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jemthespud · 12 hours

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A word on Rik Mayall today...

I recently rewatched the 1984 Wogan interview where Rik does a set as Rick and then an interview as himself. I've always loved the contrast between the oblivious vulnerability we're shown in Rick and the nervous, unguarded energy we glimpse in Rik. I must have watched the video so many times, but it'd been a while since my last viewing, I must admit.

There is something beautiful and raw about Rik and his comedy, especially when looking back at his earlier performances - where he hadn't quite figured out who he wanted to be to the world yet. The way he flits between character and self fascinates me; you can see the change in his face, his posture, his confidence.

Here we behold a man who was much more comfortable behind a persona. These personas let him release a pure, unadulterated, yet still of course hilarious madness that no one else has ever replicated since. That was his gift.

And so, with all this in mind, I took a moment to watch Rik in his element: his eyes wide and glinting, his face grinning and bright, his body abuzz with the performance, his words spiralling wild and loud. That funny man. That pan-global phenomenon.

I found myself laughing, and then I found myself crying; and these two reactions cannot be separated. It was an inarticulable outpouring - because Rik is dead, because time has marched on, because I am no longer 17 years old and freshly in love with him, because things can never be quite as they were ever again. Yet, in spite of all that, this glowing, glorious imprint of Rik remains here, immortalised through the camera.

There he was: Rik Mayall, aged 26, still making me laugh 40 years down the line.

I'd like to say something to Rik, but I can't, so this will have to suffice:

Rest easy, Rik, you darling, funny man. Thank you for the wonder you filled me with when I first found you. It is still within me; it still flickers. Thank you for your fire. Thank you for your madness. Thank you for all the big and small things I want to list but can't capture coherently.

You've been gone ten years now, and that is unspeakably unfair. I am furious on your behalf, believe you me, as I have it on good authority a great many other people are too. I never even met you, and you changed my life. I know that sounds silly, but it is no exaggeration. If such things as souls exist, you made mine full. You made mine laugh.

Thank you, Rik. You utter bastard. I won't ever forget what you've done for me. I really bloody mean that.

I'm thinking of you today.

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jemthespud · 21 hours

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In memory of Rik I'm posting pictures from all of his great work that has spanned the decades.

Bottom:

The Young Ones:

The New Statesman:

Bad News:

Drop Dead Fred:

Lord Flashheart:

Comic Strip:

Dangerous Brothers:

Kevin Turvey:

We miss you Rik can't believe its been 10 years without you. :((

You'll forever be one of my heroes x 💝

#rik mayall #the rik mayall #the comic strip presents #alan b'stard #bad news #bbc bottom #drop dead fred #dangerous brothers #lord flashheart #blackadder #kevin turvey #the young ones #rick pratt #alan b’stard #richard rich #panglobal phenomenon #with love and violence

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jemthespud · 4 days

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Rik + Ade Waiting For Godot

"The other thing we shared was our love of the Samuel Beckett play, Waiting for Godot. We were the only people who thought it was a funny play." - Ade ♡

#rik and ade #rik mayall #ade edmondson #waiting for godot #they were so in love (platonically ofc)#comedy duo of the century #missing them #😭

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jemthespud · 5 days

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