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Short and Curly is the ultimate one-woman show 鈥� with two of them - and it's coming to Herts and Bucks this summer!

The seemingly unusual pairing of Sandi Toksvig and Bonnie Langford are currently on a 31 date UK summer tour with their two woman show.

Short & Curly features anecdotes, a sprinkling of song and dance and a load of laughs as Sandi and Bonnie create an onstage cocktail of entertainment that promises never to be the same one night to the next 鈥� partly because Sandi refuses to stick to the point and Bonnie keeps breaking into song!

And while it may seem strange on the face of it to put these two together, the pair have a friendship that spans more than 20 years. And with half a century of showbusiness experience between them, they treat audiences to a unique evening that both draws on and reflects this friendship, and also offers glimpses into the world of their respective professional lives.

These two multi-talented entertainers are both known for sparkling careers spanning stage, screen and the written word.

Sandi Toksvig is a columnist, novelist and TV and radio regular and is best known for being the current host of Radio 4鈥檚 The News Quiz, presenting Excess Baggage and regular appearances on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Have I Got News for You and Call My Bluff.

Meanwhile, Bonnie Langford has played numerous leading roles in West End musicals including Sweet Charity, Chicago, Guys & Dolls, Cats and Gypsy. In 2006 she completed the first series of ITV鈥檚 Dancing on Ice and has recently been skating her way round the UK in the Dancing on Ice tour.

I spoke to her about this new show, plus ice skating, musical theatre and, following her very early start in showbusiness, how she has remained so normal!

Presumably you鈥檙e curly? You are known for so many things in entertainment but this on the face of it seems an unusual pairing but you鈥檝e been friends for a long time and worked together before haven鈥檛 you?

Bonnie: We have, we鈥檝e been friends for about 26 years we鈥檝e worked out. It鈥檚 very different - when you鈥檝e been on the road all the time on your own, it鈥檚 just nice to have a bit of a giggle about stuff. And together you find so many things funny and it鈥檚 just an easier situation to be with friends than to be on your own.

How did you first meet?

Bonnie: We think we actually met a long time ago at Regent鈥檚 Park Open Air Theatre on a gala but neither of us are really sure! But what we do know is that we did meet when I was on a Saturday morning television programme called the Saturday Starship which I used to co-present. We used to do the winter season and Sandi was in a wonderful show called number 73 and she would do the spring / summer season. The week before her show was about to start she came to our show and promoted the fact that she would be on the following week and we just laughed a lot and giggled and stayed friends on and off.

We then became proper friends when we realised that we lived down the road from each other and my step-daughter and Sandi鈥檚 daughter were in the same class at the same school and things happened from there. We ended up doing lots of stuff together. Sandi wrote a musical and I was in it too and she used to do a radio programme on LBC
Radio every day and once a week I would go in and sit and chat with her. But it鈥檚 really been the last ten years that we鈥檝e been close friends both in proximity and in friendship.

So what happens in this show then?

Bonnie: You could say it鈥檚 just a bit of banter and fun. It鈥檚 like 鈥淎n Audience with ..鈥� in a way and at the end we do have a question and answer session with the audience and you鈥檇 be amazed the sort of questions that they come up with.

It鈥檚 just a bit of fun. We talk about our likes and dislikes. Sandi is a great lover of musicals, she absolutely adores musical theatre and is quite an aficionado on it and I鈥檓 just completely fascinated by the fact that she鈥檚 written 14 books! I said to her I couldn鈥檛 write 14 emails!

We just have the same sense of humour and generally the show鈥檚 never quite the same twice so it does mean that it鈥檚 very spontaneous and fresh. A lot of people who have seen it say that it鈥檚 a very cosy chat 鈥� it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e听 part of two people just having a laugh and having a chat and enjoying it. It鈥檚 not indulgent in any way it鈥檚 just a very comfortable friendship.

And they can see your friendship coming through? What sort of things are you asked then?

Bonnie: Sandi鈥檚 asked things about Radio 4 and the programmes that she does and generally she鈥檚 asked when they鈥檙e going to do Call My Bluff again 鈥� people seem to
miss that - and quite often she鈥檚 asked the rules of Mornington Crescent.

Funnily enough, one of the questions I鈥檓 often asked is what musical would I like to
be in that I haven鈥檛 been in and then about the ice skating 鈥� it鈥檚 interesting. Last night I was asked if I was to do Celebrity Stars in their Eyes, who would I be? It鈥檚 great that people will come up with things that really pose questions in your head.

There鈥檚 an awful lot of stuff that we鈥檝e both done and often a question will take us off on another anecdote another backstage story. What鈥檚 great is that people might have seen something that either one of us had been in, but always our perspective of a job is very different from the people who have watched or listened to it. And if anyone asks something like what was it like to be in Cats, my brain goes instantly to the dressing room and backstage and what it actually was like to be on that stage which of course only I have that perspective on.

You been in so many shows it鈥檚 difficult to know which one to ask about 鈥� you could be in the theatre for hours!

Bonnie: Sorry!

Don鈥檛 apologise for a successful career! Now, this is a 31 date tour and you鈥檝e just come out of the Dancing on Ice tour as well?

Bonnie: I know 鈥� I never get home to do my washing! It鈥檚 all a bit barmy isn鈥檛 it, but it鈥檚 nice because the Dancing on Ice tour was so completely different to this, I can't even begin to tell you where the similarities are!

There鈥檚 nothing like it at all! The Dancing on Ice tour was extraordinary 鈥� it was not only amazing to play to 10,000 people but also in an environment that you never dreamed you鈥檇 be in 鈥� on an ice rink with Torvill and Dean! It was a little bit surreal at times and incredibly hard work physically and emotionally quite demanding.

With Sandi and I it couldn鈥檛 be more different 鈥� there鈥檚 no ice for a start 鈥� not even in the drinks! And we just have a lot of laughter really and of course it鈥檚 quite cerebral in comparison to ice skating!

What would you say to people to get them to see Short and Curly?

Bonnie: I would say that it鈥檚 an unusual pairing that basically comes together in a fantastic, spontaneous, fun evening of friends having a laugh, and sharing that friendship with an audience!