Review: Dawn French endears herself to the Cambridge audience

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the “80s comedienne’s” (her words, not mine) new show, Dawn French Is a Huge Tw*t, performed to a packed audience at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on Saturday, October 1.

Would it be stand-up? Would it be something resembling ‘An audience with...’? In the end, what followed was a well-crafted two-hour piece examining some of the most embarrassing moments of “tw*ttery” in French’s life and career - but mainly her career - written by the lady herself.

With the help of a large screen showing clips and photographs from her 40-plus years in TV, theatre and film (one forgets just how many things Dawn French has appeared in, working with some of the biggest names in the industry along the way), the comedian, actress, writer and presenter recalled moments of awkward misunderstandings and times where she did or said funny or stupid things - often at the worst possible time.

There were some amusing - and painful - anecdotes including the time she met Dustin Hoffman, the time she jumped into a specially-created puddle on live TV, the reaction from a well-known co-star with whom she fell in love, her hilarious response to being invited to the No Time to Die premiere, and the ill-advised costumes she and her then-husband Lenny Henry wore to Elton John’s 50th birthday party.

There were some interesting revelations - some of which made one see scenes in TV and film, including the time French and Saunders ‘shot’ Lulu, in a whole new light - and a few laugh-out-loud moments (particularly in the second half), but for me this was more of an entertaining look-back at Dawn French’s enviable career, and an insight into her personality, than a comedy show eliciting non-stop laughter.

[Read more: Comedy writer Paul Mayhew-Archer: ‘Laughter is one of the things that keeps you going’]

That said, the final bit where the likeable sixty-something fulfilled a lifelong dream of performing a musical number live on stage (I won’t reveal which song she sang and from which musical) was very funny indeed - though it was the pronunciation of some of the words that caused me to laugh, rather than the actually quite admirable singing. The audience responded in kind, with many giving her a deserved standing ovation.

As a closing thought, it was certainly reassuring to be reminded of the fact that moments of utter embarrassment, acts of inexplicable stupidity, and failure to read a particular situation which may or may not be obvious to everyone else can happen to the best of us!

To see upcoming tour dates for Dawn French Is a Huge Tw*t, go to dawnfrenchontour.com.