Madcap musical still fresh after 40 years

"Spamalot"

Manchester Opera House
Silly doesn't even come close to describing "Spamalot".

The Monty Python musical is an uplifting night out that canit fail to raise laughs during a raucously camp and cheerful romp to unite Knights and find the Holy Grail. It's both an intelligent spoof and a good-natured sing-a-long.

Lovingly ripped off from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", by original Python Eric Idle and composer John Du Prez, the show mixes classic Python sketches and songs.

All the favourites are here: the Knights that Say Ni, "Always Look on The Bright Side Of Life", the killer rabbit, horse-riding demonstrated by coconuts.

The Black Knight left limbless in battle while insisting it's only a flesh wound remains one of the funniest macabre moments of all time — and is spectacularly done. In fact, despite much of the material being 40 years old now, it hasn't dated a bit — to the delight of fans who turn up with their own coconuts to add to the surreal daftness.

There's also bang up to date and local gags thrown in _ such as the lampooning of Cheryl Cole and John Terry and a special guest appearance by Susan Boyle — to add a touch of knowing freshness.

The acting, singing and dancing are all superb. The latest tour to hit Manchester sees the magnificently-voiced Bonnie Langford sparkle as she showcases her full range as the warbling Lady of the Lake, comedian Marcus Brigstocke relishing the idiocy as King Arthur — trying not to corpse with laughter then showing his stand-up skills with some superb ad-libbing at the finale — and former "EastEnder" Todd Carty as servant Patsy, reprising the deadpan simpleton role he mastered in "Dancing On Ice" following his transformation from dour Mark Fowler in Albert Square.

And a colourful, cardboard pop-up set just adds to the cartoon atmosphere.

Hilarious. And not a dead parrot in sight. On until Saturday.

RH