Go back in time to an era when one man ruled the comedy waves.

That’s Norman Wisdom, star of Fifties British stage and screen, who packed theatres across the UK and won the hearts of millions, remaining to this day one of the UK’s greatest comedy icons.

The world of post-war Music Hall and Variety embraced his trademark manic slapstick routine and catapulted him to stardom. Success on the silver screen solidified his fame and Charlie Chaplin described Wisdom as his ‘favourite clown’. But, as everyone knows, fame comes with a cost.

And audiences find out exactly what that is in the new one man show, Wisdom Of A Fool, written by and starring Jack Lane.

While taking on the persona of 30 different characters in his tour de force performance, Jack looks at the hardships of Norman Wisdom, who endured living in the streets of London as a young boy, before transforming himself into an absolute comedic sensation with his iconic character, Norman Pitkin.

Jack says: “I grew up watching his films from a young age. I loved his slapstick humour, as I grew older I began learning about his life and what he’d been through. I wrote to Norman aged 13 and he replied. I guess that stuck with me. When he passed away in 2010 I made a promise to myself that I’d attempt to write a play on his incredible life and career. It’s a classic underdog story which the British have a love affair with. Considering his colossal fame in the fifties and Sixties and knowing his background I felt a need to remind everyone of how incredible his story was.”

Wisdom of a Fool is at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, on Monday, April 9, at 7.30pm. For tickets, priced £19, call the box office on 01206 500900.