French & Saunders farewell tour comes to Llandudno

Apr 18 2008 Flintshire Chronicle

It’s rare to find a comedian who is as funny off stage as they are on. It’s rarer still to find two.

But it’s a received wisdom that I begin to question as I walk down the corridor to Jennifer Saunders’s hotel suite – and am greeted by gales of laughter billowing out through the closed door.

I knock and the door flies open. Dawn French, dressed all in black, is laughing uncontrollably. She’s instantly warm and welcomes me in. It’s like spending the afternoon with the Vicar of Dibley.

They’ve just had lunch, and as we talk, Dawn, 50, clears the dishes from the dining table.

“Jen’s through there,” she points towards a bedroom. “Before she comes out I’ll tell you all her secrets. I’ll make some up, too.”

She starts to tell me about the farewell tour which arrives in Venue Cymru, Llandudno on Saturday, April 19.

“We’re starting to get nervous, but we control our fear in two different ways. I started going mad about two months ago. Jen won’t think about it until the last minute, then she’ll try and leave the building by the nearest exit when it hits her on the night.”

But before she has the chance to tell me any more, Jennifer appears. Similarly dressed all in black, she strides in and shakes my hand.

It’s 30 years since Dawn and Jennifer met at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In that time as a comedy double act, business partners and best friends, they have learnt to finish each other’s sentences.

It seems they’ll be a little sorry to say goodbye to the French and Saunders tag.

“It’s a farewell to French and Saunders in this form,” says Jennifer, 49.

“We’re getting too old for it now. We can’t play teenagers anymore. It was all about popular culture, about seeing things we thought were funny and dressing up and being part of that world.

“Sketch comedy is a young person’s game. I don’t want to have to sit and watch MTV to try and get some idea of what the kids are doing now.”

Dawn adds: “We wanted to go out while it was still funny.”

“Yes, we could do another five or 10 years, but why would we want to? I’d rather do one really good tour now and call it a day while the venues are full and we’re still enjoying ourselves.”

So why have they decided to do the farewell as a live tour rather than a TV series?

“Our telly work only came out of our stand-up,” explains Dawn. “As this is the final time we’re going to appear as French and Saunders, we thought we’d like to do it live. It’s what we’ve always enjoyed most and it seems like the right way to go out.”

So what’s next for the two of them?

“More TV stuff, and Dawn’s writing her autobiography,” says Jennifer.

“Well, actually I’m just carrying it round with me at the moment,” laughs Dawn. “While we’re on tour I’m trying to find time to go through cases of old letters and papers but, in actual fact, I’m just carting them from place to place.”

Is it difficult being on such a long tour?

“It’s great,” says Jennifer. “It’s nice to spend some time together. We like a good gossip. We’ll get together and within seconds it’s: ‘Well, have you heard about so and so?’ I love it.”

“We had to change some of the tour dates,” adds Dawn. “Comedy tours seem to be normally put together by men.

“They don’t understand that you have to be able to go home once every few weeks to check your house is still standing.

“That’s the very scary thing. We’ve had to put our husbands in charge of our houses. I’ve had to give my old man a crash course in how everything works, stupid things like putting the bins out. He knows nothing.”

As they talk it’s hard to imagine the old men they refer to are Lenny Henry and Adrian Edmondson.

And it seems comedy runs in the family.

“My daughter has started to do stand-up,” says Jennifer. “Maybe she thinks that’s what everybody does. Because we’re in comedy, her father is in comedy and most of our friends are in comedy, she thinks that’s what people do.”

Dawn laughs: “She’s too scared to say: ‘Mum, dad, I’m really sorry but I don’t want to be a comedian, I want to be a doctor.’ ”

After years working together and continuing with solo projects including The Vicar Of Dibley and Absolutely Fabulous, the pair say they still plan to work together.

“I can’t imagine what we’d do if we didn’t spend time together. We’re like a married couple. We’re more relaxed than we used to be,” says Dawn. “We’re better at coping with life. We’re better at what we do. But in essence we’re still the same girls who started off doing that awful show at the King’s Head in Islington.”

“We watched an old video of one of our shows there the other day,” says Jennifer. “It was breathtakingly ghastly.”

Dawn and Jennifer emerged from the testosterone-heaving stand-up circuit that housed and honed the talents of much of the male-dominated alternative comedy scene. They went on to join the Comic Strip and, from there, to their own series French & Saunders,

“We were extremely fortunate,” says Jennifer. “There was a new wave of comedians and TV companies were willing to invest in young acts.

“We weren’t the only women out there. We didn’t think: ‘Hey, let’s break down some boundaries and change comedy.’ There were Wood and Walters, Joan Rivers…

“… Dame Edna Everage,” adds Dawn.“ She was always my favourite.”

And that’s the thing about Dawn and Jennifer. Away from the cameras, they are an absolute hoot. The interview simply flies by on a cloud of unforced laughter.

Jennifer films part of it on a tiny video camera.

“I’m making a video diary of the tour,” she explains. “I want to record you doing your shorthand.”

“She’s going to put copies of it on eBay,” warns Dawn.

“I’d like to see you put anything on eBay,” teases Jennifer.

Tickets for French and Saunders at Venue Cymru are on sale priced £29.50 & £32.50. Call the box office on 01492 872000 or visit www.venuecymru.co.uk.