Edinburgh show is just Michael Caine saying 'never' for an hour

Stuart Laws's off-the-wall idea

comedy Comedian Stuart Laws is staging an Edinburgh Fringe show in which he imitates Michael Caine saying ‘never’ – for a full hour.

It was inspired by the way the acting legend says that particular word in when playing butler Albert in Batman Begins.

The one-off festival show – called Stuart Laws as Michael Caine Saying Never for One Hour – will also feature cameos from Nish Kumar as director Christopher Nolan and Amy Gledhill as Christian Bale.

Laws said: ‘In 2020, I joked with Phil Wang and Pierre Novellie about the absurdity of Michael Caine’s line reading of the word "never" as Alfre. I love it, I love Caine, I couldn’t ever forget that delivery.

‘Then I made a stupid video of me playing Caine in the role and repeating the word "Never"' and posted it on Twitter. It has now been viewed a million times - getting shares from huge names around the world (although sadly not Sir Michael yet).

@stuartlawscomedy Never! Michael Caine as Alfred trying to deliver the line "Never!" From Batman Begins #batman #nolan #michaelcaine #alfred #christophernolan #movies #film #humour #funny #impression #parody #spoof #stuartlaws #dc #original #fyp #foryou #viral #foryoupage Stuart Laws">♬ original sound - Stuart Laws

‘A couple of years later I jokingly posted a PhotoShopped image of me doing a live version of the video at the Palladium, for 120 minutes. Some people were genuinely disappointed it wasn’t real.

‘Cut forward to 2024 and I fire off an email to David Bleese at the Monkey Barrel with some pitches for some one-off shows during the Fringe, one of which is a live version of the video. Then, in late July, they replied offering The Tron at 11:30pm on August 22, it’s at that moment that I realise that my bluff has been called.

‘ I knew this day would come, over a decade of pissing about has led to the esteemed Monkey Barrel Comedy replying with a "yeah go on then, do it, lets see what you’ve got you maniac" (not an actual quote from them).

‘I’ve cast Christopher Nolan (Nish Kumar) and Christian Bale (Amy Gledhill), and there might be a few other cameos. but the focus is and will be on me saying the word "never/nevah/neeeevahhhhhh" for an hour.’

Laws’ solo show Stuart Laws Has To Be Joking is on at The Tron at 4.45pm daily. He also directed a a film, The Debuts, which follows 2022 newcomers Sikisa, Lily Phillips, Anthony DeVito, Josh Jones and Amy Gledhill through that year’s festival.

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Published: 30 Jul 2024