Rick Bowen looks forward to the celebration of the "fabulous talent" that was Linda Smith
FOR me, Linda Smith was one of the best and sharpest comedians this country has ever produced.
Disarmingly polite and gentle in the way she spoke, Smith was capable of pouncing when you least expected it, passing scathing comments on the ridiculous anomalies of the modern world.
She was in my view, the comedy equivalent of an iron fist in a velvet glove, while, at the same time, being very difficult to dislike. There was none of that knowing smugness that makes some people in her profession so irritating. In 2002 she was voted Wittiest Living Person Alive in a Radio 4 poll. Four years later she would be dead, of ovarian cancer, at the age of 48. A fabulous talent, so cruelly snuffed out.
Warren Lakin was her partner for 23 years and he's written a tribute show, Celebrating Linda Smith, which is about to come to Manchester. Was it an emotional experience, writing something that was so personal to him?
"Writing Linda's biography last year was, at times, a very emotional and exacting thing but I felt if I could cope with that I should go on and almost complete the circle. It was my desire to put all her best work in the public domain. There's a lot of funny material in the show and the script is very lively and very upbeat. In no way is it maudling or anything like that. It's very positive - which is what Linda was herself," he says.
Warren describes the format of the evening as being like a "variety show." The audience is taken on a journey through Linda's life, comedy fans can re-live some of her most memorable material and special guests will share their memories of the comedian. While other people will be performing some of her stand up material, Warren was at pains to point out that none of them will be attempting to impersonate the unique delivery style of the London born wit. He's also been careful when chosing the team of people he wanted to work on this particular project.
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"The people delivering the comic material are people she worked with for years and knew her very well, through her theatre work, her comedy work and as friends. We've almost assembled a family around this project. I didn't want to entrust any of this to people I didn't know," he says. Rick Bowen
* The Library Theatre presents Celebrating Linda Smith on May 3 at 8pm. Tickets are available from 0161 236 7110 or you can book online at www.librarytheatre.com
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