The Essay: Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

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The Essay: Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life: Sugar Sugar

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Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

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Adrian remembers his first dance at the school disco.

Unhappy at boarding school in England, his family far away in Africa, Adrian remembers his first dance at the school disco and the moment that signalled the end of his childhood.

“So, it’s the end of the 60s, and while the rest of the world is flailing around in an orgy of free love, self-expression and hallucinogenic drugs, I’m trapped in a small prison learning to repress my emotions. Turns out I’m bloody good at it!  If the 11-plus had been about repression I would have passed no problem.”
 
Unhappy at boarding school in England, his family far away in Africa, Adrian remembers his first dance at the school disco and the moment that signalled the end of his childhood.
 
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, BBC TV’s 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 BBC Radio 3. 
 
Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio 3

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Moments of quiet revolution from the life of Adrian Edmondson: comedian, actor and writer.

Comedian, actor and writer Adrian Edmondson remembers moments in his life from childhood and his early days at The Comic Strip to appearing with The Who.

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