rik mayall
2014 has not been a good year for comedy departures. Robin Williams and Joan Rivers left us, but it was Rik Mayall’s sudden death on June 9 that struck the most resonant chord with me. Without getting all UKIP about it, Mayall was a Great British Comic and the BBC tribute Lord of Misrule was a fitting send-off.
A campaign has been launched to get a song recorded by Rik Mayall's spoof heavy metal band Bad News to number one in the run-up to Christmas. The following was posted on Facebook by fans Ash and Midori Wilkinson:
"Rik Mayall was a comedy genius, and his passing has saddened many of us at this time, but his family will miss him most a Christmas.
A bench in Hammersmith is to be officially unveiled today in honour of Rik Mayall. The bench will be similar to the one that featured in the opening credits of the sitcom Bottom.
Alexei Sayle will be appearing at a night in memory of Rik Mayall. The event will be at the Berkhamsted Rex on October 26 and will be hosted by Robin Ince. Profits will go to the brain injury charity Headway.
Sayle will be talking to Ince onstage about alternative comedy and the influence of Rik Mayall. There will also be a screening of the film Mr Jolly Lives Next Door starring Mayall.
The City of London Festival kicks off this week and it has a pretty impressive comedy line-up. But then it should have – the guy running it is Paul Gudgin, who previously ran the Edinburgh Fringe, so he should know a thing or three about stand-up. The shows are a mixture of finished product and Edinburgh warm-ups.
A post-mortem into Rik Mayall's sudden death last Monday has proved inconclusive. According to the West London Coroner's Office further tests are required.
There has been speculation that Mayall's death may be connected to the near-fatal quad bike accident he was involved in in 1998. Mayall recovered and returned to work but did have to take medication.
Hold on to your takeaway pizzas, Matthew Crosby, Ben Clark and Tom Parry return to BBC3 on June 2 for the second series of Badults, in which they play three flat-sharing, prank-playing, fun-loving mates Matthew, Ben and Tom. Live comedy fans will know the trio as Pappy's – last year they picked up a Foster's Comedy Award nomination at the Edinburgh Festival, where they have a following bordering on the fanatical. Beyond The Joke asked the trio ten questions to find out more about the new series and their future plans.
Now here’s one for the geeks. As part of BBC2’s 50th birthday celebrations the channel dusted off its archive to reveal some rarely seen – or in some cases never publicly seen at all – comedy gems. This has got to be good I thought. And in some cases it was. In a lot of cases though I thought I’d accidentally tuned in to an episode of Before They Were Famous that was never aired because it wasn’t interesting enough.
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer return to our screens on Jan 14 with their new sitcom House of Fools. Read a preview of the programme here. BTJ spoke to Bob Mortimer about the programme, which co-stars Matt Berry, Dan Skinner, Daniel Simonsen and Morgana Robinson. It is very childish, very odd and very funny indeed.
It feels like a festival of Slightly Unsung Comedy Heroes at the Soho Theatre this week. On Tuesday night Arnold Brown, one of the original Comedy Store gang, appears with a show named after his famous catchphrase, & Why Not? This is part of a campaign to fund a film about Brown's life, which I'd certainly like to see.
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