probably great, great, great grandparents by now. I love them all actually. I’m very proud of them’
Which begs the question about whether characters like Loadsamoney are still relevant? Harry thinks so: “Money is everything now. The rich have got richer. The poor have got poorer. I imagine that Loadsamoney now runs Pimlico Plasterers and has gone to live in Dubai in case Labour tax him more,” Harry says.
“And Wayne and Waynetta are probably great, great, great grandparents by now. I love them all actually. I’m very proud of them. But they are all just comic book characters. My thing is always mischief, not malice.
“Stavros is interesting because I did him again in 2022 when Channel 4 revived Friday Night Live. Anyone who wants to take offence has got no sense of humour as far as I’m concerned.”
‘mainly I like arsing about with friends’
So tour aside, where has Harry been and what’s he been up to? “I like reading, walking and swimming in Hampstead Pond. But mainly I like arsing about with friends. I still write sketches, but not very often. I sold one to David Mitchell and Robert Webb for their Channel 4 show. It was David explaining to Rob the violent plot of John Wick, but with this fear of saying the word ‘dead’, saying ‘sadly passed away’ instead.Â
And what TV comedy still makes him giggle? “I’ll watch Paul in something or David Mitchell. And I quite often watch something like Michael McIntyre’s Big Show. It always makes me laugh. I’m more Michael McIntyre than Stewart Lee.”
No chance of him turning into the old gits then and having a moan about the modern world: “I have. I’m still embarrassing. My children find me embarrassing. They think I’m ridiculous. I just can’t really grow up.”
‘there was one character that the BBC wouldn’t go for, but I’m still going to do it on stage’
So if you fancy coming on an intimate and retrospective journey into the mind and career of one of our favourite renowned comedians, then book in to see Harry Enfield and No Chums, because who knows if he will leave it another decade before he returns.
Harry Enfield and No Chums will be performing at New Theatre, Oxford on November 2. BOOK HERE
