Christopher Gray is transported by a cavalcade of farts, hamsters and thongs

Back for its third visit in five years to Oxford’s New Theatre, Spamalot — the zany musical that Eric Idle “lovingly ripped off” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail — struck me as being much funnier this time than it did before. At times I was watching through tears of laughter in the way I did in front of the black-and-white telly back in 1969 when Python’s madcap humour was first unveiled to a surprised world.

An infectious sense of “we’re in it together” larkiness pervades the piece. There is excellent rapport between all the talented performers on the stage, which observably has a lot to do with their leader, Joe Pasquale, in the role of King Arthur — previously played here both times by Marcus Brigstocke. Many a time you see other cast members on the verge of corpsing as a consequence of Pasquale’s quick-fire ad-libbing.

Some find his trademark squeaky voice more irritating than comic. Here it greatly adds to the general silliness of the evening. I loved the moment towards the end on first night when the elusive grail was found beneath seat D1 in the stalls and its occupant was dragged on the stage to receive her prize — a tin of Spam, what else? Her name, Amber Hodges, clearly amused the star and its repetition — with significant stress on the second word — got funnier and funnier.

Memorable moments from the Grail film are there to delight once again. A comic highspot comes when the Round Table knights encounter the quartet of French soldiers on guard in their castle keep.

“I fart in your general direction!” says one — as you will probably remember — before continuing: “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!” The taunter is played by Jamie Tyler, later transformed into the rugged Sir Lancelot, who comes out as gay in spectacular fashion and leads a Village People-style dance — that thong! — to celebrate his union with the effete Prince Herbert (Richard Kent).

Musically, the show is a winner, with a series of excellent songs penned by Eric Idle and composer John Du Prez, a former Trevelyan Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford. Many of these poke fun — with devastating accuracy — at some of the conventions — for which read clichés — of musical theatre.

Sarah Earnshaw, as the Lady of the Lake, gets to belt out some of the best of them, including Act II’s Diva’s Lament — delivered front of curtain — in which she bemoans her character’s disappearance from the story.

Todd Carty, a Spamalot fixture from the start as the put-upon servant Patsy, seizes his moment as ever for a stirring delivery of Always Look on the Bright Side.

Spamalot
New Theatre, Oxford
Until Saturday
0844 871 3020, atgtickets.com/oxford