The world is made up of people too young to know Tommy Cooper’s material, and people who love and cherish it.

The difficulty is trying to keep 30-year-old material fresh and energetic for the unfamiliar crowd, while retaining Cooper’s pace and style so fans don’t cry “heresy’”.

Performing to a half-full Grand Opera House, Clive Mantle certainly looks the part – his 6ft 4ins frame a near match for the comedy giant, and the mannerisms are clearly well practised, even if his take on the star’s voice occasionally wanders into West Country pirate.

The first act is a Greatest Hits of Tommy Cooper, with classic one-liners and magic tricks which frequently (and intentionally), go awry.

Audience reaction to the routine is nowhere near as rapturous as old recordings, the biggest laughs coming from Mantle/Cooper’s berating of an imaginary stagehand.

The second half begins with Cooper half drunk in his dressing room, 15 minutes before (what turned out to be), his final performance.

Here, Mantle explores the melancholy under the Fez, showing Cooper’s affections torn between his wife and his stage manager Mary Fieldhouse, played by Carla Mendonca.

Working with a limited role, Mendonca (who also appears briefly as a glamorous assistant), gives a warm, loving, almost maternal performance, and these scenes showing the sadness behind the laughter really are the highlight of the show.

Mantle’s feet are reportedly the same size as Cooper’s, but even with his enthusiasm and affection for his character resulting in a very entertaining performance, they are still very big shoes to fill.