Talking Bottom

What a line up! (And we don't mean an identity parade alongside Maureen Hedgehog). We are returning to The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival with three Talking Bottom events... ruddy hell! 

Saturday May 30th 3pm sees Talking Bottom Live back on stage at the Norbury Theatre, Droitwich, interviewing the Godfather of alternative comedy, the man Rik Mayall publicly thanked for his career, the producer/director who brought The Young Ones, Red ...

Once in every lifetime comes... a sitcom that redefines the genre, smashes away the old guard and puts a rocket up the establishment. Their house is dirty, their hair greasy, their clothes smelly... and they have no plan on going to lectures! It's Rick, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike... The Young Ones!

Talking Bottom returns to discuss the seminal, groundbreaking sitcom that starred Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Christopher Ry...

Bloody hell, that was a bit of a year, wasn't it?! Join us while we pour a festive glass of gravy, scrub our sprouts and wrap presents*.

We reminisce on the year that saw the book nearly have a rubbish cover, get cancelled, resurrected, moved to a new publisher, sell out as that publisher went into liquidation, have a third of its backers wait for their book, get republished and finally reprinted just in time for Christmas! Not to ...

This week's guest is a man whose professional career has often tighly interwoven with Rik Mayall's. He's a prolific writer of screenplays, novels, video games, plays - and was the ghost writer of Rik's spoof autobiography Bigger than Hitler, Better than Christ. He's currently researching and writing the only official biography of Rik Mayall, due for publication in 2028. It's Max Kinnings!

Max chats with us about working with Rik, f...

This weeks guest is a prolific comedy writer, stand-up comedian, novelist, Perrier award nominee, founder member of the Comedy Store Players and the man who coined the phrase “Comedy is the new rock n’roll.”

For over 35 years he’s written for some of the most successful shows on TV, including Spitting Image, The Rory Bremner Show, The Eleven O’Clock Show, My Family and Not Going Out, and on radio for Dead Ringers, The News Quiz and...

Talking Bottom chats with Colin Gilbert, the director and co-writer with Rik Mayall of The Man Behind the Green Door and Kevin Turvey Investigates. Colin also directed Rab C Nesbitt and worked on Not the Nine O'Clock News, A Kick up the Eighties, I Lovett and Naked Video. He is the co-founder of prolific independent production company The Comedy Unit.

Colin shares memories of his career, the genesis of Kevin Turvey, working with Ri...

This week it's the Talking Bottom podcast you've all been waiting for as we come to you LIVE from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! We were honoured to be joined by a very special guest - a comedian and writer who was at the cutting edge of alternative comedy in the 1980s. He performed on the very first night of The Comic Strip and his comedy CV includes The Young Ones, The Comic Strip presents…, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Colin’s San...

"Phew, that was close!" Following a catastrophic near-end more fraught than Richie and Eddie getting gunned down by the SAS, with the book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom SELLING OUT on its week of release and then the publisher liquidising its assets (literally), we're excited to announce that the book is back! 

We discuss the seat-of-the-skidded-pants journey we've been on that's finally brought us to a brand-spanking ...

Talking Bottom reaches the final episode of this special series on The Many Faces of Rik Mayall. Everyone knows Rik had the most expressive face but he had a voice to match, too. From The Wind in The Willows Toad to Jackanory. From Grim Tales to The Last Hurrah. Rik threw everything into his times in the audio booth, making each one unique, comedically brilliant and a masterclass in vocal performance.

Talking Bottom digs deep into ...

Described by Man Down creator and star Greg Davies as "a force of nature" and "dream casting," Rik Mayall blessed us all with a final return to the world of sitcom, dropping in each week to steal the episode - and the show - every time.

Richard Davies is the sadistic, prank-loving father of "Dan" (Greg) who loves nothing more than tormenting and publicly humiliating his adult son for his own amusement, yet with a hint of deep fathe...

"Dog poo, dog poo, lovely lovely dog poo.” Move over, Harvey the rabbit. Get to buggery, Tyler Durden. This week Talking Bottom delves into Rik's foray into Hollywood, playing the world's best imaginary friend. He's violent, sweary, flicks snot into drinks and sinks houseboats. It's Drop Dead Fred!

We chat about Rik as a film star, the psychology of imaginary friends and the film's re-evaluation as a story of female empowerment and...

“The Comic Strip Presents…Mr Jolly Lives Next Door was the prototype… that was really the pilot for Bottom.” Peter Richardson summed it up perfectly in our chat with him. Our new podcast puts Rik Mayall’s role starring alongside the legendary Peter Cook as Mr Jolly’s neighbouring business owner “Dreamytime Escort” under the microscope, along with a character who shares distant DNA; Richard Dangerous of "The Dangerous Brothers” dou...

"You see, in the good old days, you were poor, you got ill, and you died!" After playing a series squalid losers, Rik finally poured all that charisma, sex appeal and Machiavellian cunning into Tory MP Alan B'Stard; money and power-obsessed serial adulterer and possessor of the largest majority in the House of Commons. 

Talking Bottom chats about one of Rik's most enduring characters, where Rik was able to lampoon those in power a...

"WOOF!!!” Following a brief appearance as "Mad Gerald" in the first Blackadder series, Rik returned in series two and four/forth as heroic, sexy, brave, top-level shagger Lord Flashheart. The character appeared in other similar guises in Blackadder Back and Forth as Robin Hood and then later in the Bombardier beer adverts.

Talking Bottom get to grips with Flash’s costume, moustaches, attitude, Darling, Bob, bridesmaids, beards and ...

Following the success of The Young Ones Rik, Nigel and Ade were reunited as a disgusting trio in Filthy, Rich & Catflap. Penned by Ben Elton, the sitcom mirrored the group's own entry into the world of light entertainment - and lampooned their own success with sharp-tongued satire that sadly only lasted one series. Richie Rich is a talentless, egotistical wannabe who bridges the gap between Rick the Student and Bottom's Richard...

The hair... the tight trousers...the stepping in dogshit wearing just a sock on his foot... Bad News and More Bad News are two of "The Comic Strip Presents..." jewels in the crown, with Rik's Colin Grigson definitely a legend in his own mind. Talking Bottom dive into the character, his memorable moments and what makes Rik's performance so special.

The Talking Bottom book is out now! “Oh God! This is real!"

To order a copy follow th...

A quick one (ooh err) about our recent book launch in Hammer-smith, where we were joined at Rik's memorial bench by Godfather of alternative comedy, Producer Paul Jackson and Bottom actor legends Lee Cornes (Dick Head) and Roger Sloman (Mr Harrison), plus Bottom fans (including two who came all the way from The Netherlands!) and assorted press! Thank you to everyone who came down to collect their books and to everyone who backed th...

Once in every lifetime comes... one of Rik Mayall's most enduring and iconic characters. Starting life on stage reading crap poems and getting angry with the audience on shows like "Boom Boom, Out go the Lights" before graduating to student life in a sitcom that redefined the genre in "The Young Ones," for many, Rick is the character they picture when they think of Rik Mayall. 

Talking Bottom dive into the character, his memorable...

It's a new series! Most actors are fortunate if they have just one role people love them for. Rik embodied so many iconic and memorable characters that people adore. Kicking things off is a look at one of his early incarnations - self-styled "Investigative Journalist" and son of Redditch, Kevin Turvey in "A Kick up the Eighties" and "The Man Behind the Green Door."

The Talking Bottom book is out now! “Oh God! This is real!"

To orde...