Adrian's Fans (3)

Adrian Edmondson

Author profile

born

January 24, 1957 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, The United Kingdom

gender

male

genre

Humor, Children's Books

About this author

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Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–2003), which he also wrote together with his long-time comedy partner Rik Mayall.

Edmondson attended Pocklington School in Yorkshire from 1968 to 1975 and later went to the University of Manchester to study drama, receiving a 2:1 degree, where he met his future comedy partner Rik Mayall. Edmondson and Mayall soon became best friends and before long found work on the burgeoning alternative comedy scene.

Under the name 20th Century Coyote, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store. As their popularity gr...more Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–2003), which he also wrote together with his long-time comedy partner Rik Mayall.

Edmondson attended Pocklington School in Yorkshire from 1968 to 1975 and later went to the University of Manchester to study drama, receiving a 2:1 degree, where he met his future comedy partner Rik Mayall. Edmondson and Mayall soon became best friends and before long found work on the burgeoning alternative comedy scene.

Under the name 20th Century Coyote, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store. As their popularity grew, Edmondson and Mayall and other upcoming comedians (including Alexei Sayle, Peter Richardson, Nigel Planer, French and Saunders) split away from the Comedy Store to set up their own venue: The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and soon came to the attention of Channel 4. Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in six self-contained half-hour films, using the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. The series, entitled The Comic Strip Presents... debuted on 2 November 1982 (the opening night of Channel 4).

On 11 May 1985, Edmondson married his Comic Strip fellow Jennifer Saunders. Edmondson's university nickname of "Eddie Monsoon," a play on his surname, inspired the name of Saunders' character, Edina Monsoon on Absolutely Fabulous

In 1986 he co-wrote the book How to be a Complete Bastard together with Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. In 1987, he reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in Filthy Rich and Catflap. The series was penned by The Young Ones' co-writer Ben Elton and saw Edmondson display the same slapstick characteristics as Vyvyan, but was closer in personality to his later character "Eddie Hitler" in Bottom. The show received critical acclaim but poor viewing figures and was cancelled after one series. In 1988, he released a follow up to How To Be A Complete Bastard called The Bastard's Book of the Worst. In 1989 Edmondson made an appearance in an episode of Blackadder Goes Forth as The Red Baron, arch-nemesis to Mayall's character, Lord Flashheart.

In 1991, Edmondson was teamed up with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more, this time co-writing and co-starring in their own sitcom, Bottom. Edmondson starred as "Edward Elizabeth Hitler" opposite Mayall's "Richard Richard." The series featured the slapstick and crude humour for which the pair had become famous, but also more in-depth character analysis. Mayall and Edmonson have said Bottom was aimed to be more than just a series of toilet gags, but a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot about the pointlessness of life. Edmondson played Estragon to Mayall's Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's play in the West End, in a production that opened at the Queen's Theatre on 30 September 1991. Bottom became very popular, but it was criticised for its often vulgar humour. Edmondson was also censured for essentially reprising the same character he had been playing for his entire career. It was also incarnated into five UK stage tours (1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003). The violent natures of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital.(less)

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Books by Adrian Edmondson

Average rating: 3.93 · 286 ratings · 20 reviews · 12 distinct works

	The Gobbler 3.16 avg rating — 75 ratings — published 1995 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Cat in the Hat Comes Back 3.76 avg rating — 11,389 ratings — published 1958 — 26 editions	My rating:
	How To Be A Complete Bastard 3.43 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1986	My rating:
	The Complete Bastard's Book of the Worst by Adrian Edmondson, Peter Fincham, Ian Moore 3.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1988	My rating:
	More Bottom: Starring Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmonson by Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1997	My rating:
	The Comic Strip Presents... by Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Nigel Planer 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1983	My rating:
	Fox In Socks by Dr. Seuss, Adrian Edmondson 3.95 avg rating — 15,634 ratings — published 1965 — 24 editions	My rating:
	Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, Adrian Edmondson 4.28 avg rating — 134,089 ratings — published 1960 — 12 editions	My rating:
	The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, Adrian Edmondson 4.08 avg rating — 92,901 ratings — published 1957 — 59 editions	My rating:
	More Bottom: The Scripts by Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1994	My rating: