Paulus was looking for a friend

Posted on 22nd February 2025

Can it really be nine years ago that we lost Victoria Wood to cancer? Someone who knows the cruel truth of that fact is Paulus, the self-confessed cabaret geek who has been keeping the memory of her comedy and songs alive with his touring show Looking For Me Friend.

It was her inclusivity, combined with a stoic wit and magical turn of phrase, which captured the attention of a young Paulus, growing up with the nagging feeling he was somehow different. “Are there any straight men in the audience?” He joked, a nod to the particular affection Vic, as he tellingly referred to her, in which she is held by the gay community. For Paulus, her brisk humanity and underlying empathy was a life changing revelation, and while the show was packed with her music, his deft curation served as a personal juke box musical which touched on his own life as much as hers. Although billed us the music of Victoria Wood, some of the most affecting moments in the show were the anecdotes illustrating how much she meant to him.

The music included ranged from ballads such as ‘Go With It’ to up-tempo numbers like ‘At the Chippy’, the evening closing, of course, with ‘The Ballad of Barry and Freda’. Ably accompanied by Michael Roulston on the piano, their chemistry shone throughout the evening. Paulus occasionally leaned a little close to show tune glitz for those of us more used to the Lancastrian charm of her mordant humour, but as he made clear from the outset, this was no tribute impersonation. Rather it was his spin on songs close his heart – a celebration and remembrance of someone taken from us far too soon by – his words, not mine – two men doing the job of one woman half as well.