I must have been about 15 years old when I first saw Phil Cool. It was late on a Friday night as I was channel surfing through the four meagre channels we had at the time. With his impressions and his ability to change his face into almost any shape possible, I was hooked from the word go.
Sadly, we haven’t seen much from Phil on British television since the early 90’s, but even though he hasn’t exactly been in the public eye, he’s kept on working, and made his first trip to the Pavilion Theatre in Cromer on Easter Sunday, playing to a audience of approximately 300.
From the moment he stepped onto the stage, he had the audience in his hand, and showed that he still has it. From his impressions of the likes of Bill Clinton, George W., and Jo Brand (which veered slightly into Julian Clary territory), to his various stories, including playing to an almost dead audience (literally) on a cruise ship in the Indian Ocean, Phil delighted everyone, and by the time he had finished his near-two hour set, it seemed like the time had just flown by.
The fact that Phil Cool has been missing from British television screens, and the mainstream media as a whole, for all these years is criminal. When one thinks of the great comedians who emerged on the national scene in the 1980’s, Phil’s name should be everyone’s list, and if you get the chance to see him live, then this writer recommends that you do so. And if you find any of his hard-to-find shows on video (none are available on DVD), then grab them.
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