Latest news with #TheYoungOnes
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Peter Richardson on the legacy of The Comic Strip Presents...
Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmonson and Peter Richardson in The Comic Strip Presents... Bad News Tour The alternative comedy legend on the origins and ethos of The Comic Strip, and why he's bringing some of their classic films to the Fringe. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There's something about a well-acted comedy film with a good story that can be locked in a timeless bubble and still create laughter, 40 years later. The Comic Strip was lucky to have a wonderful group of comedy actors who are said to have changed the face of comedy. The Comic Strip had Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson - a great double-act , highly energetic and funny - along with Alexei Sayle, still the best stand-up around, and the legendary French and Saunders, who have created some brilliant comic moments. Along with Nigel Planer and myself, we became something of a comedy force in the early eighties. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It began in a Soho strip club owned by Paul Raymond in 1980. The Comic Strip opened as a comedy show set in Raymond's unsafe place of seedy glamour, away from any conventional art centre or fringe pub. Even though Time Out called us 'the guerrillas of new wave humour', it took a couple of weeks for the show to become a hit. It then ran for a year and was visited by several Hollywood stars like Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman. Robin Williams often turned up late asking to do a spot: 'I've got David Bowie with me, can I just do five minutes?' Without Channel 4, the Comic Strip would never have appeared on our screens as it did on the opening night of this new alternative channel. As Comic Strip producer, I loved films, creating a story and taking the audience on a comedy journey. I was less keen on us getting harnessed to a studio set, playing the same characters each week. This gang of comedians were so good, they could play anything. We could be the new Ealing Films. In the end we did both, and The Young Ones became a big hit on the BBC. Most television comedy is, or was, built around repetition. People love seeing more of the same, so the Comic Strip presenting six different comedy films was initially not a great fit for television. Luckily, Channel 4 were looking to be different and with the arrival of two more comedy greats, Robbie Coltrane and Keith Allen, we were given the go ahead. Two of the films in that first 1982 series hit the spot with Bad News Tour, a spoof documentary about a hapless heavy metal band on tour, and Five Go Mad in Dorset, a send-up of the Famous Five books highlighting the racist, sexist attitudes of those entitled kids. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Actor/writer/director Peter Richardson in The Comic Strip Presents... A Fistful of Travellers Cheques. | Channel 4 Over the next 30 years we made 45 films, all different, of which about a dozen can still entertain. Ealing Films made 100 comedies over 20 years and only about 15 are still remembered. Seeing the Comic Strip's best films on the big screen and hearing the laughter is a lot more fun than sitting alone on a sofa watching it on TV. Some of our most successful films were the satires like Red Nose of Courage and The Hunt for Tony Blair, which were only ever seen once on TV. Red Nose features our ex-Prime Minister John Major running away from a circus to become an MP, while The Hunt For Tony Blair sees another PM on the run from the law attempting to prove his innocence. It's loosely a comedy version of The 39 Steps. Apart from the movie The Supergrass (2 August), which has been recut for a modern-day audience, we're also showing a new cut of Fistful of Traveller's Cheques and Four Men in a Car, along with The Strike and Bad News Tour. The first Edinburgh weekend (2-3 August) features our guest Alexei Sayle giving us three of his best film performances, including the hapless motorbike cop in the new cut of The Supergrass. The following weekend (8-10 August ) features guests Keith Allen and Phil Cornwell and screenings of Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown and Gino - Full Story and Pics, along with one film we've never screened before, Les Dogs (8 August), starring Kate Bush and Miranda Richardson with a Jeff Beck soundtrack. It's weird and surreal, but some like it that way. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Finally, where better than the Edinburgh Festival is there to show the best of the Comic Strip on the big screen, including a Best of Rik Mayall spot on the 8 and 9 August?
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The first time I'd seen fart jokes that were actually funny': comedians on their cultural awakenings
The Young Ones arrived at exactly the right time. I was 15, and a weird mixture of studious and smart but also disruptive in class. I was also extremely virginal – both fascinated and terrified by the idea of having sex and in no danger of doing so for another half a decade. I was basically Rick. My parents were strict – my dad was the school headteacher – so I can't think why they let me stay up late to watch it. Maybe they just wanted me out of the way so they could get on with other things. What drew me in right away was how silly it was. A lot of the comedy I'd liked had been clever stuff that was almost snooty, like Monty Python or Derek and Clive. The Young Ones was rude. It was the first time I'd seen slapstick and fart jokes that were actually funny. My generation missed punk, but The Young Ones had a similarsense of anarchy – a 'do it yourself' spirit, with a cavalcade of ideas being thrown at the screen. The alternative comedy scene – as well as the Comic Strip and French and Saunders – felt new and very galvanising. In the same way the Sex Pistols made anyone feel as if they could pick up a guitar, The Young Ones made me feel like I could make a living out of making people laugh: it didn't matter if I was a regular kid at a comprehensive school in Somerset. This was a particularly important revelation, as my careers adviser had told me that I should give up on being a writer and work in a bank. Watching The Young Ones episodes on repeat to learn the lines by heart, I learned about the rhythm and language of comedy. Plus, I discovered that if you could do a good impression of one of the characters, you'd get a laugh at school the next day. I loved Rik Mayall. He was a handsome and sexy figure, but not afraid to make himself look ridiculous. He continued to inspire me throughout my life. Years later, as a comedy writer, I wrote some scenes for him in the sitcom Man Down, but he died before they were filmed. I was on the toilet when I heard the news. I cried, both upset that someone I loved had gone, and sad that I'd no longer be able to work with one of my heroes. The Young Ones was a show that parodied idiotic students, a bunch of men who didn't want to grow up. Neither did I – and, thanks to The Young Ones, I didn't have to. As told to Harriet Gibsone Richard Herring's RHLSTP is at The Stand Comedy Club, 30 July to 10 August. A year ago, I was in the pit of a perimenopause crisis but I didn't fully know it. I didn't know there was an explanation for feeling depressed, suicidal, confused, exhausted and generally ill. Then I read Davina McCall's book Menopausing. The idea behind the book is simple: Davina went on to social media and got people to send their menopause stories. I listened to the audiobook while I was travelling around gigging, and heard lots of different readers voicing their stories, interspersed with Davina's chats with a doctor, who gave useful information about what was going on in these women's bodies and minds. There are people in the book who left their careers because they couldn't cope intellectually or emotionally. It just seemed crazy to me. A woman who has spent 25 years of her life building up her career shouldn't just have to walk away because she's too scared to say: 'I don't know what is going on. I'm losing words. I'm losing the ability to be in the present moment because of brain fog.' Davina's book helped me to understand that I had reached a stage that was actually quite serious. So I went ahead and pushed my case with my doctor. After reading the book, I was able to say: actually I'm not depressed – I'm losing parts of my cognition due to fluctuating hormone levels. Most of the time, the doctor just asks: how's your sex drive? But most of us experiencing perimenopause don't care about sex at that point. I was more worried about staying alive, how I'd perform in my job and how words weren't coming out of my mouth correctly. Being able to tell my doctor what was wrong was really important. I was given testosterone as well as oestrogen, and that was extraordinarily helpful. All of it has made me committed to trying to show up in my performances a bit more. I need to keep practising, keep exercising my brain. There has always been something so special in the art of live performance and being able to stay present – even if it means saying I forgot what I was about to say. Having Davina say that she'd gone through this was a big thing for me. So I'm always pushing her book to friends, to spread more awareness and bring the issue to the light. As told to Miriam Gillinson Desiree Burch: The Golden Wrath is at Monkey Barrel Comedy, 28 July to 10 August. Growing up as an only child and a drama kid, I was probably quite annoying. I was always coming up with ideas and characters, but I wasn't the type of kid to say: 'Come and look at what I've done!' Instead I would do parodies of teachers or characters from the television in the privacy of my bedroom. One Christmas, at primary school, I finally got the chance to stand on a stage and show everyone what I could do. It was the nativity play, and I was playing the part of the innkeeper. I only had one line, which I've since forgotten, but I remember that when I said it, people laughed. I liked that feeling so much that I said it 10 more times. It flicked a trigger in my brain: I wanted to do this all the time. I just didn't quite have the skills to do it yet … Then when my mum took me to see panto at Theatre Royal Stratford East, I was amazed and began to understand, at six years old, what it meant to properly put on a show. Not only was I impressed that there were children on stage – that this was something a young person might be able to do – but there was so much more to it than funny lines. There were theatrics, lighting and comedy characters, such as the famous pantomime dames. Michael Bertenshaw, one of our most famous dames, was very inspiring. I loved his massive hair, the bloomers and the songs – but mostly that he knew exactly how to get an audience on board. After that, I'd go to the panto every single year. Even though I knew what was coming next, the predictability made the chase scenes, the misunderstandings, the 'He's behind you!' jokes even funnier. I loved there was a baddie, and that you could boo and hiss at them. I remember going to see Dick Whittington and thinking: 'I am so incredibly jealous of everyone who is doing this for a job.' Now I do get to do it as a character and sketch comic. To go to panto aged six, and see a show on such a big scale, with props and costumes, I realised that this is what you need to do to be properly engaging. Instead of, say, repeating the same line 10 times at the school nativity play. As told to Harriet Gibsone Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Friends: Kool Story Bro is at Pleasance Courtyard, 15 to 22 August; String v Spitta, with Ed MacArthur, is at Assembly George Square Studios, 15 to 17 August.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The first time I'd seen fart jokes that were actually funny': comedians on their cultural awakenings
The Young Ones arrived at exactly the right time. I was 15, and a weird mixture of studious and smart but also disruptive in class. I was also extremely virginal – both fascinated and terrified by the idea of having sex and in no danger of doing so for another half a decade. I was basically Rick. My parents were strict – my dad was the school headteacher – so I can't think why they let me stay up late to me watch it. Maybe they just wanted me out of the way so they could get on with other things. What drew me in right away was how silly it was. A lot of the comedy I'd liked had been clever stuff that was almost snooty, like Monty Python or Derek and Clive. The Young Ones was rude. It was the first time I'd seen slapstick and fart jokes that were actually funny. My generation missed punk, but The Young Ones had a similarsense of anarchy – a 'do it yourself' spirit, with a cavalcade of ideas being thrown at the screen. The alternative comedy scene – as well as the Comic Strip and French and Saunders – felt new and very galvanising. In the same way the Sex Pistols made anyone feel as if they could pick up a guitar, The Young Ones made me feel like I could make a living out of making people laugh: it didn't matter if I was a regular kid at a comprehensive school in Somerset. This was a particularly important revelation, as my careers adviser had told me that I should give up on being a writer and work in a bank. Watching The Young Ones episodes on repeat to learn the lines by heart, I learned about the rhythm and language of comedy. Plus, I discovered that if you could do a good impression of one of the characters, you'd get a laugh at school the next day. I loved Rik Mayall. He was a handsome and sexy figure, but not afraid to make himself look ridiculous. He continued to inspire me throughout my life. Years later, as a comedy writer, I wrote some scenes for him in the sitcom Man Down, but he died before they were filmed. I was on the toilet when I heard the news. I cried, both upset that someone I loved had gone, and sad that I'd no longer be able to work with one of my heroes. The Young Ones was a show that parodied idiotic students, a bunch of men who didn't want to grow up. Neither did I – and, thanks to The Young Ones, I didn't have to. As told to Harriet Gibsone Richard Herring's RHLSTP is at The Stand Comedy Club, 30 July to 10 August. A year ago, I was in the pit of a perimenopause crisis but I didn't fully know it. I didn't know there was an explanation for feeling depressed, suicidal, confused, exhausted and generally ill. Then I read Davina McCall's book Menopausing. The idea behind the book is simple: Davina went on to social media and got people to send their menopause stories. I listened to the audiobook while I was travelling around gigging, and heard lots of different readers voicing their stories, interspersed with Davina's chats with a doctor, who gave useful information about what was going on in these women's bodies and minds. There are people in the book who left their careers because they couldn't cope intellectually or emotionally. It just seemed crazy to me. A woman who has spent 25 years of her life building up her career shouldn't just have to walk away because she's too scared to say: 'I don't know what is going on. I'm losing words. I'm losing the ability to be in the present moment because of brain fog.' Davina's book helped me to understand that I had reached a stage that was actually quite serious. So I went ahead and pushed my case with my doctor. After reading the book, I was able to say: actually I'm not depressed – I'm losing parts of my cognition due to fluctuating hormone levels. Most of the time, the doctor just asks: how's your sex drive? But most of us experiencing perimenopause don't care about sex at that point. I was more worried about staying alive, how I'd perform in my job and how words weren't coming out of my mouth correctly. Being able to tell my doctor what was wrong was really important. I was given testosterone as well as oestrogen, and that was extraordinarily helpful. All of it has made me committed to trying to show up in my performances a bit more. I need to keep practising, keep exercising my brain. There has always been something so special in the art of live performance and being able to stay present – even if it means saying I forgot what I was about to say. Having Davina say that she'd gone through this was a big thing for me. So I'm always pushing her book to friends, to spread more awareness and bring the issue to the light. As told to Miriam Gillinson Desiree Burch: The Golden Wrath is at Monkey Barrel Comedy, 28 July to 10 August. Growing up as an only child and a drama kid, I was probably quite annoying. I was always coming up with ideas and characters, but I wasn't the type of kid to say: 'Come and look at what I've done!' Instead I would do parodies of teachers or characters from the television in the privacy of my bedroom. One Christmas, at primary school, I finally got the chance to stand on a stage and show everyone what I could do. It was the nativity play, and I was playing the part of the innkeeper. I only had one line, which I've since forgotten, but I remember that when I said it, people laughed. I liked that feeling so much that I said it 10 more times. It flicked a trigger in my brain: I wanted to do this all the time. I just didn't quite have the skills to do it yet … Then when my mum took me to see panto at Theatre Royal Stratford East, I was amazed and began to understand, at six years old, what it meant to properly put on a show. Not only was I impressed that there were children on stage – that this was something a young person might be able to do – but there was so much more to it than funny lines. There were theatrics, lighting and comedy characters, such as the famous pantomime dames. Michael Bertenshaw, one of our most famous dames, was very inspiring. I loved his massive hair, the bloomers and the songs – but mostly that he knew exactly how to get an audience on board. After that, I'd go to the panto every single year. Even though I knew what was coming next, the predictability made the chase scenes, the misunderstandings, the 'He's behind you!' jokes even funnier. I loved there was a baddie, and that you could boo and hiss at them. I remember going to see Dick Whittington and thinking: 'I am so incredibly jealous of everyone who is doing this for a job.' Now I do get to do it as a character and sketch comic. To go to panto aged six, and see a show on such a big scale, with props and costumes, I realised that this is what you need to do to be properly engaging. Instead of, say, repeating the same line 10 times at the school nativity play. As told to Harriet Gibsone Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Friends: Kool Story Bro is at Pleasance Courtyard, 15 to 22 August; String v Spitta, with Ed MacArthur, is at Assembly George Square Studios, 15 to 17 August.
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Sir Cliff Richard, 84, says he ‘might be dead next year' as he reveals plans to quit touring
SIR Cliff Richard has revealed he "could be dead in a year", as he makes a sad revelation which will shock his fans. In a candid interview, The Young Ones singer, 84, spoke honestly about the future of his tours, as he gave his die-hard followers a heartbreaking update. Advertisement 5 Cliff Richard has revealed he could be 'dead next year' Credit: Getty 5 The much-loved star has revealed the future of his tours Credit: Getty 5 The star has been thrilling fans with his tours for many - seen here in the 80s Credit: Getty 5 Cliff burst onto the scene as a teenager Credit: Redferns Sir Cliff has enjoyed an incredible career which has spanned almost seven decades. Over that huge amount of time, the star, affectionally known as the Peter Pan of Pop, has been constantly touring. However, Speaking to New Zealand radio station Coast, he admitted that he can't do most of his old dance moves on stage anymore. Advertisement Read more on Sir cliff 'I don't want to be an 85-year-old guy trying to be 18,' he told them. Cliff is currently touring in Australia and New Zealand before returning to the UK in November. However, he has admitted that lately he has started to think about his own mortality. Asked if his Can't Stop Me Now tour could be a farewell tour, Cliff replied: 'I don't know. I might be dead the next year! Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Breaking Exclusive Exclusive "So I don't even think about it anymore. It's one of those things. As I get older maybe I'll become less able to perform, so I can't say…' The Bachelor Boy star admitted that the constant touring had started to take its toll. Cliff Richard arrives for Day 11 of Wimbledon 'The thing I would have to give up probably at some time is touring," Cliff revealed. "It's very wearing, and you never know when you wake up in the morning whether your voice is still there." Advertisement The singer - who shot to fame in the late 50s - said: 'I don't want to try and be 18 anymore. "I like singing now, I'm as excited now as I was when I came [to New Zealand] last time. 5 Cliff revealed that constant touring has 'taken a toll' Credit: Getty "And I'm sure the audience will see that we - the big band and I - are friends and almost a family when we're on tour. Advertisement "So we'll try and do something that will make it look as though I'm 18! But I'm not.' Cliff, who has sold more than 260 million records worldwide, has enjoyed huge sucess since bursting onto the scene as a teenger. His hits include Living Doll, Summer Holiday, Devil Woman, and We Don't Talk Anymore. While it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't hear Sir Cliff's hit song Mistletoe And Wine . Advertisement His No1 hits include The Young Ones, Congratulations, Saviour's Day and Millennium Prayer, plus many more.
Scottish Sun
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Sir Cliff Richard, 84, says he ‘might be dead next year' as he reveals plans to quit touring
Scroll to find out what the legendary star said about his future on the road CLIFF FEARS Sir Cliff Richard, 84, says he 'might be dead next year' as he reveals plans to quit touring Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SIR Cliff Richard has revealed he "could be dead in a year", as he makes a sad revelation which will shock his fans. In a candid interview, The Young Ones singer, 84, spoke honestly about the future of his tours, as he gave his die-hard followers a heartbreaking update. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 5 Cliff Richard has revealed he could be 'dead next year' Credit: Getty 5 The much-loved star has revealed the future of his tours Credit: Getty 5 The star has been thrilling fans with his tours for many - seen here in the 80s Credit: Getty 5 Cliff burst onto the scene as a teenager Credit: Redferns Sir Cliff has enjoyed an incredible career which has spanned almost seven decades. Over that huge amount of time, the star, affectionally known as the Peter Pan of Pop, has been constantly touring. However, Cliff, who will turn 85 in October, has admitted he may have to quit touring, as he gets older. Speaking to New Zealand radio station Coast, he admitted that he can't do most of his old dance moves on stage anymore. 'I don't want to be an 85-year-old guy trying to be 18,' he told them. Cliff is currently touring in Australia and New Zealand before returning to the UK in November. However, he has admitted that lately he has started to think about his own mortality. Asked if his Can't Stop Me Now tour could be a farewell tour, Cliff replied: 'I don't know. I might be dead the next year! "So I don't even think about it anymore. It's one of those things. As I get older maybe I'll become less able to perform, so I can't say…' The Bachelor Boy star admitted that the constant touring had started to take its toll. Cliff Richard arrives for Day 11 of Wimbledon 'The thing I would have to give up probably at some time is touring," Cliff revealed. "It's very wearing, and you never know when you wake up in the morning whether your voice is still there." The singer - who shot to fame in the late 50s - said: 'I don't want to try and be 18 anymore. "I like singing now, I'm as excited now as I was when I came [to New Zealand] last time. 5 Cliff revealed that constant touring has 'taken a toll' Credit: Getty "And I'm sure the audience will see that we - the big band and I - are friends and almost a family when we're on tour. "So we'll try and do something that will make it look as though I'm 18! But I'm not.' Cliff, who has sold more than 260 million records worldwide, has enjoyed huge sucess since bursting onto the scene as a teenger. His hits include Living Doll, Summer Holiday, Devil Woman, and We Don't Talk Anymore. While it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't hear Sir Cliff's hit song Mistletoe And Wine. His No1 hits include The Young Ones, Congratulations, Saviour's Day and Millennium Prayer, plus many more.
