What was Rik Mayall doing in 1984/1985?

[BeardFaceMan]

Loved FR&C at the time, doesnt stand up well to repeated viewing though and has aged horribly. If youre not familiar with the early 80s light entertainment scene the show may be a bit impenetrable. I dont think its talked about in the same breath as The Young Ones or Botoom because it just isnt that great.

[Thosworth]

It seems like he went on Tour with Ben Elton at the tihs point

Saw this show. Memorable for the fact that the only word he said for the first 5 minutes was "what?" (repeatedly), while the audience was absolutely dying laughing.

[Avril Lavigne]

Loved FR&C at the time, doesnt stand up well to repeated viewing though and has aged horribly. If youre not familiar with the early 80s light entertainment scene the show may be a bit impenetrable. I dont think its talked about in the same breath as The Young Ones or Botoom because it just isnt that great.

From what I've seen it also seems to be much more broad and one-note in its humour & tone as well, with none of the dry or surreal stuff that those other shows had in spades.

[biggytitbo]

Lise. Liiiiiissse. How do you pronounce that?


Rik's behaviour sounds shitty on paper, and in real life, but we weren't there so don't know exactly how it played out. He was a prime bullshitter in his later years too wasn't he, so his account might not be entirely accurate either?

[saltysnacks]

No, that's fucking disgusting.

Not denying that, but I don't think it's the WORST trait in a person, let's not be hyperbolic here.

[buzby]

Rik's behaviour sounds shitty on paper, and in real life, but we weren't there so don't know exactly how it played out. He was a prime bullshitter in his later years too wasn't he, so his account might not be entirely accurate either?

It's fairly widely accepted as accurate. Meyer herself has never spoken about the matter, and when it came up in interviews in his latter years Mayall always refused to further discuss it (his initial coments about it were made in 2002, around when the Deayton scandal broke).

In what must have been deja vu for the unfortunate Ms. Meyer, Deayton's coke, hookers and mistress shenanigans was going on while she was pregnant with their child (though it only made the press after their son was born).

[Satchmo Distel]

Infidelity is standard in rock bands and they don't split over it. Ian Curtis and Joy Division, for example. Why hold comedy to a higher standard? I'm not even sure that Mayall and Edmondson ever claimed to be progressive on gender issues. Infact, they may have been perceived as regressive; it's really only Elton who seemed to be at least superficially progressive even then.

It's a false reading of history that comedy in the 80s was in the vanguard of real gender enlightenment.

[Delete Delete Delete]

I must say they did a pretty good job of keeping it out of the media, having never heard of all this before this thread. Must be a tribute to how much Mayall was liked that a paper didn't try and stich him up.

[Lemming]

People are flawed and complicated. Why do our artists have to be morally pure? Is it necessary for us to enjoy their work that they're all good little boys and girls? Bunch of fucking St Peters around here.

EDIT: unless you're all.. joking

He remains my comedy hero and, in my opinion, the funniest human ever to have lived. Being disappointed that he was seemingly, with our very limited info on the event, such a cunt to one person at one point in time doesn't mean that we expect him to be "morally pure" or that we don't enjoy his work anymore. Come on.

[gilbertharding]

Infidelity is standard in rock bands and they don't split over it.

Two words: Sonic Youth (I know...).

I'm afraid I think less of old Thurston for what he did.

[neveragain]

Very sad and quite irreedemable behaviour... but I'm sure I'll forget and go back to watching Rik in the future, incredibly gifted and charismatic performer that he was.

I also do believe in separating art and the artist (when all's done and unchangeable - if they were arrested for something horrible mid-filming obviously I wouldn't demand the production was finished).

[New Jack]

I won't be able to enjoy his characters of completely selfish fucking arseholes now I've found out he was a completely selfish fucking arsehole

OK, I might be able to scrape up a laugh at Bottom in a few years (only binged it again this spring)

[buzby]

Infidelity is standard in rock bands and they don't split over it. Ian Curtis and Joy Division, for example. Why hold comedy to a higher standard? I'm not even sure that Mayall and Edmondson ever claimed to be progressive on gender issues. Infact, they may have been perceived as regressive; it's really only Elton who seemed to be at least superficially progressive even then.

It's a false reading of history that comedy in the 80s was in the vanguard of real gender enlightenment.

Not really the best example, as in Natalie Curtis's book she describes how although she was friendly with Hook and Sumner's wives and girlfriends, the band basically had a rule of keeping their other halves in the dark, so what went on on tour stayed on tour. Both Rik and Ade's partners were actively involved in the Comic Strip/Young Ones, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to think some of the group would have had sympathy for Meyer given the circumstances (given his affair with Robbin had been going on for five years, I would be surprised if Edmondson at least don't know about it)

From another interview with Mayall it seems Robbin accompanied him when he went on tour with Elton, and dealt with any potential groupies in the manner of a Glasgow native. She was presumably keen not to let what happened to Meyer happen to her.

[bgmnts]

He ran out on his missus to marry another woman, albeit deceptively sure.

I can't believe in the post Weinstein age that is considered despicable. Its cunty yeah but man its tame.

[Delete Delete Delete]

I think the his missus was Pregnent at the time adds a kink. If she had not been and only his Mistress had been I don't think it would even had made the wiki. The miscarridge also adds another layer of sympathy for the wronged party.

[New Jack]

Infidelity is standard in rock bands and they don't split over it. Ian Curtis and Joy Division, for example.

Thought Iggs could never or did never actually consummate it with Annik who denied it was a relationship proper?

But you were lovers weren't you?

It was a totally pure and platonic relationship, very childish, very chaste... I didn't have a sexual relationship with Ian, he was on medication that made any physical relationship impossible. I'm completely fed up that people doubt my word or his: you can say what you want, but I'm the only person to have any of his writings... One of his letters stated that the relationship with his wife Deborah was already over when we met.

http://dontgetoutmuch.over-blog.com/article-annik-honore-in-her-own-words-52531759.html

Course, he still hurt his wife and his kid. And he doesn't get a pass from me, just gets out on the fact I never knew him: the tunage sounds the same.

But then I'm not gonna actively boycott much of anything short of, say, Chris Benoit for "art tainted by the artist", that being the grotesque standard to which everything else falls short. Nobody benefits from what I do or don't enjoy except me, and I expect that's true of most people.

Why hold comedy to a higher standard? I'm not even sure that Mayall and Edmondson ever claimed to be progressive on gender issues. Infact, they may have been perceived as regressive; it's really only Elton who seemed to be at least superficially progressive even then.

It's a false reading of history that comedy in the 80s was in the vanguard of real gender enlightenment.

Still, holding it to a normal standard still vilifies it a fair bit. Does it make me think less of him? Absolutely - will my actual entertainment tastes change? No, it proves nowt.

[Nowhere Man]

He's been dead four years and the incident happened 35 odd years ago when he was a spotty oik, we don't know what went on behind closed doors so how about we just let it go? For all we know he could have been in remorse about it for years, we'll never know at this point. and unless Mayer for whatever reasons speaks up about it we're not going to know anymore about the incident or anything else relating to it.

[Maurice Yeatman]

I've long had a crush on Lise Mayer and find it inexplicable that she wasn't good enough for Mayall and Deayton.

The above is kind of true but clearly silly too. Mayall comes across as an arse in that interview about the split, but could perhaps be being aggressively defensive. We can't know what the absolute truth is.

Old news, but a BBC Breakfast interview, Frank Bough and the three writers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NwONgvzkKA. Seems unbelievably quaint now.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

He was a guest on Cannon and Ball's hilarious show in 1984 too, lest we forget.

(should provide a birrov youtube linkage at this point, shouldn't I? Ah, you're big lads, you should be able to find it.)

[Rocket Surgery]

Not denying that, but I don't think it's the WORST trait in a person, let's not be hyperbolic here.

Pretty sure I clarified that. We can still be friends.

[saltysnacks]

Pretty sure I clarified that. We can still be friends.

:)

[The Boston Crab]

Fuckin his new wife senseless

[thraxx]

I guess Rik wasn't a virgin after all then.

[Janie Jones]

... Mayer was already pregnant with Mayall's baby when Rik found out from a phone call while out shoppingwith her and Elton he had got Robbin pregnant as well. He didn't even tell Mayer he was leaving her, he just said he was unwell and was going home, packed his bags, got the train up to Glasgow to meet Robbin and they flew to Barbados to get married.

...  the eloping occurred in January 1985...

As any quiz regular knows, the first U.K. mobile phone call was made by Ernie Wise January 1985 so the chances of Rik carrying a mobile phone a week or two later are pretty slim. How could he have received a phone call while out shopping?

[gmoney]

Might he potentially have had a beeper or a pager?

[Twed]

He found out over Rik mail (Mayall)

[buzby]

As any quiz regular knows, the first U.K. mobile phone call was made by Ernie Wise January 1985 so the chances of Rik carrying a mobile phone a week or two later are pretty slim. How could he have received a phone call while out shopping?

From his comments in the article, it sounded like he snuck off to phone her while Meyer and Elton were in some posh shop. He had been seeing Robbin behind Meyer's back for five years, and had presumably seen her recently where she had said she might be pregnant and was going for a test and he was calling to find out the result.

[Janie Jones]

Ah, right, thanks

[Queneau]

'When I got her into bed, she asked me to be Kevin! Strangely, she was turned on by his accent!'

Wow. That is weird.

Speaking of Rik's post-Young Ones career in the '80s, what do you guys think of Filthy Rich & Catflap?  I've been a fan of all Rik's other TV shows in collaboration with Ade, but never got on with FR&C.  I thought maybe I hadn't given it enough of a chance as I only ever watched the first episode years ago, but I'm currently watching the second and finding it hard to get through.  Understandably I never see it spoken about in the same terms as Bottom and The Young Ones either here or in TV retrospective shows.

Yeah, it's not up there, is it? I still find it enjoyable to watch. Mayall creates absolute chaos at times. There's a great moment when he really lays into the woman in the shop and tells her her scene is over. It's a great vehicle for Mayall and, like everything he was involved in, worth it for him if nothing else.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

He found out over Rik mail (Mayall)

May all your future puns not be posted.