Bottom Live!: Opera House, Manchester, 1999
Play: Neville’s Island: Duke of York’s Theatre, London, 2014
Adrian Edmondson: Bits of Me Are Falling Apart: Soho Theatre, London, 2016
I saw actor and comedian Adrian Edmondson appear with his infamous and much-missed comedy partner Rik Mayall star as Eddie and Richie on stage in Bottom Live! in Manchester in 1999. In the live show, Richie bought an inflatable doll named Monica as his lover and tried to hide it from Eddie. It all of course went horribly wrong when Richie accidentally super glued Monica to his groin, mistaking Eddie’s super glue for hand cream! Based on the TV series, the show was filthy, violent, hilarious and showed off the duo’s extraordinary comic talent.
In 2014, a much calmer Edmondson appeared in an adaptation of Tim Frith’s play Neville’s Island at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London. Four men who find themselves stranded on an island in the middle of a river after their boat sinks on a team-building exercise. Edmondson starred with Miles Jupp, Neil Morrissey and Robert Webb who played the characters variously isolated in anguish and uncertainty,
I saw Edmondson once again appear in a one-man show at The Soho Theatre, London in 2016. Bits of Me Are Falling Apart (based on William Leith’s book) saw Edmondson play a man stuck in a contemplative no man’s land between mid-life crisis and full-blown nervous breakdown. Edmondson proved he was a humorous raconteur in a compelling performance.