A y- front to human dignity

Rik Mayall has been talking about himself all day, at least since he kicked off on the Gerry Ryan Show at nine this morning. Bearing in mind that it’s now approaching six in the evening, he’s pretty good company, still having the good grace to appear animated and engaged by any questions that you might want to throw his way. He’s here to talk about the latest Bottom live show, subtitled Weapons Grade Y-Fronts, and he springs into the spiel without really being asked. Not to give too much away, the plot involves Eddie and Rich, a time travelling toilet and their attempts to save the world in the battle between good and evil.

One thing you can be sure of is that the show will be more spectacular visually than virtually any old rock ’n’ roll gig. Is there a pressure to be more over the top each time they do this?
“In a sense yes, for two reasons. We have to be better than last time otherwise there’s no point in doing it, that is a motivation. Being ‘as funny as’ is good but not good enough. The nature of the gigs these days has also changed and I don’t like the idea of doing something puny in a vast arena just to say, yes you can look at me in the distance because I am famous. That’s a rip off. Our show style has expanded to accommodate that. Yes the explosions get bigger but the concepts get bigger too. Hence saving the world from mass destruction.”
Then, as will frequently happen during our conversation, he’s off at a tangent – talking frantically about comparisons between him and Edmondson and Laurel & Hardy, which he feels (probably rightly) aren’t that far off the mark. Looking back, it seems clear that the Comic Strip set were never quite as alternative and destructive as they were perceived (witness how most have settled into the mainstream). In contrast, they were simply part of the comedy tradition. Rik agrees.
“It was very flattering to be considered as such. We happened to be a collection of people from different places who had come together for various reasons. Some had been actors, some writers. There wasn’t a home for comedians like that but here was a generation who for the first time had grown up their whole lives with television. I’m talking about more theatrical television – Python, Up Pompeii, Dad’s Army, Steptoe And Son. That was where television was used as a means of communication of comedy rather than the canvas. It was a means of bringing comedy to the people.
“My best work – The Young Ones, Bottom, New Statesman – they all had studio audiences. I’m better in front of an audience, they write a third of my material, make me behave in a certain way. I remember being infuriated once when Lawrence Maurice wrote, ‘Alan B’stard comes in and waits for a minute (chance for a genius to improvise)’. After a while I would come in and play around and wait for the joke.”
There’s always been a lot more to Mayall then a few knob gags, from his well received television dramas to Waiting For Godot and this year’s touring production of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.
“The Coward play was about a light comedy actor reaching a certain age and fucking too many girls and who can’t stop talking about himself. It was written for me… If something comes along and it appeals to me then I do it. I did a play at the National Theatre in the ’80s. I’m aware of my image but I like breaking the mould. That’s one of the things that attracts me to doing unusual choices. That tour fused together different audiences. There were Coward fans. There were Rik fans. So there was a group of different people all laughing at the same joke at the same time. The rush of pleasure I had from the audience was huge. I was getting mobbed at the stage door by bank manager’s wives and teenagers.
“I like film very much. I like television very much. But I love live, live rather than theatre. Is Bottom theatre? Or is it extreme light entertainment? Although me and Ade will be working live forever, something is growing inside about a statement to be made on telly. I know I want to be nasty. The Young Ones was about being a teenager and in your twenties. Bottom is about your thirties and forties. I want to do something that’s about being in your fifties and sixties, about being resentful. Howling against fate. Jealousy and resentment, self pity and hate. These are the things I’m good at. Resentment of the fact that you are growing old. How life is changing around you. Where’s my favourite band? Where’s Dr Feelgood?”
So would this be a drama?
“No!”, he shouts. “I’m talking about plumbing the lower depths…”

Bottom 5: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts is at the Point Depot on Friday December 5