Hey there, hope you’re all doing well. I’m good, although like all disabled people in the UK I feel great unease over the government’s proposed changes to our benefits. My PIP review still hasn’t been dealt with after 9 months as it is. I’m not going to rant about it here though – I’ve posted a brief thread and shared several other posts on my Twitter/X page if you want a wider sense of people’s reactions. But please do read the proposals and respond to the consultation if you can (by 22nd July), as it’s vitally important to have our voices heard at this early stage. Same goes for the separate consultation about fit notes (until 8th July) too.
But anyway, on to much nicer things, and there’s plenty that I’ve enjoyed during this past month, including a couple of exhibitions, a West End musical, a theatre workshop, stand-up gigs and other comedy shows. One of the exhibitions was a press invite for my journalist friend Emily, and I’m due to be paid for the workshop I took part in, but nothing is sponsored to be featured here and all opinions are my own as usual.
So let’s crack on with this month’s post and video, and I hope you enjoy!
Contents
Exhibitions
Paws On The Wharf
My favourite exhibition this month was the art trail Paws On The Wharf, featuring 25 beautifully decorated sculptures of Guide Dogs. They’re on display until 17 May, after which they’ll be auctioned off to raise vital funds.
I spent a nice couple of hours tracking them all down in Canary Wharf, as well as finding a bonus mini pup sculpture when I was back in the area on another day. If I had to pick favourites, my top 3 would include the ones paying tribute to Sherlock Holmes and Back To The Future, as well as a sculpture covered in faces of famous people with lived experience of sight loss. But they’re all wonderful. Many of them have tactile elements, and there have also been some sensory tours as well.
Check out my special gallery post for more information and to see all of the sculptures. The trail has been produced in association with Wild In Art, who were also responsible for Morph’s Epic Art Adventure and Walking With The Snowman that I shared images from last year.
Disney 100 Exhibition (PR Invite)
The other exhibition I visited this month was Disney 100 at ExCel London. This was a freebie with my friend and colleague Emily Davison from Fashioneyesta, who had been given a PR invite to review the experience. We were also joined by a few members of her family, so it was lovely to see them too.
As is self-explanatory from the name, the exhibition celebrates a century of Disney, and the countless number of wonderful cartoons and films they’ve produced over those years. And unsurprisingly, therefore, it’s massive!
Once you’ve watched a short introductory film, with some words from Walt Disney himself, you’re then invited to explore the main exhibition space. It’s divided into 10 themed areas, and there’s a set route that takes you from one room to the next. But within each area you can explore as much as you want for as long as you want, the only limit is that you have to be out by closing time. And each area has its own selection of Disney films and characters that it focuses on, so ultimately the exhibition becomes your own little treasure hunt to find things relating to your personal favourite Disney productions. For the kids there is an actual treasure hunt they can do as well, by picking up a sheet from reception.
There’s certainly lots to discover, as there are numerous screens with things to watch, listen to and interact with, alongside hundreds of items including sketches, paintings, props, models, information panels and so on. There are also some special photo opportunities, including a green screen before you enter that allows your image to be placed against all sorts of backgrounds, which you see on a monitor near the exit before deciding if you want to buy any copies.
Altogether we spent a good couple of hours in there browsing around, but if you’re a really obsessive Disney fan you could easily spend double that or more if you wanted to read and examine every single thing closely. And the use of time slots for entry ensures that the exhibition doesn’t get too crowded. So while there were plenty of other people there, they were spread around the vast space and we were able to see everything we wanted to easily.
So I really enjoyed it, as it was a lot of fun and very nostalgic, with lots of characters and films I recognised, including Mickey Mouse, Fantasia, Donald Duck, Winnie The Pooh, The Lion King, Star Wars, Toy Story, Alice In Wonderland, Beauty & The Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, etc. And it was fascinating to see all of the behind the scenes stuff, including artwork and models, as it really emphasised how much effort and creativity has gone into everything they’ve produced.
The Disney 100 exhibition closes on June 21st, so there’s still plenty of time to see it, and I can definitely recommend it if you or your children are Disney fans. It’s step-free and wheelchair accessible, and carers can enter free of charge if accompanying a disabled person with a paid ticket. The FAQs suggest you may need to show some documentation to get the companion ticket (e.g. DLA or PIP entitlement, evidence of sight loss, an Assistance Dog ID card, etc). We weren’t asked for that, as Emily’s guide dog was a big giveaway, but it’s something to bear in mind just in case. And if you’re visually impaired, you may want to have someone with you, as the lighting is very dim sometimes, it’s not always easy to read the information, and they don’t have large print guides as far as I’m aware.
Finally, I can also recommend a nearby restaurant called The Fox as well, which we found during our walk across the bridge towards Custom House DLR station after leaving the ExCel. We went downstairs in there for a meal after our Disney experience, and found it had very friendly staff, a cosy atmosphere and very tasty food. I had a large Meat Feast pizza followed by Chocolate and Coconut Tart, along with a bottle of Pineapple & Raspberry flavoured Old Mout Cider, and it was very satisfying!
Check out Emily’s article for her thoughts on the Disney exhibition and to see more photos.
Theatre
Moulin Rouge
My big theatre outing this month was to see Moulin Rouge for the first time, thereby ticking another major West End production off my bucket list. And it was well worth the wait, as I knew it would be, it’s amazing. I’ve never seen the film on which this is based, which ensured a lot of it was a nice surprise to me, but I will get around to watching the movie one day I expect.
We began with a wonderful touch tour, for which they specially installed some steps for us to get up to the stage, before removing them again just before the performance. So that was a nice touch, to save us from having to navigate complex areas backstage. They had also clearly communicated by email beforehand when the touch tour would be while inviting us to register for it, and the staff on the day at the Piccadilly Theatre were really friendly and helpful.
We got to meet a few members of the cast first of all, beginning with the actor playing the Duke, who was very welcoming and demonstrated his character’s accent. Then we met one of the can-can dancers and the guy playing Santiago, who were both dressed in their costumes, which we were allowed to feel and look at closely, so that was really cool.
We then got to explore the dressing room set, with its comfy chaise longue seating, a dressing table, decorative carpet, statuettes, and the large, ornately framed, heart-shaped window at the back. Plus we got to see some other costumes and wigs too. So the tour was fun and interesting, showing us the exquisite attention to detail that’s gone into this production, and giving us a lot of important context for when watching the performance afterwards.
The musical basically revolves around a love story, where a songwriter called Christian falls head over heels for lead performer Satine at the Moulin Rouge cabaret club in Paris, and she rather likes him too. But the controlling Duke of Monroth wants her all to himself, and the club’s director Harold Zidler is very keen for Satine to win the Duke’s affections, so that he’ll invest vital funds to keep the club running. Christian won’t give in though, and works with a couple of Bohemians called Toulouse-Lautrec and Santiago to try and create a play that they too hope could save the club from closure.
It’s a very good story, but it’s the sheer spectacle of it all that draws people to the show and really sticks in the mind, with its gorgeous costumes, incredible choreography, clever lighting and fabulous music.
Even though the story is set at the end of the 1800s, its soundtrack uses lots of modern songs adapted for the stage in very creative ways, either sung in full or as part of medleys. The most prominent numbers include their adaptations of Your Song by Elton John, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga and Firework by Katy Perry.
I was also delighted to hear things like Children Of The Revolution by T. Rex, Roxanne by The Police, Lady Marmalade by Labelle, Take On Me by A-Ha, Diamonds Are Forever by Shirley Bassey, What’s Love Got To Do With It? by Tina Turner, You Can’t Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones and Play The Game by Queen, as just some examples. There’s plenty for everyone to enjoy, and there are further song references in the script to look out for too.
So I’m really glad I saw the show at last, it was a wonderful experience. The touch tour really gave me a full appreciation of its splendour, the audio description ensured I didn’t miss a thing, and the sublime entertainment makes it one cabaret club I’d certainly love to go to!
Audio Description Workshop
I had the delightful privilege of working with audio describer Roz Chalmers this month, who I’ve met at several theatre shows in the past, most recently Just For One Day, so we know each other well. She was awarded an MBE last year, and provided live audio description for this month’s Olivier Awards, which goes to show how highly regarded she is, and why it’s an honour to work alongside her.
A small theatre production company called Part Of The Main had arranged for her to deliver one of the workshops in their Part Of The Grid series, which aims to nurture and educate emerging talent in the theatre industry, by giving them an overview of a variety of different topics, such as marketing, budgeting, captioning, etc.
So Roz was providing an introduction to audio description (AD), and she very kindly invited me to join her, to give my perspective as a disabled theatregoer (for which I’m due to be paid, of course). Obviously I’m not representative of every visually impaired person and we were clear about the fact that everybody’s needs are different. But I was able to talk at length about why I love going to audio described shows, and the things I particularly like and dislike about audio introductions, touch tours and the audio description itself.
I also found it very interesting to watch Roz explaining the essential concepts of writing and narrating AD, because users like myself don’t normally get to learn about that side of the process. We just hear the end result and take it for granted, even though we recognise that it’s a lot of hard work to produce. So it was fascinating to get an insight into the requirements, subtleties and challenges that audio describers have to think about. It just makes you appreciate the effort all the more.
She basically started off by presenting the most important rules clearly and concisely, before showing a number of photos of sets and costumes as she walked our audience through how to describe them. While there isn’t a recording of this particular workshop, you can watch Roz going through some of those photos in a video about accessible introductions for Arts & Disability Ireland, to give you a sense of the points she was making.
So it was a fun session that lasted just over 2 hours, and it seemed to go down well. The attendees and Roz asked me some very good and thoughtful questions that allowed me to expand further still, and there were very complimentary messages as people were signing off at the end. If it’s inspired even just one or two of them to explore audio description further and incorporate it into their productions, then it’s been well worth it.
Indeed, if any of our attendees happen to be reading this, then hello! Thank you so much for giving up your evening to join Roz and I, and you’re more than welcome to get in touch with me if you want to discuss anything further.
Special thanks in particular to Roz Chalmers and Part Of The Main for involving me in the workshop. It was wonderful of them to include someone who uses AD, and I’m flattered it was me, so I hope my contributions were helpful!
Stand-Up Comedy
I haven’t been to any comedy gigs in person this month, but I have seen several stand-up shows on DVD and online, as there have been some new releases lately and I wanted to catch up with a few old ones too, so I figured I may as well binge-watch a load in one go.
I’m currently rewatching the DVDs I have by Ross Noble for a start, after seeing him live in March, but I’m compiling those into a special review post as there’s a lot to get through, so I’ll publish that at a later date. But here are the other shows I’ve seen lately.
Angela Barnes: Hot Mess (ITVX)
Angela Barnes is a comedian I’ve liked for several years now, having been introduced to her on Mock The Week. And last year she took her show Hot Mess on the road around the UK, after a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022.
I wasn’t able to see her in person in the end, so I’m delighted that she released the show on ITVX earlier this year, in association with NextUp Comedy. The programme, recorded on 25 April last year at the Komedia in Brighton, lasts around 75 minutes and is very funny, as well as quite moving in one particular regard.
One of the inevitable topics of the show is the pandemic, as the lockdowns made it difficult for her to do her job properly and she had to find ways to fill her time. And another important subject is her wedding, where she explains why it was a Humanist event, talks about an awful experience trying to buy her bridal outfit, and recalls losing weight for the big day.
But there are lots of tangents along the way too, as she discusses being in her forties, how she’s embraced technology, why she doesn’t want to have children, her anger at Boris Johnson and Partygate, her thoughts on billionaires and women in Parliament, an embarrassing injury from a hot water bottle, being diagnosed with ADHD, and the Netflix series Is It Cake?, among other things. So there’s a nice variety of topics, she’s a great storyteller and the show moves along at a slick pace.
Throughout the gig she also shares anecdotes about, and pays loving tribute to, her former support act Phil Jerrod, who sadly passed away from cancer on her wedding day in 2021 at the age of just 42. They had formed a very close friendship while on tour together, so she misses him a great deal. She’s also helped to raise money for Sarcoma UK in his honour, and it’s lovely of her to include memories of him in her show.
Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen (Netflix)
After enjoying Fern Brady’s previous stand-up show over Christmas, I decided to check out her new special that came out on Netflix this month, and it’s also pretty good. I like her because she has a different style and perspective on life compared to other comedians I follow, thanks in part to her Scottish background, her autism and her cynicism about some aspects of life.
Despite the title, she doesn’t actually talk heavily about her autism in this hour-long show, which was filmed at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. She addresses it at the beginning when she talks about communicating as a neurotypical person, and it gets briefly alluded to at other points in the show. But she’s keen for it not to dominate her set, as there’s much more to her than that of course.
So during the show she talks about being health-conscious and the changes in her body now she’s in her mid-thirties, walking alone at night and travelling alone on tour, living in London and why it doesn’t live up to what you see in films, dating when she was younger and why she hasn’t married her boyfriend, her thoughts about death (not in a depressing way), her old job in a strip club, sexy talk, comparing penises to tampons, having her own house and getting a cat. She then ends with an amusing finale involving a guy from the audience. So it’s a nice mixture of material.
Jack Whitehall: Settle Down (Netflix)
It’s been 4 years since Jack Whitehall last released a stand-up special, because that’s how long a break he had between tours, in order to settle down and start a family, hence the show’s title. But his latest show, filmed at London’s O2 Arena and lasting 65 minutes, was released on Netflix at the end of January, and I finally got around to watching it this month.
I’ve never got into Jack’s TV shows particularly, but I don’t mind his stand-up, as he has a good energy in his act, and he gets good material out of his privileged upbringing. Indeed, an early routine in this show is all about his old public school, as he explains how trying to get a higher billing in their online list of famous alumni backfired on him in the media. He illustrates this and some other routines using imagery on the large back screen of the stage, which is a nice additional element.
His relationship with his girlfriend is the central pillar of the show though, as he talks about her diabetes diagnosis, suffering a miscarriage with their first baby, and the new child they were expecting at that time (Elsie was born in September last year). And apart from those deeply personal topics, he also has routines about alcohol, those annoying online tests to prove you’re not a robot, being a coward, going on a safari, zebras, people with discriminatory views and dining by himself while living in America, before concluding with a patriotic finale about the everyday things he missed about British life that made him move back here. It’s a great end to a fun show.
Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer (Netflix)
Jimmy Carr dropped his latest hour-long special on Netflix this month, filmed at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre during his Terribly Funny 2.0 tour (which I saw live in Oxford in November 2022). And it’s more of the same from him essentially, which is unsurprising. It’s therefore not exceptional or his best work by any means, and we’re so used to him telling taboo and controversial jokes that they’re not really shocking these days. He’s also quite accustomed to the reactions now as well, as illustrated by his mock apology on social media.
All that said, however, I still found it funny, as he touches upon a variety of subjects and many of his jokes involve some nice wordplay as usual. The best section is where he’s talking about becoming a father, as that’s given him a lot of fresh observational material, and he clearly has a great deal of respect for the fact that mothers have the most work to do. And another long sequence concludes the show, where he gives sex advice to a young man in the audience.
He also talks about things like mobile phones, marriage proposals, stepdads and pornography, while the more potentially triggering or controversial gags include ones about anti-vaxxers, vegans, gun control in America, abortion, transgender people, rape and religion. He does make it clear that they are just jokes though, and makes a few valid points of understanding on some of those topics.
This is apparently also the first special that Jimmy has directed himself, and Netflix promoted it by saying it’s a “game changer” in terms of the camerawork and lighting. In reality that just means the camera does 360-degree panning shots around him sometimes and other smooth tracking moves, while the lighting changes colour now and again to indicate new sections of the show. It looks nice, and it is unusual for a stand-up special, but it’s hardly groundbreaking or essential to the show either.
So all in all, while it’s not amazing necessarily, it is a good special. If you enjoy Jimmy’s stand-up, then you know what you’re in for and it’s worth a watch.
Rhod Gilbert: DVD Specials
Back in 2022 I watched a stand-up DVD by Rhod Gilbert called The Book Of John, which was released while he was going through a very difficult period being treated for cancer. It was the first time I’d watched one of his shows, and because I enjoyed it I made a note to check out his older DVDs at some point. So I finally got around to doing that this month, and they are indeed very funny. His angry style allows him to have a good rant about all sorts of things, and he does a lot of great observational comedy. All of the shows are around 75-85 minutes long.
The Award-Winning Mince Pie, filmed at the Bloomsbury Theatre, is primarily about him having a nervous breakdown over a mince pie at Knutsford Service Station, at the end of a particularly stressful day.
So there’s plenty of material about various aspects of service stations in general, as well as the incident in question, including the response he got from the manager. But to flesh out the story he also talks about performing at a working men’s club, corporate gigs, budget airlines, turning 40, buying bedding, entertaining troops in Afghanistan and struggling with sex now he’s older, among other things.
He also reveals how he used to pretend that he was from a fictional town in Wales called Llanbobl, in a response to hecklers on previous tours, and explains how he once tricked a guy to drive there. He even made a radio sitcom about the place. On the DVD there’s a spoof documentary feature, lasting around 17 minutes, where he revisits the town and tells us about it.
Other extras include a 5-minute bonus routine about losing his luggage on a flight, and an 11-minute compilation of outtakes where he has some pre-show banter with the audience, deals with some hecklers during the show, and says some additional goodbyes at the end. The main menu on the disc is unusual as well, as the options spin around a mince pie on a plate that Rhod is holding, and you click the relevant one when it faces you.
His next show, The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst, was filmed at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo, and the title is Rhod’s way of messing with a fan who has given him gifts relating to the titles of his previous tours!
The show basically involves Rhod talking about the past year or so of his life, as he unleashes his frustrations about the press reviews of his Mince Pie tour, doing the laundry, buying a hoover, the different ways that men and women communicate, having a so-called relaxing day out with his girlfriend, what happens when people panic, swimming, smoothies and going on an anger management course. He then ties things up nicely with a routine about going under hypnosis to recall bad experiences from his childhood, followed by an encore with very amusing visuals, all of which reveals a deeper reason for the show’s title.
The only extra on the DVD is a half-hour feature about Rhod returning to his fictional childhood home of Llanbobl, to face his demons for the first time since having anger management therapy. It’s an enjoyable continuation from the feature on the previous DVD.
And then The Man With The Flaming Battenberg Tattoo, also recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo, is about the impact of Rhod getting said piece of body art during an episode of his Work Experience TV series (which I never saw when it aired, but the episode is included on the disc as a half hour extra). This was at a time when his relationship with his girlfriend was in a rut, so they were having a mixture of good and bad moments together.
He centres the story around his anger management therapy, and reads various extracts from the diary he had to keep at the time, which are funny to him in hindsight as well as to the audience. He freely admits that he was often too petty about things, with examples of complaints he made to Imperial Leather and The Body Shop, an argument he had with his girlfriend over an electric toothbrush, a confrontation with a manager in a Tesco Metro store about potatoes, and his thoughts about quiet carriages on trains and Red Hen restaurants. He then finishes by sharing his girlfriend’s reaction to his tattoo, their efforts to patch up their relationship, the lessons he took from it, and a photo slideshow.
It’s all very funny, and there are also some outtakes included as a 13-minute extra, where he’s surprised to find out where people are from, deals with some hecklers, and argues with the audience about toilet doors.
Finally, as well as those DVDs, and on a much more serious note, I also watched A Pain In The Neck on the Channel 4 website. This is a 45-minute documentary (or 1 hour with ads) that Rhod made for Stand Up To Cancer last year, where we see him receiving treatment for head and neck cancer at the Velindre Centre in Cardiff, which he had been supporting as a patron for 10 years. It’s a brutal process, and it’s heartbreaking to see the inevitable pain and distress he had to go through. So it’s very brave of him to share his experience so openly to raise awareness and give hope to others, and it’s extremely moving to see his emotional relief when he comes out the other side. Irrespective of whether or not you’re into his style of comedy, this programme is a difficult but important watch, I would say.
He also hosted a live Comedy Roast during the Stand Up To Cancer telethon at the Francis Crick Institute, which is also on the Channel 4 site and sees celebrities humorously roasting each other as the name suggests. I didn’t bother watching all of that though, as most of the guests were people I either didn’t know or weren’t of interest to me, with occasional exceptions like Adam Hills. Rhod’s journey in the documentary was much more important and interesting, and I’m delighted that his treatment was successful, so I hope he continues to do well going forward.
Seann Walsh: Online Specials
Seann Walsh has had a tough time since the infamous scandal in 2018 where he kissed his Strictly Come Dancing partner while they were both in relationships. I never took a close interest back then, because I don’t watch Strictly, I wasn’t very familiar with his work in general, and an issue like that is none of my business, but it’s no surprise or secret that it had a major impact on him, his then partner Rebecca Humphries and dancer Katya Jones. I’m not condoning his actions, as what he did was incredibly stupid, but he has apologised and knows only too well what a colossal mistake it was, as he paid a high price for it with his relationship, career and mental health.
He’s made a return to stand-up comedy over the past few years though, and has understandably used it as an opportunity to put across his side of the story. So on his Youtube channel there are a couple of hour-long specials that he’s posted for free, one of which he shared a couple of years ago and a follow-up that he’s just released this month, both filmed at the Bill Murray Comedy Club in Angel, London in 2021 and 2022.
Having never watched any of his stand-up shows in the past, therefore, I thought I’d give them both a go. And they’re very good. While they cover an awful period of his life and consequently touch on some dark events and themes at times, he manages to make it all very funny as well as interesting, without diminishing the seriousness of it all, which is quite some feat. There are also tangential routines about other things along the way to keep things varied while still adding useful context to the central story. So these specials aren’t depressing or morbid, they are actually fun.
Firstly, in Kiss, recorded on 30 November 2021, he briefly talks about lockdown at the start before segueing into his set about the scandal. He reflects on his childhood and his attempts to become a successful comedian to explain why he went on Strictly in the first place, where in the third week he attempted to dance to the Matrix theme (which he tells you to go and watch at the appropriate point for context). His relief and joy at the positive response he got for that dance, and the potential boost his Strictly participation appeared to be giving to his career, was immediately wiped out by the Sun’s publication of the incriminating photo and video footage, which led to relentless media coverage, awful online abuse and a serious panic attack in public.
He then talks about the aftermath and how he tried to rebuild his life in Seann Walsh Is Dead, Happy Now?, filmed on 9th October 2022, and within just a couple of weeks of him sharing it this month it had already clocked up well over 100,000 views. Here he’s very open about getting PTSD, feeling suicidal, going to therapy, trying to bring more structure into his life, his dad’s heroin addiction, giving up alcohol, settling down with his new girlfriend Grace (they’ve since had their first child) and getting a dog. There’s also an amusing post-credits scene that’s worth looking out for too.
I think it was a good idea to split the story over two shows like that, dealing with the immediate fallout from the incident and then the more long-term effects, as it allowed time for him to fully explore the different aspects of it in both serious and comedic terms. He could have crammed the entire story into an hour by cutting a lot out, but it would have been rushed and he wouldn’t have been able to draw the humour out of it in the way that he has here. So credit to him for being frank and open about how the scandal affected him, and for relating it in an engaging and entertaining way, as I know he’s been anxious about publishing the shows online like this.
On a related note, there’s a very enjoyable taster for a sitcom called Clown that he’s also posted on his channel. It’s based on his life in 2019, although the story itself is fictional, and is all about a comedian called Seann who suffers from very bad luck while trying to rebuild his career and stay out of the headlines. It’s pretty funny and there’s certainly potential for a series there, but as it’s an entirely self-funded production he doesn’t currently have any plans to pursue it further.
Lastly, his 2013 show called Seann To Be Wild has been out of print on DVD for quite a while, with mainly second-hand copies doing the rounds, but it is available to watch digitally on Sky Store for £5.99 and Apple TV for £9.99, and to listen to on Audible for £6.99 or 1 credit. So for completeness I watched that as well this month. It’s obviously very different, as it’s from a much earlier part of his career, but this 70-minute show from the Hammersmith Apollo is full of brilliant and sometimes very relatable observational comedy.
He opens with a routine about feeling self-conscious in public, including travelling on public transport, walking around, using public toilets and going to the gym. There’s then a section relating to football, with a great slow-motion sequence about him trying to kick a ball, before he imagines what it would be like for a supermarket worker to be treated like a football player.
And then the bulk of the performance is about being lazy and unhealthy, with a particular focus on drinking and hangovers, as well as very amusing sections about cooking and vomiting, and a fun tangent about adverts and iPhones. He comes out with an impressive impersonation of Michael McIntyre at one point too, which he does in the other gigs I mentioned above as well, along with a couple of other comedians. So altogether it’s a very good show, and you can see a sample of the material in his Live At The Apollo appearance that he’s shared on Youtube.
Other Comedy
Bottom: Exposed
It seems unbelievable that we’re fast approaching the 10th anniversary of the untimely death of Rik Mayall, who passed away on 9 June 2014 at the age of just 56. And a decade on, his loss is still as keenly felt as it was back then. Of all the late comedy stars I’m a fan of, he’s the one I miss the most, because his premature passing was so unexpected and so unfair. He was an utterly unique and unfailingly hilarious force of nature, and we’ll never have anyone like him again. He was a proper one-off.
And I’m clearly not the only one to feel this way, as his legion of fans are always sharing clips of him online, he always becomes a trending topic on social media on his birthday and the anniversary of his death. and there are now plans for a comedy festival in his honour.
I also paid a long overdue visit to his memorial bench in Hammersmith a couple of years ago. And that’s particularly relevant again now, because it’s very close to the spot where the titles for Bottom were filmed, and there was a special celebration of that classic sitcom on TV this month.
Bottom was my introduction to Rik and his comedy partner Adrian Edmondson when I was growing up in the 90s, and my mates and I instantly fell in love with the duo and the series. The underachieving, unhygienic and perverted flatmates Richard Richard and Edward Hitler (aka Richie & Eddie) always found themselves in situations that were incredibly silly, extremely rude, excessively violent and riotously funny, as they tried to get laid, make a bit of money or just survive life in general.
It was completely over the top, and as a teenager it was like watching live-action X-rated equivalents of the slapstick cartoons I enjoyed as a kid. It seemed remarkable that it was allowed on TV, and it’s very unlikely that it would be made today given the heightened sensitivities about causing offence, even though that was never what it was trying to do. Indeed, it didn’t cause any outrage at the time as far as I’m aware – some of the critics derided it, sure, and there were plenty of people it didn’t appeal to, understandably, but there were no major complaints either and it had a huge fanbase.
Furthermore, as I’ve rewatched the series over the years as an adult, I’ve also increasingly appreciated how good the writing is. There are some very clever jokes for example, such as the ‘red hot tip‘ gag in Series 1, and the brilliant payoff to the baby gifts scene in the Christmas special, as just two examples of many. The fight scenes and stunts are also very inventive and never feel repetitive. And you have entire episodes that are a work of genius when you think about it, such as the festive episode mentioned above, and the one that takes place in real-time as the two of them are trapped in a tiny cart high up on a ferris wheel.
Their fantastic live stage shows were also very funny and even ruder, because they could get away with it. I never got to see them in person, sadly, but it was easy for underage teenagers like myself to get hold of the 18-rated VHS releases anyway, either by trying our luck in the shops, or we knew mates who could get them, or we had family members who were happy to buy them for us (my dad in my case). After all, many adults loved the duo’s earlier programmes like The Young Ones and Filthy, Rich & Catflap, so they knew that Rik & Ade weren’t a bad influence. I obviously upgraded to the DVD versions as soon as they came out of course.
The tour videos are particularly famous for their many hilarious bloopers, most of which were actually scripted, perhaps stemming from genuine mistakes in earlier shows that they then wrote in given the reactions they got, plus it befits their stage personas to make a mess of things anyway. We know that many supposed ‘gaffes’ were repeated because there are lots of accounts online from people who attended other shows on the tours and were thus able to compare them to the videos. But some mistakes in the videos do feel genuine as well, as there are bound to be a few. It’s just hard to be certain which ones they are in some cases. Either way though, they’re still brilliant, and the fact that the fake bloopers feel so real is a further testament to Rik & Ade’s talents as writers and performers. So knowing they’re not all genuine cock-ups doesn’t spoil it in the slightest.
In celebration of all that, therefore, the Gold channel gifted us with a wonderful 2-hour documentary this month called Bottom: Exposed. Narrated by Stephen Fry, it featured extensive first-hand recollections by Adrian Edmondson, who explained how the series was created and filmed, and how it evolved as time went on. He also misses Rik terribly of course, as they clearly had such a close bond, so it was very poignant and moving when he shared how their friendship was irrevocably altered as a result of Rik’s quad bike accident, and recalled his shock at hearing about Rik’s death. He also broke down when talking about Rik on Desert Island Discs last year as well. You just want to hug the guy so badly, bless him.
Adrian also met up with producer and director Ed Bye during the documentary, who gave further behind the scenes insights, as did some other important members of the crew. Plus we heard from guest stars like Helen Lederer (Lady Natasha), Kevin McNally (the sex shop owner), Lee Cornes (barman Dick Head) and Lisa Maxwell (Mrs Linneker at the dating agency, who I’d never noticed was the same actress as Samantha Nixon in The Bill as they’re so completely different!).
In addition, there were contributions from famous fans of the show including Alexei Sayle (who worked alongside Rik and Ade on The Young Ones), Chris McCausland, Maisie Adam, Nina Wadia, Nick Helm and Lee Ridley (Lost Voice Guy). Unlike many retrospectives of old TV shows, however, where celebrity talking heads are used heavily to pointlessly pad out a programme that could easily be half the length or less, here they were used much more sparingly, because of all the interviews we already had with people who were actually involved with the sitcom. So the input from the celebrities was much more focused, meaningful and interesting. It was fun to hear how Maisie Adam was introduced to the show via the spin-off film, for instance, which isn’t as good as the TV series or stage shows, but still has great moments like the kitchen fight scene.
They also included the supercut of violent moments created by Pip Madeley, which is a marvellous bit of editing to match up all the clips with the closing theme tune. Talking of which, I have the uncut version of the opening theme plus the end music (called BB’s Blues and Last Night respectively) by The Bum Notes in my music collection, which I got on a TV themes compilation called The Best Of British Television when I was young, they’re great pieces of music. In fact, that whole album was a solid collection of full-length original versions of well-known themes, all of which I’ve kept in digital form to this day.
Anyway, all of the interviews in the documentary were regularly interspersed with classic clips and lots of behind the scenes footage. Alongside the series I also had the old video called Bottom Fluff as a teenager, which presented lots of outtakes and other unseen moments, nearly all of which were added as extras on the DVDs for Series 1-3, and some of those clips were also included in this documentary. But, to my surprise and delight, there was also quite a bit of studio footage in the documentary that I had never seen before, along with fascinating in-depth looks at the filming of the opening and closing titles.
So there’s clearly a lot of surviving material in the archives. In which case, I sincerely hope that one day we get a Blu-ray box set in the same vein as those for The Young Ones and Blackadder that I’ve reviewed previously (both of which also feature Rik & Ade). It would be incredible to have a set with remastered versions of all 3 series, all 5 live shows and the movie, plus commentaries, film rushes, complete studio recordings, outtakes, interviews and any other goodies they can dig out. It would be great to release such a set to mark 10 years since Rik’s death. That may well be wishful thinking on my part, but then again we didn’t know that there would be a Blackadder set when Gold’s documentary for that came out last year. So we’ll see I guess.
All in all, therefore, it was a great documentary paying a loving and well-deserved tribute to the show. I particularly loved the fact that Ade was front and centre with his involvement, and that there was so much rare footage and behind-the-scenes information.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Gold also broadcast extended versions of the episodes Holy and Digger for the first time on TV. Holy (the classic festive special that was actually first broadcast in October 1992) is already available in its extended form on the Series 2 DVD, while the additional scene at the beginning of Digger (the dating agency episode) was included on Bottom Fluff. So they didn’t include anything that was new to keen fans of the series, but it was great to see Digger in its complete form for the first time. If there ever is a Blu-ray set, I hope these are the versions that are included, along with extended versions of any other episodes they have additional material for.
Room 101
I’m pleased that Room 101 has returned for a second series on Radio 4 this month, where Paul Merton invites a different guest each week to nominate their pet hates to be banished for eternity. This current iteration is the successor to the original 90s Radio 5 show and the long-running TV series that followed.
The first guest this time around was blind comedian Chris McCausland, who tried to persuade Paul to get rid of autotune, items that cost 99p, goldfish, people who talk slowly and teacups with tiny handles. And the one thing he couldn’t live without is mince pies in December. So I agree with all of his choices!
Some of the others that struck a chord with me included Professor Hannah Fry’s hatred of sexism and phone lines that claim to have high volumes of calls, comedian Daliso Chaponda’s disdain for people who stick dirty knives in the butter and pointless international days, and newsreader Naga Munchetty’s disapproval of unsolicited advice and slow walkers who block the pavement. Incidentally, Hannah was also a great guest presenter on Have I Got News For You this month.
The final 2 episodes of the series in early May are then going to feature presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell, who will be expressing her irritation with shops that don’t take cash, and Gyles Brandreth, who will be trying to get rid of bad phone etiquette and tattoos, so they’ll be fun to listen to as well, especially given how well Gyles and Paul interact on Just A Minute.
Taskmaster
I’ve continued to enjoy the 17th series of Taskmaster as usual. It’s one of the less impressive line-ups in terms of them being people I’m either not familiar with or not massive fans of in their other work, but in the context of the show they’re all still fun to watch.
Steve Pemberton has been my favourite as he’s very smart as well as humorous, and I remember him from The League Of Gentlemen. Meanwhile Nick Mohammed is also good, and because he decided to dress as a vampire while doing the tasks, the production team have gone the extra mile and edited out some of his reflections! I had no idea they were doing that until it was pointed out on social media, but once you find out you keep looking for it. And then the other contestants Joanne McNally, John Robins and Sophie Willan have also been good value in their own way.
Conclusion
And that’s it for this month, I hope you found plenty to enjoy there as usual. I haven’t got anything major arranged for May just yet, but I’ve got plans and ideas in mind as usual, so there’ll be another mixture of bits and pieces next time whatever I end up doing. And the big thing on TV is the return of Doctor Who of course, which will be a lot of fun.
Also, if you’re into Eurovision, I would recommend following the Eurovision and Baileys accounts on social media from the start of May onwards, because they’re working together to provide descriptions for the visually impaired this year, and they’ve invited my friend Emily over to Sweden for the first week of May to help them promote it, so keep an eye out for her on their channels!
Apart from that, I hope you have a lovely May, and I’ll see you next time!
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Well Eye Never 
Looks like you had a good time.
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