As you might have gathered from the poster below, Saturday saw a gala celebration of Dr Harry Porter's forty years involvement with the Cambridge Footlights. I and others - mainly from the recent crop of ex-Footlighters (by recent I mean last 15 years) - performed a two hour show of old favourites at the Queen's College theatre, and I must say it was great fun.
Mark couldn't make it (a great shame as Mark new Harry very well when he was President) but dictated over the phone from his brother's wedding reception a letter to read out:
From the desk of Mark Evans.
I'm sorry I can't be at an evening dedicated to one of my favourite people ever. I have very fond memories of Larry Pooter and feel I have known him as well as my own father, whom I have never met.
Larry is a wonderful man; as peaceful as Mahatma Gandhi, yet at times as violent as Genghis Khan or a drunk man whom someone has taken something from that he wants back and now. As proud as a rampant stallion, yet also as humble as a begging orphan child with a skin condition.
I grew to trust Larry over the years. Sadly he also learnt to trust me, as a host of credit card frauds will attest to. My abscence tonight is entirely because the word 'open' in the phrase 'Ford Open Prison' is actually a bit of a lie.
Instead, I have asked James to perform a summary of one of my old undergraduate sketches.
'Good evening. Intellectual reference, intellectual reference, pun, sub-Python rip-off. Pun. Pun. Pun. Pun. Pun, pun, pun, pun, pun. Pun. Pun. Bad part for a girl. Lame punchline. Sod it, that hasn't worked - I'll get me trousers off. Oh good, my cock's still funny.'
Went down very well indeed. Then I performed 'Whales' for what honestly will be the last time ever, ending with a loud rock wig-out in which Jon smashed a tambourine. Excellent stuff.
I was joined in the show by Matt, Richard and Alice performing the first ten minutes of Netherhead; Armstrong and Miller doing three excellent sketches from what must be eight years ago; Tony Slattery giving us a fifteen minute version of his life story and a masterclass in how to be an actor; Jon, Leila, Rob & David, Kevin & John, Andy Mayer (Footlights President in 1966!); and, in some best of all (given what Harry likes), the current committee performing a song from 'Between The Lines' (the 1995 Footlights May Week revue) and the famous song 'No More Women' from the 1933 revue (they'd tried women for the first time the year before and didn't like them...). All in all, a very good night, much enjoyed by the audience and, one hopes, Harry. Although it's always so hard to tell.
Gloriously studenty piss-up in the ADC bar afterwards (the redesign of which I'm very disappointed by, although they do now sell cigarettes - there's always pros and cons) surrounded, and indeed sidelined, by a grumpy-faced main show cast who were inexplicably surprised that no-one had come to see their piece of avant-garde theatre ('UK Premiere!') and couldn't stand the fact that we seemed to be having a lovely time. Anyway, we managed to get in their way until the bar closed at five.