Stop! You're Killing Me. Hambledon Productions. Grimsby Central Hall. 08 July 2025.

After a number of false starts, Review Culture was finally able to get to see the latest touring production from Hambledon Productions, Stop! You're Killing Me at the Central Hall in Grimsby. This is a throwback to Hambledon's earliest production written by John Hewer which first premiered in 2007. It is both a spoof of, and a love letter to the film noir genre, a genre that I have loved for many, many years and was delighted to note the nods in the direction of some classic movies. Stop! has been revived by Hambledon on a number of occasions, enjoying tours and runs in London down the years.

For the current tour, Hewer returns as detective Sam Sloane, a low-rent, whisky-swilling, slightly dim private eye sharing the DNA of Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade, Steve Martin's Rigby Reardon and Leslie Nielson's Frank Drebin. Sloane shares and office with his assistant, the near mute and almost totally deaf, Frank. His down-at-heel life is impacted by the arrival of an archetypal femme fatale named Rowetta, herself a cross between Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall and Jessica Rabbit. Rowetta needs Sam's help to investigate the murder of her brother, Max and this begins a chain of events that provide the spine of our evening's entertainment.

Not so much a "whodunnit" as a "whoreallycareswhodunnitwearenejoyingourselves". It is the perfect opportunity for the audience to sit back and have a really good groan at the old jokes and a belly laugh at the pure silliness on display. Boasting a clever set that moves swiftly and allows locations to change through suggestion rather than full scene changes, the cast of four actors present a madcap collection of ne'er-do-wells and misfits all gloriously parodied and caricatured by this talented team of performers.

You know, as Hewer himself says, Hambledon Productions specialises in "new writing with old jokes", they are silly, funny, zany and quickfire like the tommy gun in tonight's show. Some gags are witty puns, some are visual, others rely on the audience to realise what they are seeing and hearing and to join the dots to arrive at their own punchline. But the sellout audience at tonight's show absolutely loved it with laughter ringing throughout the hall.

Our narrator, MC and general main character Sam Sloane was brought to life by writer john Hewer, and with his crumpled mack and twisted facial expressions often resembled Columbo as much as Bogart. Hewer knows how to play to his audience. He has an instant rapport with them, inviting them to groan as often as they are invited to laugh. His timing is superb, knowing when to pause, when to milk a gag and when to just give a knowing glance to the audience if they don't instantly respond to a bad, dad gag.

His character here is the one constant throughout the story where other cast member multi-role characters to keep the action swift and cinematic. He is the perfect comic dick in a detective parody borrowing from the greats who Hewer absolutely adores. He really has his work cut out here as the writer, director and star of the show but makes it look effortless as always. But like a swan swimming gracefully across a lake, there is so much going on beneath the surface of the water and Hewer manages to deliver a fabulously funny performance displaying his genuinely funny bones.

Hewer's fellow cast mates have all been selected for their comic timing, flexibility in playing a wide array of characters and their willingness to ramp the parody up to 11. Sloane's assistant the near deaf and near mute Frank, sits emotionless in the office as chaos occurs all around him, it take a special skill to remain that unresponsive and expressionless when so many temptations to corpse hide behind every door and around every corner.

James Burgess delivers a master class in emotionless non-reaction here. Please don't take that as a quote out of context though! He is really good at what he does as Frank and his other roles are so different and varied you forget it is the same actor. He is a shrewd barman, a rather randy doctor, a gunsmith and a B-move star.

The femme fatale, Rowetta, is played by Sarah Chessie. She makes an instant impact with bright red lipstick, dark hair and dazzling blue eyes. With a figure hugging dress to suit any vamp from the 40's, Chessie makes a terrific leading lady. And yet, like Burgess, Chessie is not afraid to throw herself into the various roles she plays along the way, demonstrating skill and finesse but never afraid to send herself up as the humour demands during the show.

Her Scottish policeman was a joy to behold and he man-spread across his chair in a kilt and burbled almost incomprehensibly, through the dialogue. Her 40s film star reminded me of Celia Johnston in Brief Encounter as she bounced off Burgess's stiff-upper-lipped Monty Oakhampton. Her dancing skills also took a bow as well, in an unexpected song and dance routine. A great debut for this company and someone who, hopefully, we will see again.

The fourth and final performer was the incredible Natalie Clark, a comic actress capable of making people laugh simply by walking in stage. Clark plays numerous roles here, both male and female as the script requires and was a joy to watch, another performer who makes comedy look effortless. From the grumpy bar owner to a tommy-gun-toting Russian, Clark had the audience in hysterics and as the amateur thespian, Eve Gore, Clark made absolute capital from a cameo performance.

But it was her performance as the painfully, squeaky-voiced Trixie Upton that I enjoyed above all. Her characterisation was so funny and I loved how she sustained the character evoking laughs and sympathy in equal measure. Time spent watching Clark on stage is never time wasted.

This tour continues throughout July and is well worth a look if it is coming near you. All dates can be found on the Hambledon Productions' website www.hambledonproductions.com. It provides the perfect opportunity to escape from the current news cycle and to just throw you head back in laughter and we thoroughly recommend this show.

Andy Evans 09 July 2025

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