Who is Rik Mayall?

Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall was an English comedian, writer, actor and voice-over artist.
Mayall was a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s. He formed a comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, and appeared in numerous cult classic sitcoms, including The Young Ones (1982–84), Filthy Rich & Catflap (1987), The New Statesman (1987–94), Bottom (1991–95), Blackadder, and in the comedy films Drop Dead Fred (1991) and Guest House Paradiso (1999). His acting style was described as energetic "post-punk".

His acting style was described as energetic "post-punk".At the time of his death, Mayall was described by Danny Cohen, director of BBC Television, as a "truly brilliant" comedian with a unique stage presence, whose "fireball creativity" and approach to sitcom had inspired a generation of comedy stars.
Mayall, the second of four children, was born in Epping, Essex, to John and Gillian (Harrild) Mayall. He had an older brother, Anthony, and two younger sisters, Libby and Kate. When Mayall was three years old, he and his parents—who taught drama—moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, where he spent the rest of his childhood and performed in his parents' plays.

After attending The King's School, Worcester,where he failed most of his O-levels and scraped through A-levels, Mayall went to the University of Manchester in 1975 to study drama, where he befriended his future comedy partner Ade Edmondson. He never graduated. There he also met Ben Elton, a fellow student, and Lise Mayer, with whom he later co-wrote The Young Ones.
Edmondson and Mayall gained their reputation at The Comedy Store, from 1980. Apart from performing in their double act, 20th Century Coyote, Mayall developed solo routines, using characters such as Kevin Turvey and a pompous anarchist poet named Rick. This led to Edmondson and Mayall, along with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle and other upcoming comedians, including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, French and Saunders, Arnold Brown and Pete Richens, setting up their own comedy club called "The Comic Strip" in the Raymond Revuebar, a strip club in Soho. Mayall's Kevin Turvey character gained a regular slot in A Kick Up the Eighties, first broadcast in 1981. He appeared as "Rest Home" Ricky in Richard O'Brien's Shock Treatment, a sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He played Dentonvale's resident attendant as the love interest to Nell Campbell's Nurse Ansalong.

Mayall's television appearances as Kevin Turvey warranted a mockumentary based on the character titled Kevin Turvey – The Man Behind The Green Door, broadcast in 1982. The previous year, he appeared in a bit role in An American Werewolf in London. His stage partnership with Edmondson continued, with them often appearing together as "The Dangerous Brothers", hapless daredevils whose hyper-violent antics foreshadowed their characters in Bottom. Channel 4 offered the Comic Strip group six short films, which became The Comic Strip Presents..., debuting on 2 November 1982. The series, which continued sporadically for many years, saw Mayall play a wide variety of roles. It was known for anti-establishment humour and for parodies such as Bad News on Tour, a spoof "rockumentary" starring Mayall, Richardson, Edmondson and Planer as a heavy metal band.

At the time The Comic Strip Presents... was negotiated, the BBC took an interest in The Young Ones, a sitcom written by Mayall and then-girlfriend Lise Mayer, in the same anarchic vein as Comic Strip. Ben Elton joined the writers. The series was commissioned and first broadcast in 1982, shortly before Comic Strip. Mayall played Rick, a pompous sociology student and Cliff Richard devotee. Despite the sitcom format, Mayall maintained his double-act with Edmondson, who starred as violent punk Vyvyan. Nigel Planer (as hippie Neil) and Christopher Ryan (as "Mike the cool person") also starred, with additional material written and performed by Alexei Sayle.
The first series was successful and a second was screened in 1984. The show owed a comic debt to Spike Milligan, but Milligan was disapproving of Mayall. In 1986, Mayall played the Detective in the video of "Peter Gunn" by Art of Noise featuring Duane Eddy.

Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall was an English comedian, writer, actor and voice-over artist. Mayall was a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s. He formed a comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, and appeared in numerous cult classic sitcoms, including The Young Ones, Filthy Rich & Catflap, The New Statesman, Bottom, Blackadder, and in the comedy films Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso. His acting style was described as energetic "post-punk".

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