STAGE: Ha Ha Holmes! and The Hound of the Baskervilles

Joe Pasquale is Holmes at Theatre Royal Brighton

Comedian and national treasure Joe Pasquale serves up his own unique and very individual comedic portrayal of super sleuth Sherlock Holmes in the touring stage production Ha Ha Ha Holmes! And The Hound Of The Baskervilles. We had a word with him to find out more.

What drew you to Ha Ha Holmes!?

“Last year I did a touring production of Doctor In The House produced by Jamie Wilson. He’s been a fan of mine since he was a kid. That was the catalyst for our first meeting. We really hit it off and looked for another project to work on together. Jamie has been putting on Ha Ha! shows for years. But this year he wanted to expand it by putting a name in it. I agreed immediately because the script made me laugh out loud.”

Why were you so eager to take on the role of Sherlock Holmes?

“It’s something so different from me. All the roles I’ve played before have basically been me. The Nerd was very much me. The Producers was me with an American accent. Doctor In The House was me in a white coat. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was a layabout version of me. But Sherlock Holmes is a real stretch for me. But I’ve loved it. I’ve especially enjoyed working with Ben Langley, who wrote the play and co-stars as Doctor Watson, and Andrew Fettes, who plays everyone else.”

Could you please outline the plot of Ha Ha Holmes!…

“In theory, Holmes is trying to find The Hound of the Baskervilles on the moors. There is a very long, involved story about a curse on a family, but ultimately that is pointless. It’s all about the deduction. It’s a really innovative, really funny play about Holmes’s methods of solving crimes, and audiences will love getting wrapped up in it.”

Why do you think Holmes works as comedy?

The stories lend themselves to comic treatment. The relationship between Holmes and Watson is funny. Holmes is the master criminal hunter and Watson is his apprentice – there is great scope for comedy there. Look at Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films – there is a lot of humour in them. Robert Downey Jnr is a fantastic comic actor. We’re simply heightening what’s already there. It’s Monty Python meets Men Behaving Badly meets Sherlock Holmes.”

Finally, do you have plans to star in further Ha Ha shows?

“Definitely. If this goes well, we’re talking about Ha Ha Hood!, Ha Ha Hitler!, Ha Ha Houdini!, Ha Ha Hamlet!, and Ha Ha Hobbit!. Basically anything beginning with the letter H is fair game!”

Ha Ha Ha Holmes! And The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre Royal Brighton, 31 October 2013, £18–24, 7.45pm 0844 871 7650, www.atgtickets.com/shows/ha-ha-holmes/theatre-royal-brighton