No laughs for Les as a forgotten funnyman

End Of The Pier (Park Theatre) Verdict: You won’t chuckle

LES DENNIS, former TV comic, is at the Park Theatre in North London, playing . . . a former TV comic.

What is real here and what is false? It makes for an odd half-light between fiction and truth, leaving the audience uncertain how much to invest in the disbelief vital for drama.

Bobby ( Dennis) was a household name whose double-act TV show ended after accusations of racism.

Forgotten and depressed, he lives in a dingy Blackpool flat. His son, Michael (Blake Harrison), has followed him into stand-up comedy and specialises in inoffensive routines. But what if Michael has a racism problem of his own?

Danny Robins’s play is good when skewering the politics of comedy, particularly the foolishness of commissioning editors.

Are they scornful of working-class taste? Is TV comedy now an instrument of political control?

However, the focus on race is a bore, Hannah Price’s staging is surprisingly unadventurous and the writing old-fashioned.

I’m not sure I ever believed in the characters, but Mr Dennis is always watchable.

He emanates a strong sense of dejected weariness and the play is right to accentuate the idea of cultural domination that can drive TV scheduling.