WeekendNotes - French & Saunders

Having entertained the masses with their renowned sense of humour for some 30 years, irrepressible British duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are finally calling it on a day on their career as comedy sketch performers. They say they're getting too old for it now and want to hand the baton to the likes of Catherine Tate and the Little Britain guys.

"I think sketches are a young person’s game, really," explains Dawn French. "Jennifer and I want to keep on working together but not necessarily doing a sketch show, so we thought it was best to officially finish it."

So French & Saunders are bowing out in style with a farewell tour called Still Alive, which is also unfortunately only their first here in Australia. It's a greatest hits show which includes the first sketch they ever wrote together and the sketch that went on to inspire Saunders' hit sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. French's solo success Rev Geraldine Granger from the Vicar Of Dibley also makes an appearance.

The classic white room in which the two comedians play exaggerated versions of themselves features in the show and leads into some of their classic film and music parodies. But there's plenty of new stuff mixed in with the old and you get to see French and Saunders flex their acting and comedic muscles playing a variety of characters from teenagers discussing sex to grannies zipping around on scooters.

It's a fitting farewell ending a working partnership that has endured for a comparitively long time in the world of comedy. It nearly never happened - Saunders famously didn't like French when they first met at drama school. But they went on to live and work together, performing for the first time at a strip club in London's Soho.

Ten years later they had been given a sketch show on the BBC and their fame and success was assured. It ran until 2005 and a year later they announced their 'split'.

While we've not seen the last of them on screen - they still plan to work together on material more "appropriate" for their age - this is a last chance to see a pair of comedy greats doing what made them so well loved.

Why? It's the last chance to see the duo perform together on stage.

WHEN: July 15-20, 2009
WHERE: Palais Theatre and Palace Theatre, Melbourne.
COST: $99.90 - $159.90
MAP: click here