Slapstick, timing and food tricks make 'One Man Two Guvnors' a comic feast

Owain Arthur is one of the few actors in the world who can say his career was boosted by a peanut.

Now the lead actor in the highly successful new comedy One Man, Two Guvnors at this year's Hong Kong Arts Festival, Welsh-born Arthur was initially hired as understudy to actor (and award-winning writer) James Corden.

There is a key point in the first scene when the character - having successfully caught two peanuts in his mouth, throws a third peanut in the air and catches it, while running backwards, hitting a sofa and popping up the other side.

"And when I saw James do it for the first time, when he caught it I thought I'm not going to be able to do that … what will I do?" Arthur recalls.

But several months later, after many, many lunch hours spent throwing nuts in the air and not catching them ("the secret's in the throw; the higher the better"), Arthur heard he was to play the role for one of the performances. Usually the first time this would happen would be a quiet matinee, to let an understudy in gently, but his was to be in front of an audience of 1,500, and director Nicholas Hytner was to be there, along with the entire casting department.

"So, no pressure then," Arthur quips. "It was the first time I did it in front of an audience, and I knew, I just knew, that I had to catch that nut. I was so nervous, I could hear my heart beat. In my brain. And then I did catch it, and then I knew it would be all right."