Adrian Edmondson
Cartoon slapstick delivered with real punk hostility.
1 special · 1993
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He does not stand at a microphone and deliver setups. He runs at the furniture. Adrian Edmondson’s live act operates at the volume of a pub fight. He substitutes traditional joke structure for a boot to the groin or a pair of rubber underpants stretched across the width of the stage. The rhythm is just escalation. Two men occupy a room, air a minor grievance, and within three minutes someone gets bludgeoned. When he forgets a line mid-shout, he drops character to laugh at the stupidity of the enterprise, then goes right back to the brawl.
Specials
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Bottom Live (The Stage Show) with Rik Mayall
A live, uncensored stage extension of the hyper-violent British sitcom.
1 h 45 min
On stage
As an original figure in the British alternative comedy scene, he openly hates solo standup. Coming out of the late-seventies punk era, he took the stage at London venues to antagonize crowds expecting polite joke-tellers. Working mostly in a double act with Rik Mayall, he bypassed the monologue circuit to build a massive touring empire. He showed a generation of performers that sheer physical hostility could pack a theater.
The live stage work, specifically the Bottom Live tours, leans entirely on bodily damage and extreme volume. Sometimes the material stalls out, playing like two guys yelling inside jokes at an audience that will cheer for anything they do. But the messiness hides strict physical timing. He knows exactly how long to hold a dead-eyed grimace after taking a prop to the head. He commits to the actual toll of falling over furniture night after night.
Next to him, a comic standing still holding a mic looks like they are taking the night off.
Turning points
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1980–1982
Formation of The Comic Strip Troupe
After starting out as 20th Century Coyote with Rik Mayall, Edmondson helped found The Comic Strip troupe and venue, debuting on Channel 4's opening night in 1982.
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1991–1995
Success and Cult Legacy of Bottom
Edmondson and Mayall channeled their distinct violent slapstick dynamic into Bottom, producing three critically acclaimed television series and five sold-out stage tours.
At a glance
Fans also like
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Rik Mayall
Longtime comedic partner who co-created and starred alongside Edmondson in the seminal anarchic slapstick hits The Young Ones and Bottom.
Podcasts
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Out To Lunch · host
Interview podcast where Edmondson sits down with guests over a meal at a restaurant of their choice.
Also on screen
- The Young Ones
- Filthy, Rich And Catflap
- 1991–1995
- Bottom
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi
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- Holby City