Julian Clary pulls it off again in a smutty corker of a panto
Dick Whittington, London Palladium, review
The Telegraph - by Claire Allfree - 14th December 2017
A show called Dick Whittington starring Julian Clary? I think we can all guess what sort of comic mileage Clary might make out of that, and so it proves in the Palladium’s gloriously funny, not very family-friendly follow-up to last year’s Cinderella.
It contains more dick jokes than you can shake a cat at, and Clary once again reigns utterly supreme with a parade of exquisitely outlandish outfits and extremely smutty gags.
Children may find themselves a bit short-changed, but with Clary – affecting throughout a lofty air of weary disdain – in full control, their parents certainly won’t.
‘Julian Clary is pantomime gold’
Dick Whittington review at the London Palladium
The Stage - by Paul Vale - December 14th 2017
The star of this gig, though, is Julian Clary. Playing the Spirit of The Bells, Clary is sheer pantomime gold, coasting through the plot with feigned indifference and his legendary, lethal and camp delivery. Clary has all the best gags and his sparring with Paige’s eye-rolling Queen is one of the highlights of a show that is packed with laughs.
Julian Clary has never had a better context for his smooth-talking smut than in this generous, ridiculous, big-budget spectacular.
Theatre review: Dick Whittington at the London Palladium, W1
The Times - Dominic Maxwell - December 15th 2017
Do they give knighthoods for services to family-friendly filth? Based on Julian Clary’s performance in this second annual London Palladium panto, they surely should. He’s a total joy.
And he has never had a better context for his smooth-talking smut than in this generous, ridiculous, big-budget spectacular.
It’s Clary’s night, you see. Playing the Spirit of the Bells, he looks at home in a succession of inexplicably but gorgeously spangly outfits. He adds quips and rudery of his own to Alan McHugh’s script, talk-sings his way through various tunes, turns this all into a parody of itself without ever being merely snide. Parents note too that most of his eye-wateringly camp quips will sail over the heads of young children as surely as the double-decker bus that Stemp flies over the stalls.