Rik Mayall: Comedy Genius Kindle Edition

Perspectives from everybody in Rik's life. So many wonderful stories that made me laugh every page!

I loved Rik Mayall as a comedian but his books are just NOT FUNNY...And they have horrible spelling & grammar to the point where the book is pretty much unreadable...Obviously he thought that, that style of writing was somehow humorous...Well, I still haven't gotten the joke of writing a total piece of trash that a 5th grader would have written better...What, no spellcheck in England???...A total waste of money & time better off watching The Young Ones, Bottom or The New Statesman to enjoy the work of The People's Poet...An author he was not

Oh dear, I really want to like this, and can see a lot of effort has gone into it, especially chasing up the various contributors from co-stars and writers over the years. Sadly, there are mistakes and errors on nearly every other page, I'm reading it now and, for example, it states that 'the Comic Strip Presents...' was 13 years old. In 2005. (23, I suspect). 'Waiting for Godot' is printed as 'Waiting for Gadot' 5 times in a row, there are sentences that just suddenly stop with a missing ending. That's just a sample, and if it was just those 2 examples I wouldn't care, but in reality there were so many spelling and formatting errors throughout the whole book, I was at first going to try and write them down to help the author, but just gave up as my screen started to fill. At times they make the book virtually unreadable, sadly.Anyone interested in "Bottom" (= any reader of a book about Rik) will be amused to read about the 'aborted 4th series (dubbed 'Hooligans Island') in 2012'. Now, technically speaking, yes, it would have been... But... The continuity 4th series, more head bashing in the flat (unrelated to the 'old men'/tropical island angle planned for 2012) was already fully scripted and virtually ready for the studio at the time the 3rd series played out. No doubt the apparant death ending, being Bottom, easily and ridiculously explained away, after all, they 'died' on the ferris wheel too. This would have been gone to production for sure, were it not for the the change of BBC2 controller to one Jane Root - also known for cancelling any further televisual outings for Lee and Herring around the same time. Whilst exact details are scant, broader details were well spoken of at the time by all those affected, and broader information is widely available through direct interviews / press clippings. But not one word of that makes it into the book. At the time, Rik told the press the 4th series was written and was (yes, of course Rik!) 'brilliant' but that Root had personally kyboshed it. Yet, nothing. Not one word in the book, in a section that, lets face it, is a major part of Mayall's popular body of work.I'm really surprised this book has gushing credits for editing and proof-reading, and also that it's been released as it is. Then again, this is what happens when big business stomps around on the internet and kills off traditional publishers with their production processes - sure, self publishing does have it's place but something like a book on Rik I think probably could/would have been picked up by a publisher of some sort, ten years ago.Production has been done so incredibly badly, I wonder if whoever did had no familiarity with the material, or didn't want to upset the author. It really does detract from what could have been an interesting book.The timeline is vastly shorter, but you'll learn a lot more in Simon Grays 'Fat Chance' (the story of the 'Cell Mates' fiasco), about the real, behind the cameras Rik.

Positives: Contained interesting stuff I didn’t know about, so is very thorough. Also is very cheap, although I see it’s recently doubled in price! Is quite readable in style.Negatives: Typos galore. I’d be lying if I didn’t say they detracted from the experience - at times I was guessing what the author meant. Also be aware this is quite a dry (but thorough) analysis, chronologically, of Mayall’s work. Perhaps more suited to anoraks than those seeking opinions and insights or a more biographical type of book.

I had to quit before the halfway mark. The spelling mistakes, poor grammar and misplaced apostrophes drove me up the wall. The structure of the book and its layout are also a pain. If this book had been proof read and edited by a competent editor, it would have been infinitely more readable.

I was really looking forward to reading this but I’m afraid it’s more like an essay about Rik Mayall than a marketable literary product. I’m afraid I got really bored within 30 pages.

I'm delighting in reading this account of the unique brilliance of Rik Mayall. I enjoy every page and it's clear that the author adores his subject. Yes, it really would have benefitted from proofreading, but this work is clearly a labour of love and deserves recognition. As a fellow admirer of Rik, I'd be happy to proofread future editions for free.