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Bottom is a British sitcom created by Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson that ran for three series on BBC2 from 1991 to 1995. It focuses on Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson), two unemployed, crude, and perverted flatmates living in Hammersmith, London, who aspire to better themselves. Bottom became known for its chaotic, nihilistic humour and violent slapstick comedy. In 2004, Bottom was ranked 45th in a BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom.
The Young Ones is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, starring Adrian Edmondson, Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, and Alexei Sayle, and broadcast on BBC Two for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included anarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers.
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents..., which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane, Alexei Sayle and others.
Alexei David Sayle is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic of all time on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007. In an updated 2010 poll he came 72nd.
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."
Arnold Brown is a Scottish Jewish comedian, one of the main figures in the alternative comedy scene of the early 1980s.
Richard Michael Mayall, known professionally as Rik Mayall, was an English comedian, actor and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative comedy in the 1980s.
Linda Helen Smith was an English comedian and comedy writer. She appeared regularly on Radio 4 panel games, and was voted "Wittiest Living Person" by listeners in 2002. From 2004 to 2006 she was head of the British Humanist Association.
Filthy Rich & Catflap is a BBC sitcom produced in 1986 and broadcast in 1987. The series featured former The Young Ones co-stars Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as its three titular characters. It was written by Ben Elton, and produced and directed by Paul Jackson, with film sequences directed by Ed Bye. The show's music was written by Peter Brewis. One series consisting of six half-hour episodes was produced. Despite the continuity announcer saying that the show would return the following year, only one series was ever made due to a fall-out between Mayall and Elton over creative control.
Hattie Hayridge is a British comedian and actress, best known for the role of the female version of Holly in Red Dwarf during the third, fourth and fifth series. She was described as a "cult figure in a beloved sit-com" by The List in 2007.
Robin Ince is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox, creating Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, co-creating The Cosmic Shambles Network, and his stand-up comedy career.
Andrew Zaltzman is a British comedian who largely deals in political and sport-related material.
Maggie Steed is an English actress and comedian.
Gregory Daniel Davies is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners (2008–2010), Ken Thompson in Cuckoo (2012–2019), Dan Davies in Man Down (2013–2017) and Paul "Wicky" Wickstead in The Cleaner. Since 2015 he has hosted the comedy panel game show Taskmaster and he has also appeared on Mock the Week, Fast and Loose, Live at the Apollo and Would I Lie to You?
Anthony Lawrence Allen was an English comedian and writer. Known as the "godfather of alternative comedy", Allen was one of the original alternative comedians. In May 1979, following notoriety at Speakers' Corner with his "Full-Frontal Anarchy Platform", he began to perform at The Comedy Store. Two months later he founded Alternative Cabaret with Alexei Sayle and ran a regular "Alt Cab" Club night in the back bar of the Elgin pub on Ladbroke Grove in London.
Adrian Charles Edmondson is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–1995), which he wrote together with his collaborator Rik Mayall. Edmondson also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. For two episodes of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News, and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star.
Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution was an American stand-up comedy television series airing on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who is best known for his stand-up specials, the show features new material by both himself and other comedians. Each episode opens with a stand up by Iglesias before several other comedians perform, each of whom Iglesias usually introduces with an encore. The show debuted on October 6, 2011, and is executive produced by Iglesias. The program features Gabriel Iglesias as an emcee features new material and introduces two or three lesser known comedians looking for a big break on television. Each comedian presents a short set of jokes, which is edited to last about five minutes on the airing of the show.
Ivor Joseph Dembina is a British stand-up comedian and writer in the alternative tradition from London.
Jim Barclay is an English actor and comedian, who played the title role of Jossy Blair in the BBC TV series Jossy's Giants. He was also part of the early British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s.
Oliver Double is a British stand-up comedian, author and academic. Since 1999, he has taught comic and popular performance at the University of Kent. His current roles at the university are Reader in Drama and Theatre, and Head of Comedy and Popular Performance.
References
- ↑ Double, Oliver (16 October 1997). Stand-up!: On Being a Comedian. Methuen Publishing. p. 176. ISBN 978-0413703200.
- ↑ Nobbs, David (4 March 2004). I Didn't Get Where I am Today. Arrow Books. p. 393. ISBN 978-0099421641.
- ↑ "Andy De La Tour: Fringe summer with Rik Mayall". Edinburgh Evening News . 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
- ↑ York, Melissa (15 April 2013). "Andy de la Tour joins Miles Jupp to discuss adventure in Stratford". Newham Recorder . Archived from the original on 29 June 2016.
- ↑ "Letters | Putting Venezuela's crisis and US intervention in historical context". The Observer . 27 January 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ↑ University of Kent Special Collections & Archives (6 December 2021). "British Stand-Up Comedy Archive". Special Collections and Archives - University of Kent. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ↑ University of Kent Special Collections & Archives. "Andy de la Tour Collection". University of Kent Special Collections & Archives Catalogue. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
