Top Gunchained

This very unauthorised parody marks 40 years since Top Gun‘s cinema release.

Top Gunchained is a comedy show that sends up Top Gun, the 1986 film starring Tom Cruise, and marks forty years since its cinema release. As an unauthorised parody, it is not an official version of the film. Richard Marsh writes and performs the show, working alone on stage and building the comic material around the film's romance and action.

The humour takes up the film's familiar storylines. The show asks whether Maverick and Goose can beat Iceman to the Top Gun trophy, and whether the instructor Charlie can get a drink without anyone breaking into song. A central part of the performance is a re-enactment of the film's signature dogfights, carried out by one performer alone. The tone is light and comic throughout, with the parody playing on the story's romance and spectacle.

The show is staged at Wilton Music Hall, a London venue that hosts concerts and shows. It is pitched at fans of the 1986 film as well as at those who have never seen it.