麻豆约拍

鈥淣o one knows what to call me. Even me. People say 鈥楧o we call you Ade or Adrian?鈥� And I usually say, 鈥榃hatever you can manage鈥欌��.

At various stages in his life Adrian Edmondson has attempted to change his name. He ponders his family history and how he came to be called Adrian. He was ribbed at school for having what was thought of as a girl鈥檚 name.

Across this set of essays Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, 麻豆约拍 TV鈥檚 War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for 麻豆约拍 Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Series recorded by Lucinda Mason Brown
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for 麻豆约拍 Radio