The Essay: Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

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The Essay: Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life: A Boy Named Sue

Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

A Boy Named Sue

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Adrian was ribbed at school for having what was thought to be a girl’s name.  

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.

“No one knows what to call me. Even me. People say ‘Do we call you Ade or Adrian?’ And I usually say, ‘Whatever you can manage’”.

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’s 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, 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
Series recorded by Lucinda Mason Brown
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio

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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