Rik Mayall 1958 - 2014

Sadly earlier this month one of my favourite comedy actors Rik Mayall died, I'd like to take this opportunity to say some rather nice things about him. I first came across Rik in the TV show Bottom, tucked away on BBC2 back in the early 90's when BBC2 was a power house of comedy giving us shows like Bottom and Red Dwarf. Along with his partner Adrian Edmondson Bottom was a rather filthy show about a pair of saddo's containing puerile and slapstick comedy. A very underrated TV show (inspired by Waiting for Godot) Bottom lasted for three series and spawned five live shows that Mayall and Edmondson toured throughout the UK.

A few years later I would discover the show the generation before me associated with Mayall - The Young Ones. I can only describe this show as a wonderfully chaotic show which didn't just break the rules of TV it put them in a corner and poked them with sticks until they became a gibbering wreck. Also featuring Edmondson along with Nigel Planer and Christopher Ryan, Rik was firmly at the head of things playing the obnoxious poet Rick. Rik was also known for performances such as Alan Beresford B'stard in the New Statesman and Lord Flashheart in Blackadder.

Away from TV Rik also was a stand up comedian and was a regular live performer - most of the lead characters from The Young Ones are inspired by the actors live characters. His film career is a strange read, bit parts here and there, a Bottom spin off, British films that weren't exactly hits and edited out of the first Harry Potter film Rik is a performer we will always associate with TV and the theatre. I'd like to leave you lady and gentle readers with a video of a live performance at Comic Relief, billed as a performance by The Young Ones but its firmly Rik holding court and relishing a live audience: