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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 06/10/2014 : 10:09:26
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quote:
Originally posted by [matt]
 RIP Mayall. 
BaftaBabe, were you really pals?! He was a comedy hero of mine.
Yes, [matt] - comedy pals. Back in infant days of UK alternative comedy, he and Ade were a double act called The Dangerous Brothers. I'd recently co-starred in Rock Follies [a huge hit for Thames TV] and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [both radio & tv orginal series]. Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson were a double called 20th Century Coyote. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders had teamed up to do sketch comedy. Alexei Sayle was - well, Alexei Sayle [and the world was better for it.] Anyway, Peter Richardson had access to some dosh, and with his friend and writing partner Peter Richens, managed to cut a deal with a well-known Soho strip club called Raymond's Revue Bar [Paul Raymond was later the subject of a bio-pic,The Look of Love ,played by Steve Coogan]. Anyway, there was a small theatre space upstairs, and I think Peter & Peter got it for 2-3 nights a week. They launched it as The Comic Strip [playing on the words], with Alexei as the compere, and all the above doing their sets, with the addition of Scottish stand-up Arnold Brown, maybe a few others. In the background, there was also a p.r. agency, and a young woman called Melanie, I think. Anyway, we all met in her office, and there was big launch party - remember the NCP garage on the corner of Berwick Street? I'm pretty sure the party was in one of the office suites over that. So, when Alexei wasn't able to do the compere for all the shows, they asked me. I'd never done anything like that before, even though I was a very experienced performer. So Rik and Ade gave up their time to vet my stuff, and coach me, and it was great. The shows were great, the atmos was great, the vibe was great - audiences loved it! Time Out did a kind of cod Photoplay comic novel about a new stand-up comic. As I was much older than the rest, I was Fay, the has-been comic whom she replaced. Anyway, the team started getting more bookings, all the telly buzz, gigs out of town, etc. And, due to other work commitments, I couldn't go. Maybe I should have, who knows. Fabulous times! Rik will always be part of my memories.
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RIP Rik Mayall
Oh noooooo... 
The Blue Statesman. 
