Comedy greats celebrate Prince Charles's birthday in Wimbledon

2:05pm Sunday 16th November 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Comedy greats gathered in Wimbledon this week for a side-splitting royal performance to mark Prince Charles’s 60th birthday.

The gala show, in front of an audience including the heir to the throne and his son, Prince Harry, featured legends of laughter Robin Williams, John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson.

We Are Most Amused, a one-off performance at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Wednesday night, raised money for youth charity the Prince’s Trust.

The headline acts were joined by younger comedians including Bill Bailey, Omid Djalili and Stephen K Amos to entertain a sell out crowd with sketches, songs and stand up.

The evening also featured a cameo appearance by actor Andrew Sachs, who hit the headlines last month during the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross scandal, who returned as blundering Spanish waiter Manuel to perform a sketch with Fawlty Towers co-star Cleese.

Before the show, ticket holders and performers said the unique line-up promised an incredible evening.

Audience member John Dodds, from Richmond, said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Robin Williams. The tickets were difficult to get hold of, but I’m sure it will be worth it.”

Neil Haywood, a member of the Fron Male Voice Choir who sang in the show’s finale, said he was enjoying the chance to rub shoulders with some of the most famous names in comedy.

He said: “We’ve met one or two of the big stars tonight. I’ve already bumped into Bill Bailey and John Cleese.”

Mark Jones, spokesman for the theatre on the Broadway, said: “To see it happening in our venue was amazing - we are all very happy.”

He added that the theatre staff had been unfazed by the pressure of accommodating royalty, world famous showbiz stars and TV cameras. “It went off absolutely brilliantly,” he said.

Audience members paid more than £60 each for a ticket to the event, which was broadcast by ITV on Saturday night.

• For more events, go to our Events section