The Producers at the Garrick Theatre review: 'At 99, Mel Brooks has the funniest show in London'

Andy Nyman (Max Bialystock) and Marc Antolin (Leo Bloom) - (Manuel Harlan)

At 99 years old, and amid countless other achievements, Mel Brooks can congratulate himself on having the funniest show in London. The Producers also feels like it’s meeting a moment. A tale of two Jewish chancers aiming to fleece sex-starved elderly female investors by staging a surefire Broadway flop – a gayed-up Third Reich musical called Springtime For Hitler – it’s willfully, joyfully offensive to just about everyone.

I watched an audience belly-laugh at its swastika-strewn antics on Saturday, while far-right flag-shaggers milled around the West End outside. In a time of polarisation and performative outrage, this show is a hymn to tolerance and the ability to laugh with others and at oneself.