Whilst I had caught them occasionally on Saturday Kitchen, I wouldn’t say that I was a huge fan of the Hairy Bikers but when I heard they were presenting their new “Larger than Live” show at Richmond Theatre I decided to take my friend along – well, we all need a laugh. And bikes and baking is a good combo in my books.
The usual Richmond crowd was studded with more leather jackets and motorcycle boots than usual, and we spotted a fair few Ace Café badges too. I was now expecting lots of BMW and Triumph gags. But this was a strictly fettling-free zone.
The show opened unexpectedly with a camp Rank Gong gag and the guys pulled onto stage on moving dodgem chairs rather than bikes although “The Boys are Back in Town” was playing. And the laughs began. And they kept on coming. Then the singing and jigging about began. And it continued.
They seemed to be having a right royal laugh. And we were with them all the way. The mixture of Newcastle Dave (the light haired one) and Durham Si (the partially dark haired one) was funny enough but through chatting and frequent VTR clips we were taken on some of their adventures around the world – eating weird things (don't ask), face painting, dancing (yes, dancing – both SCD and Argentine Tango) and dicing with death with cobras. Plus plenty of speed on the water, in the air and on sand.
And with all this going on, they still managed to do some cooking – spring onion pakora and a healthy chicken jalfrezi in the first half and then warm bacon, duck and black pudding salad (with advice on how to wilt those greens) and salmon, courgettes and straw potatoes in the second. I even picked up a few cooking tips.
On more than one occasion I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn’t sitting in the stalls and felt for the folk who were cajoled onto stage to eat what had been cooked, to join in with a quiz or to help with an escapology act. Yes, escapology.
I suspect that their diet books will sell really well – the contrast between their fuller figure versions on screen and their relatively slim line stage selves was striking. I even laughed at their side comments to the stage hands and Dave’s "making love to the camera" poses.
So, slapstick and stripping. Hollandaise and happiness. Tattoos (matching Che Guevaras) and titters. All (relatively) good, clean fun. And I really did enjoy a lot of belly laughs. Well done chaps – a brilliant evening’s entertainment. I was still laughing on the train home. I'm a convert.
UK tour dates can be found at www.hairybikers.com – including Bromley (10th October) and Wimbledon (28 October). And watch out for the new series on the BBC next April.
