Main content

Adrian Edmondson on the pursuit of laughter

Adrian Edmondson remembers how rudeness and silliness made him laugh as a child and how they led to the glorious pursuit of laughter as he began his own comedy career.

In this essay Adrian Edmondson describes his pursuit of a certain type of laugh, a desperate, untamed, visceral laugh, and in doing so remembers one of the acts from those early days of the Comedy Store. It is one of the funniest things he has ever seen and led to his understanding of what comedy could be. He recalls how the performer played with the audience and their expectations to riotous, hysterical, effect. Except he cannot remember their name. No, really, he can鈥檛.

For those who know Adrian Edmondson鈥檚 work with his former comedy partner Rik Mayall, it won鈥檛 come as a surprise that as a child he was delighted by The Goons and by rude words in comic songs. He went on to study drama at Manchester University. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied, and the Muppets and the Pythons, are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy that changed the comedic landscape for ever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens, tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be. He co-created and wrote the television series Bottom with Rik, which ran for three very successful series, toured as a stage show and was the basis for a spin-off film. Adrian Edmondson is now equally well known as an accomplished straight actor (in the RSC, 大象传媒 TV鈥檚 War and Peace, Eastenders), and a writer of books for adults and children.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael for Dora Productions

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Thu 17 Mar 2022 22:45

Broadcasts

  • Mon 17 Feb 2020 22:45
  • Thu 17 Mar 2022 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast