1. Himself
Sometimes interviewing Rik Mayall must have been like wrestling an eel: the man often found it impossible to answer questions properly, spewing charming filth one moment, putting on voices and pulling faces the next, even leaping out of his seat. Even after the quad bike accident in 1998 that nearly killed him, he returned to life and to work, still uniquely Rik Mayall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coQbakNxiL8 His best friend and partner Ade Edmondson once said that Riks problem is that he doesnt have any hobbies. Mayall agreed - I don't have an outside life. Think of this as pretentious if you like, but I see myself as an artist, like Picasso gets up in the morning and does a bit of painting, so I'm going to be doing what I do until I die. In a revealing piece interviewing Mayall in December 2000, veteran journalist Lynn Barber notes that his 'primary terror' all the time he was convalescing was that he would never be able to act again - and acting was all he had ever done. 'But I went in and did it and I've never been so f*cking happy in my life! That was September 1998 and I thought I can f*cking do it! My life was back.'" Barber notes that no matter where his career took him, he always returned to similar characters, finding that it seems to play the part in his psyche that, say, Dame Edna plays for Barry Humphries. It is a role - but it's a role that he also uses in real life, as a way of being rude and aggressive without being offensive because he is 'only joking'." Theres a story about Mayalls performance onstage in Cell Mates in 1995. The playwright Simon Gray complimented him on his acting ability, leading Mayall to enter into an intense, introspective monologue. The burden of it was that he could get through life only by pretending to be other people. He ended with an abruptly fatalistic declaration that sometimes in private even completely in private and on his own he seemed to be pretending to be Rik Mayall." Even his memoirs were a spoof. With the fantastic title Bigger Than Hitler, Better Than Christ, Mayalls autobiography is more fantasy and childlike exaggeration than an accurate record of his life. But then he was always so set on making sure that his life seemed like nothing more than a sly wink and a comical leer to camera. His youngest daughters touching tribute to him probably says it best, though. R.I.P to the man, the myth, the legend - my wonderful, generous, foul mouthed and hysterical father. My idol now and forever. Rest in peace, Flash. Youll be missed.
What are your favourite Rik Mayall moments? Reminisce with us in the comments.