Written by John Godber

Toyah Willcox is to appear in a new film about an aspiring comedian, written by playwright John Godber.

Filming has wrapped on dark comedy The Last Laugh, in which Nick Figgis portrays Martin, a theatre lecturer and would-be screenwriter who finds catharsis in performing stand-up when his wife discovers his affair and takes his family away.

Willcox (pictured above with Godber) is Pam, Martin's 'Judi Dench-like' mother-in-law, a hugely successful actor of stage and screen – including sitcom – whom he yearns to impress.

Bouncers writer Godber makes his acting debut as Martin's father, with his real-life wife Jane playing his onscreen spouse.

Based on the writer's 1997 play Weekend Breaks, the film cuts between Martin struggling to reconnect with his working-class parents in an isolated farmhouse in Whitby and him recounting the experience on stage.

Like Godber, Martin is a German Expressionist theatre academic who wants to write films, and who finds it hard to relate to his father, a retired miner. But he also fantasises about murdering his parents.

'I've lost my mum, sadly, and my dad's 86,’ Godber told Chortle. 'There's a point at which you think "would it be easier to kill my parents than go through the pain of watching them grow old and decrepit and reliant on others?" So there's quite a black underbelly to the film.

'Nick Figgis is fantastic in this, it could be a career-defining moment for him. He brings a lot of intelligence and understanding but also a slightly sinister, calculating side. Comedians have a lot of charisma but they also carry the pain of living.'

The Last Laugh was shot in 24 days through October and November in Hull - where Godber was artistic director of the Hull Truck Theatre, a regular stop for touring comedians - as well as Whitby and the Yorkshire Moors.

The playwright produces alongside director Daniel Coll and John Danbury of Visualize Films, with the low-budget feature largely financed by Carnaby Films International.

Figgis and Coll visited several open mic nights in Leeds to prepare for the stand-up scenes, with the director 'horrified by the aggressive atmosphere’, Godber chuckles. 'I've been going to the Edinburgh Fringe since I was 19 and I've just turned 60, so I've seen enough stand-ups be successful or die.

'We had 150 real people who were responding genuinely to the routines [shot in Hull's Welly Club music venue] and some of them died, which was great for the film. Martin's commenting on the life he's tired of and some of it's funny and some of its cringeworthy. But it's enlightening for him because he realises where he's been going wrong in life.'

Weekend Breaks explored how UK stand-up has shifted from a gag telling tradition to observational and narrative routines. 'But the screenplay is quite a development from the stage play,’ Godber explains. 'The play only scratches the surface of what we've opened out in the film.

'[Martin] starts by doing a set about flying, which dies, before telling them why his wife left. Audiences want the gristle, the bitter stuff, hopefully poignant and cutting. And if it's any good, it'll have a bit of political edge and bite to it too.'

As well as frequently revived plays like Bouncers and Teechers, Godber wrote the 1997 BBC One family sitcom Bloomin' Marvellous, starring Clive Mantle, Sarah Lancashire and Kathryn Hunt.

Having been unsuccessful in his efforts to secure financing for The Last Laugh with a more famous cast, he decided to make it with largely unknown actors.

He made his film debut directing the 1998 adaptation of his rugby play Up and Under, which featured Neil Morrissey, Samantha Janus, Griff Rhys Jones, Gary Olsen, John Thomson and Tony Slattery, but found The Last Laugh a different experience.

'Shooting Up and Under was a nightmare for a lot of different reasons' he recalls. 'Chiefly, we were trying to shoot Cardiff to look like Hull.

'But making a low-budget film, you're able to cut corners and not pointlessly shoot things that will be a waste of time. We wanted to shoot with local talent because I've been here a long time and there's a lot of goodwill to us here.'

The Last Laugh is aiming for an April release to coincide with Hull's status as 2017 UK City of Culture.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 1 Dec 2016