Ade Edmondson on life after Rik Mayall

"I have never laughed as hard as I have writing with Rik. His death is just enormous."

The Observer have published an interesting interview with Ade Edmondson today. Speaking to Elizabeth Day the comedy star talks about his dislike for stand-up (he finds it ‘incredibly dull’, apparently), double acts and life after Rik Mayall.

On not being a comedian:

“I mean, I know I did The Young Ones and Bottom and various other outings but… I never felt like a comedian. I never stood up and cracked gags. I’ve always been part of a double act or a fiction.”

On stand-up:

“I don’t know why people bother going to watch it. You can have wittier conversation around a dinner table. I don’t know what people think when they go. I just find it dull as an art form. Twenty minutes is all right, you know, but then I wish they’d bring on the spoon-bender or the dancers or do something else – make a variety show of it.

“But going and seeing a comic for an hour, then going for a drink, then going and watching him for another hour? You think: Christ, will this never end? Even if they’re really good! Even if they’re brilliant! An hour’s enough. I mean, two boiled eggs, that’s enough. You don’t need four boiled eggs do you?”

On double acts:

“There’s a dynamic between the pair, which is infinitely more interesting than one person’s psychosis or whether their girlfriend’s left them or not.”

On his writing routine:

“Couple of hours in the morning, off to the pub with a piece of paper and a pen, get pissed, write a load of bollocks, come back, tear that up and do some more the next morning.”

On Rik Mayall:

“I have never laughed as hard as I have writing with Rik. Apoplectic laughter. Rik’s death is just enormous and I haven’t talked to anyone other than close friends about it. I don’t really know how to talk about it to other people. I’m aware that people want something from me – not just you, but other people – and I don’t quite know how to give them what it is they want.”