The Chuckle Brothers were one of the very best Pantomime acts and children's entertainers and following the death of Barry Chuckle in 2018, Paul has since kept the legacy of their act alive in Pantomime with different partners in the same routines. Here in Cardiff he plays Wishee Washee and opens with his traditional song “I have got some ..” on his own, does a bog-standard Mastermind Sketch and follows with the Cucumber cutting routine with the Genie and then the singing lesson with the Dame and a member of Ensemble, all the elements are there but the comedy magic of the brother's relationship is missing and the routines feel like they need a refresh. A new routine with a music player alongside the Dame falls flat despite their best efforts. He remains a wonderful old school variety Entertainer but is no longer in charge of the Pantomime.
Unusually for modern Pantomime, the drive of the show falls to the Principal Boy and Principal Girl who rise to the challenge magnificently in their songs and dances together. Denquar Chupak is excellent as Princess Jasmine and makes a good impression from her opening song where she is joined by Gareth Gates as Aladdin and later together in “Hung Up” and “Nights get colder”. She also takes on the key fight scene to defeat Abanazar to give the story a modernised feel. Gates gets his show highlight when he flies on the Twins FX flying carpet over the audience to end Act 1.
