Confidemus Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Obituary: Obituary: Rik Mayall Kevin Turvey gave Mayall his big break on television Continue reading the main story Related Stories Comedian and actor Rik Mayall dies In pictures: Rik Mayall With a face seemingly made of the most pliable variety of rubber and a manic energy almost too wild for the mainstream, Richard 'Rik' Michael Mayall, it seems, was bound for a future in comedy. Born in Harlow, Essex but raised in Worcestershire, Mayall spent his younger years performing in plays written by his parents, who had both attended London's Central School Of Speech and Drama. "I obviously always wanted to be looked at as a kid," he said in a 1982 interview with The Face magazine. "Really embarrassing, ugly things I used to do. If it was my brother or sister's birthday, I'd sulk all day. I remember being six and having my birthday party. A kid called Sid Prior was talking a lot and gaining all the attention, so I hit him over the head with the hammer from the children's toolkit I'd just been given." He left home in 1976 to study drama at Manchester University and it was there that Mayall met Adrian 'Ade' Edmondson, with whom he would form one of the most successful comedy partnerships of the 1980s and 90s. 'Show off' His big break came performing with his new-found comedy partner at London's Comedy Store under the guise of 20th Century Coyote. "In the mid-70s, most of it [comedy] was very experimental, often punk-influenced," he remembered. "A lot of it wasn't much fun, but I learnt from those guys... We wanted it to be much more humorous." Coyote, formed in the summer of 1978, went on to play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 4. His double act with Edmondson included the extreme, violent slapstick of The Dangerous Brothers - a forerunner of their later, hugely successful TV show Bottom. Mayall and Edmondson's partnership spanned three decades "I was always a show-off and liable to get over-excited. But I have got it under control. I now find people who can't control their energy very funny," he told The Sunday Times in 1983. Mayall also wrote solo routines, creating characters such as self-styled "investigative journalist" Kevin Turvey and pompous, anarchist poet Rick. Turvey gave Mayall his first television break in BBC Scotland sketch show A Kick up the Eighties. "The idea behind Kevin was to take the most boring man in the world, being as boring as possible, and make it funny." said Mayall in 1982. "Part of my intention with Kevin was to waste 10 minutes of television time. What's funny about Kevin is that he thinks he knows what he's doing. He's patronising; here's someone more stupid than you trying to explain things." 20th Century Coyote eventually moved out of the Comedy Store and into their own venue, now called The Comic Strip Club, held at the Raymond Revue bar in Soho. It was the launching pad for the talents of Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, and French and Saunders. It also led to the cult television hit The Comic Strip Presents… which began with Five Go Mad in Dorset, a parody of The Famous Five. In 1982, Mayall's solo character Rick would return, this time as an undergraduate in a student house in The Young Ones. The Young Ones also launched the career of Alexei Sayle (far-left) Along with Ade Edmondson as violent punk Vyvyan, paranoid hippie Neil and the suave and shady Mike, the characters would go on to become household names. Equal parts subversive and silly, the show combined traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick and surrealism and featured live musical performances by the likes of Madness, Motorhead, and The Damned. The reason for including the live performance, apparently, was that the BBC had to categorise the show as light entertainment rather than situation comedy, which meant it got a larger budget. According to director Ed Bye, the show was popular with policemen, a fact which upset Mayall, greatly. The show ran until 1984 and, in 2004, was voted number 31 in the BBC's best sitcom poll. 'Ugly faces' Mayall followed The Young Ones with Filthy, Rich and Catflap which ran for a single series. He also appeared in another new BBC comedy series by the name of Blackadder, alongside Rowan Atkinson. He would make several cameos, most memorably as the roguish Lord Flashheart. In 1987, Mayall debuted another of his most famous roles - the conniving, ruthless Tory MP Alan B'stard in ITV satire The New Statesman. It ran for four series on ITV, and returned for several specials in the 1990s. Mayall took Alan B'stard on a live tour in 2006 Despite his thorough unpleasantness, the character even managed to become something of a sex symbol for the 80s. "I want to make all my characters ugly, " he told Jan Etherington for TV Times in 1987. "Whenever I play someone I disapprove of, I make him ugly, but they said, 'Stop pulling faces and be cool.' "I've always had fan-mail from girls, but I just thought it was rather silly, Very flattering, but rather silly. It just happens when you're famous..." Mayall had a crack at Hollywood in 1991, as an imaginary friend in the eponymous Drop Dead Fred. It was British film company Working Title's first financial hit and was apparently, at the time, the most successful independent film ever released in Australia. Not everyone was thrilled, however. One review stated: "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess... recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny". Also in 1991, Mayall teamed up with Edmondson for the slapstick BBC comedy Bottom. Three series were shown between 1991-95 with Mayall starring as Richie Richard opposite Edmondson's Eddie Elizabeth Hitler. In 1993, Mayall and Edmondson took the show on a national tour. Bottom: Live was a commercial success and it was followed by another four tours. The pair were due to star in a spinoff show called Hooligans Island but Edmondson pulled out which caused something of a rift between them, though it is understood they later cleared the air. Mayall said: "I thought it would be fun and Ade thought it would be fun but then he had a change of heart. It's a shame." Recently, Mayall starred opposite comedian Greg Davies in the Channel 4 comedy Man Down, playing Davies' father. Davies said: "He gave me a hug and that was his opener. Just straight in with a hug it was lovely and I knew this is my dad even though, as I'm sure Twitter will go mental with pointing it out that he's only 10 years older than me." Speaking to the Radio Times in February, Davies had suggested the second series of the show would give Mayall a more prominent role. "I am sure we will see a lot more of Mr Mayall. He is one of my comedy heroes," the comedian said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Shocked because I wasn't expecting this. One of the greats of alternative comedy. The Young Ones is one of the great sea changes in modern comedy along with The Goons and Monty Python. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 RIP!! Absolute legend, no other words to describe the guy. I don't usually bother about celebrity deaths but I'm saddened by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Genuinely saddened at this. One of my all time comedy favourites and always seemed like a brilliant and charismatic person in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eindhovendee Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Like most I'm genuinely gutted by this news, probably more because you know that there are no more Flasheart, Bottom, B'Stard etc. There might not have been anyway but that is it now. RIP Rik. Bob Mortimer tweeted this pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a1974h Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 RIP rik Loved the young ones and bottom was nuts. Some special bottom episodes. Totally mental stuff. Thanks for the laughs ya Mental b'stard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confidemus Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Like most I'm genuinely gutted by this news, probably more because you know that there are no more Flasheart, Bottom, B'Stard etc. There might not have been anyway but that is it now. RIP Rik. Bob Mortimer tweeted this pic. f**k me, that's a bit of a punch to the gut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Tragic, i have all the bottom episodes on DVD - absolutely ridiculous television I know this guy who used to do stage props for live shows for years and he said the pair of them used to get wrecked on booze and cocaine all day before the shows and absolutely wrecked the stage every time they performed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 RIP!! Absolute legend, no other words to describe the guy. I don't usually bother about celebrity deaths but I'm saddened by this. Don't you Richey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth_Glasgow Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 My all-time favourite game. RIP Rik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Capsule Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Truly devastated. One of my heroes when I was growing up. Time to stay up all night with a Bottom and The Young Ones marathon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Cuddy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 And he rattled his maracas close to meeeeeeee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fife Saint Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Yeah, up there with Terry Nutkins as a childhood icon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars fan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'm heartbroken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 56 is helluva young to be clocking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 One mistimed frying pan whack too many, I reckon. New Statesman was brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiDB Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Actor and long-time friend Adrian Edmondson said of Rik Mayall: "There were times when Rik and I were writing together when we almost died laughing. They were some of the most carefree stupid days I ever had, and I feel privileged to have shared them with him. "And now he's died for real. Without me. Selfish b*****d." I was about to post that quote as well, I laughed rather loudly in the office reading it, is that wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blue Brasilion Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Tragic news. Another comedy legend gone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yH0Vh3ZBoQ My personal favourite scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Raccoon Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Gas Man! Gas Man! Absolutely loved him in Bottom and The Young Ones. Really sad that he's dead especially bat such a reasonably young age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 The Young Ones and Bottom were class. RIP (a real one, not a pisstake). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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