Ha Ha Holmes at the Grand Opera House York Review
Ha Ha Holmes
Grand Opera House, York
Reviewed by Pamela Wright
We have just had the pleasure of going to watch Ha Ha Holmes starting Joe Pasquale, Ben Langley and Andrew Fettes.
Never mind Ha Ha Holmes it was totally HAHA HILARIOUS. I’ve not laughed that much or that loud in a long time, I expected it to be funny but wasn’t prepared how funny it would be – I had tears streaming down my face quite a few times, I even gave myself jaw ache and headache from laughing so much. I was sat on the edge of my seat at one point laughing that loud and hard I suddenly became aware of myself being so loud and was secretly praying for an interval so I could catch my breath and cool down.
They got the audience interaction just right and had lots of comedy banter with people and also had some of them up on stage to help with their scenes, I won’t tell you what they had them doing but if you’re asked to go on stage then make sure you don’t have any problems with your back…
Joe Pasquale was brilliant and played the role of Sherlock Holmes, Ben Langley played Doctor Watson and Andrew Fettes played all the other cast members (he was absolutely brilliant and hilarious). I have to mention the man (sorry I’ve forgotten his name as I’m sooo tired from laughing) who plays the piano/keyboard, he was brilliant too – he was sat at the edge of the stage playing the music throughout the show and although he wasn’t a main character, he was involved in each of the scenes and was really funny.
The show is totally amazing and I don’t think I’ve seen a comedy show that hilarious in a long time (actually probably never), the cast members looked like they were really enjoying themselves too. I loved when some bits didn’t quite go to plan and you could see them trying to keep their composure but failing and trying their hardest not to giggle, especially Joe Pasquale, the more they tried to compose themselves the more the audience found it amusing & laughed which meant they had to try even harder to try and keep it together.
The props on stage were really good – everything on stage was transformed and used in each different scene but rather than dim the lights and it magically change they made the transformation of the props into part of the show.
There were lots of jokes that you could see coming and before they got to the end you found yourself laughing and them waiting for the punch line but then there were some you didn’t cotton on to straight away and you could see them waiting for the audience to catch up and literally a second before we did they gave us the “finally” look.
A lot of the really funny that had everyone giggling were actually believe it or not when there was NOTHING being said or done or anyone moving on stage but it was purely the reaction to their facial expressions. I can safely say that’s the first time I’ve laughed watching a microwave.
This is a really brilliant show and they will be doing their Ha Ha Hood tour next year, I can’t wait to go and see that – although I think they will have to work really really hard to be able to top this show. Well done on putting that show together.
Rating: 5/5 
Ha Ha Holmes is on tour until 17 November 2013. For more information, tour dates or to book tickets at a venue near you visit www.hahaholmes.com
