Shortly after the death of comedy genius Rikki Fulton, his widow Kate Matheson published her memoir 'Rikki & Me' which was all about their life together. Shortly afterwards, Kate died following a long battle with a bone disintegrating disease. Two years after her death, actor and friend Tony Roper decided to use the basis of the book as a stage show to pay tribute to Fulton. The show, which toured Scotland throughout 2007 was written by Roper in collaboration with Phil Differ ( who worked as writer and script editor on 'Scotch & Wry' ). Roper took on the role of Fulton whilst the gorgeous Allyson Orr took on the role of Kate Matheson. The late Gerard Kelly took on the role of Rikki's comedy partner Jack Milroy and the late Stevie Hannan took on a large collection of roles, most notably that of Tony Roper, however he acts mostly as the role of narrator.
'Rikki & Me' opens with Roper as The Reverend David Goodchild' from the classic 'Lovely Water' sketch in which the nervous minister gets drunk after unknowingly drinking neat gin ( in belief that it is water ) and delivers secrets on air about other clergymen and parishioners.
The show mostly features events of Rikki's life from birth, time serving in the navy, his path to stardom, his meeting and marriage to Kate right up to his death, acted out by all concerned. In amongst are sequences featuring Roper as some of Fulton's other famous characters such as Supercop and Dirty Dicky Dandruff, as well alongside Gerard Kelly taking on the roles of 'Francie & Josie'.
The show ends with what else but a 'Last Call'? Roper takes on the role of the lugubrious Reverend I. M. Jolly to tell the audience of how Noah came to build the ark during the great flood.
Wonderfully written and acted throughout, 'Rikki & Me' is an excellent and interesting delve into Rikki's life and more than does the legend justice. Roper is excellent and proves that as well as being a fine actor is also a great writer in his own right. Allyson Orr has a fine chemistry with Roper as Kate Matheson whilst Stevie Hannan has the most challenging task of playing every role from god to The Queen! Gerard Kelly too was superb as Jack Milroy ( almost as good as the real thing in fact ).
As well as featuring some great moments of comedy, there is a great deal of dramatic moments too. Rikki's discovery at being diagnosed with Alzheimer's as well as his death were both heartbreakingly conveyed. The show also rubbishes any future claims made by the likes of Stanley Baxter and Brian Beacom about Rikki Fulton's sexuality as well as the wholly untruthful claim about Kate Matheson dying from liver failure brought on by alcoholism. ( I don't know why some gay people have a facsination about outing people they know very well weren't. Are they trying to prove something to themselves? ). Beacom too obviously bears some kind of grudge and clearly delights in twisting the knife ( but what more would you expect from a 'Herald' journalist? ). He's also one of the many jumping on the 'Me Too' bandwagon in an attempt to further himself. What the likes of him and Baxter don't realise, or simply don't care about is that the claims they make take the focus off people who are currently suffering and are in need of help now. As I have said numerous times before, making accusations public after someone has died and nothing can be done about it is pointless and cowardly.
The show is available on DVD and is highly recommended for Rikki Fulton fans. I went to see the show at the time when it performed at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh so seeing it again on DVD after all these years brought back many happy memories.
'Rikki & Me' opens with Roper as The Reverend David Goodchild' from the classic 'Lovely Water' sketch in which the nervous minister gets drunk after unknowingly drinking neat gin ( in belief that it is water ) and delivers secrets on air about other clergymen and parishioners.
The show mostly features events of Rikki's life from birth, time serving in the navy, his path to stardom, his meeting and marriage to Kate right up to his death, acted out by all concerned. In amongst are sequences featuring Roper as some of Fulton's other famous characters such as Supercop and Dirty Dicky Dandruff, as well alongside Gerard Kelly taking on the roles of 'Francie & Josie'.
The show ends with what else but a 'Last Call'? Roper takes on the role of the lugubrious Reverend I. M. Jolly to tell the audience of how Noah came to build the ark during the great flood.
Wonderfully written and acted throughout, 'Rikki & Me' is an excellent and interesting delve into Rikki's life and more than does the legend justice. Roper is excellent and proves that as well as being a fine actor is also a great writer in his own right. Allyson Orr has a fine chemistry with Roper as Kate Matheson whilst Stevie Hannan has the most challenging task of playing every role from god to The Queen! Gerard Kelly too was superb as Jack Milroy ( almost as good as the real thing in fact ).
As well as featuring some great moments of comedy, there is a great deal of dramatic moments too. Rikki's discovery at being diagnosed with Alzheimer's as well as his death were both heartbreakingly conveyed. The show also rubbishes any future claims made by the likes of Stanley Baxter and Brian Beacom about Rikki Fulton's sexuality as well as the wholly untruthful claim about Kate Matheson dying from liver failure brought on by alcoholism. ( I don't know why some gay people have a facsination about outing people they know very well weren't. Are they trying to prove something to themselves? ). Beacom too obviously bears some kind of grudge and clearly delights in twisting the knife ( but what more would you expect from a 'Herald' journalist? ). He's also one of the many jumping on the 'Me Too' bandwagon in an attempt to further himself. What the likes of him and Baxter don't realise, or simply don't care about is that the claims they make take the focus off people who are currently suffering and are in need of help now. As I have said numerous times before, making accusations public after someone has died and nothing can be done about it is pointless and cowardly.
The show is available on DVD and is highly recommended for Rikki Fulton fans. I went to see the show at the time when it performed at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh so seeing it again on DVD after all these years brought back many happy memories.