Les Dennis in Jigsy.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Seen through the eyes of one man, a jovial lecture from one of the kings of Liverpool comedy as he reminisces about the old days on stage and the old ways of his beloved home city, Jigsy has seen them all, drank with the best and poked gentle and perhaps deserving fun at some of them too.

Inspired by the Liverpool comic Jackie Hamilton, Jigsy’s life on stage is relived by Les Dennis and it is a part that he was born to play more than any other. From the moment that Les Dennis came on stage as he went off to the applause on the other side of the curtain, he had the audience believing in him. The stories he weaved so well and with just the glimmer of malice in his cough ridden throat that made the tales so desperately funny were touching and delivered with absolute aplomb. Even the true story of the disaster in Liverpool Bay of the submarine Thetis still had a ring of grim humour about it.

Written with seemingly affectionate care by Tony Staveacre, Jigsy captured the inner essence of life of the comic and also the place he called home. From the old Scotland Road in which he lived with his grandmother, to the great comics he had known himself such as Ken Dodd and the comics he had admired such as Eric Morecombe and Tony Hancock, this was a man’s life laid bare on the stage.

What made it a joy was the ease in which Les Dennis was able to go back to his own early career and do lines as if the great Tommy Cooper and Liverpool’s own comic royalty of Ken Dodd were alongside him on stage. It was a real treat to see Les Dennis once more show how good he is at natural mimicry.

Jigsy is a part that was made for the considerable talent that Les Dennis keeps discreetly in his arsenal. The timing was impeccable and even when the mood turned serious it was heartfelt and heart-warming. In a city where Les Dennis is considered one of the best that kept Liverpool close to his heart, through all the great work he has done on stage, Jigsy is perhaps his crowning and ultimate performance; outstandingly good, playful, mischievous and at all times dedicated to telling not just the story of a man but the story of Liverpool.

Ian D. Hall