‘We were the same person’ - Adrian Edmondson opens up about meeting Rik Mayall for the first time

Virgin Radio

11 Apr 2024, 13:47

Comedian Adrian Edmondson has opened up about meeting longtime collaborator and friend Rik Mayall for the very first time. 

The pair went to University of Manchester together before becoming one of the most sought-after TV duos following the massive success of The Young Ones and Bottom. 

Speaking on My 80s Playlist with Virgin Radio 80s Plus host Steve Denyer, Adrian revealed how he originally spotted Rik on a bus as he was “ostentatiously tapping" a cigarette.

“He was tapping on both ends,” the TV star recalled. “I know you only have to do the unfiltered end because it’s about trapping the tobacco, so I thought he’s an idiot.”

What might have been a random encounter soon turned into friendship during the pair’s second year of university, when they bonded over trying to get Equity Union cards. 

Ade reminisced: “We started playing Band on the Wall in Manchester and we just did improv. We just tried to fill an hour of pub theatre to try and get these variety contracts and we accidentally became comedians.”

Rik sadly passed away aged 56 in 2014, and remembering his close friend, Adrian admitted they soon clocked they were “the same person.”

He explained: “Bizarrely he loved Laurel and Hardy as well. We loved Laurel and Hardy, Waiting for Godot. We each had the same dressing gown that our mums sent us. We both thought Wile E. Coyote was better than Shakespeare. We bonded on a lot of stuff. I think it was finding Waiting for Godot to be the funniest thing in the world that separated us from everyone else.”

Reflecting on who Rik was as a person, Adrian continued: “Rik Mayall was a man who transformed from an uncomplicated, fun loving charmer into a complicated, fun loving charmer. This is not a value judgement at all. He just enjoyed fame more than I did. I found it a burden. And I didn't really like being recognised in the street. I found it kind of boring.”

Rik and Adrian shared the screen in Bottom for three series on BBC Two in the 90s, and it followed the lives and travails of two interminably unemployable flatmates and friends (sort of), Eddie (Edmonson) and Richie (Mayall). 

Adrian’s candid portrayal of his time with Rik comes after Gold confirmed they would be airing two extended edits of Bottom for the very first time. 

Two episodes - Holy and Digger - from the second series of the beloved comedy show, will air on Gold on Friday 19th April, and they will feature footage never before seen on TV.