After two television series of 'Bottom', Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson took Richie and Eddie from their normal confines and placed them instead into the setting of a stage show.
Filmed in 1993, the show played to a packed audience at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. Of course, being a stage show, the humour was predictably coarsened, with an F word and C word on the end of virtually every gag. At one point in the show Richie buys an inflatable doll for his sexual gratification and after smothering its orifices in super-glue ( he thought it was hand cream ) ends up getting it stuck to his penis and in another scene Eddie pretends to have sex with a page 3 girl on his tabloid. Impossible to imagine Rik and Ade getting away with this in the original television series.
The main part of the plot focuses on Richie receiving a solicitor's letter informing him of a debt of £15,000 that is being passed onto him following the death of one of his relatives and if it is not settled immediately then he and Eddie ( who is claiming to be Richie's next of kin as he believes the money is a windfall, not a debt ) are to be executed.
The show ends with Richie and Eddie, unable to clear the debt, committing suicide by electrocuting themselves on an electric toilet ( as opposed to an electric chair ). A curtain appears after Rik and Ade's final bow proclaiming - ''That's it, now f**k off!''
'Bottom Live' is crude in the extreme, a world away from the television series, so for those who are easily offended, you are advised to stay away, but those who want a good dirty laugh then tune in. Rik and Ade are their usual zany selves. Overacting is the name of the game here. Some gags from the series, unsurprisingly, find their way in here ( in fact one gag about Weston Super Mare was actually a deleted scene from the season two episode 'Digger' ) but if you are a true fan then it should not hinder your enjoyment.
There are so many great moments in the show it would be difficult to name them all but a few select favourites would be Richie and Eddie's attempt to enjoy their breakfast ( which is nearly a decade out of date ), Eddie's attempt to remove the glued-on doll from Richie's penis, Richie and Eddie destroying their television set when 'Richard & Judy' comes on screen and Eddie attempting to fill in a questionnaire to win a holiday in the Bahamas. There are many good one liners too such as Richie remarking on a piece of graffiti he saw in a toilet cubicle: ''I am eight inches long and three inches round! What an amazing bloke. I wonder what his knob is like!'' and Richie telling Eddie that he is so sweaty it feels like he has been masturbating for a month. ''You have, haven't you?'' asks Eddie, to which Richie replies ''Well, it has been a long tour, hasn't it?''.
Following the success of this show, a sequel followed in 1995 entitled 'Bottom Live - The Big No. 2 Tour', which was then followed by three further shows - 'Bottom Live 3 - Hooligan's Island', 'Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity' and 'Bottom Live 2003: Weapon's Grade Y-Fronts Tour'.
Funniest bit - Eddie searching the house for his missing glasses of booze. After finding them inside a light switch, the entire room is plunged into darkness, making Eddie think he has gone blind!
Filmed in 1993, the show played to a packed audience at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. Of course, being a stage show, the humour was predictably coarsened, with an F word and C word on the end of virtually every gag. At one point in the show Richie buys an inflatable doll for his sexual gratification and after smothering its orifices in super-glue ( he thought it was hand cream ) ends up getting it stuck to his penis and in another scene Eddie pretends to have sex with a page 3 girl on his tabloid. Impossible to imagine Rik and Ade getting away with this in the original television series.
The main part of the plot focuses on Richie receiving a solicitor's letter informing him of a debt of £15,000 that is being passed onto him following the death of one of his relatives and if it is not settled immediately then he and Eddie ( who is claiming to be Richie's next of kin as he believes the money is a windfall, not a debt ) are to be executed.
The show ends with Richie and Eddie, unable to clear the debt, committing suicide by electrocuting themselves on an electric toilet ( as opposed to an electric chair ). A curtain appears after Rik and Ade's final bow proclaiming - ''That's it, now f**k off!''
'Bottom Live' is crude in the extreme, a world away from the television series, so for those who are easily offended, you are advised to stay away, but those who want a good dirty laugh then tune in. Rik and Ade are their usual zany selves. Overacting is the name of the game here. Some gags from the series, unsurprisingly, find their way in here ( in fact one gag about Weston Super Mare was actually a deleted scene from the season two episode 'Digger' ) but if you are a true fan then it should not hinder your enjoyment.
There are so many great moments in the show it would be difficult to name them all but a few select favourites would be Richie and Eddie's attempt to enjoy their breakfast ( which is nearly a decade out of date ), Eddie's attempt to remove the glued-on doll from Richie's penis, Richie and Eddie destroying their television set when 'Richard & Judy' comes on screen and Eddie attempting to fill in a questionnaire to win a holiday in the Bahamas. There are many good one liners too such as Richie remarking on a piece of graffiti he saw in a toilet cubicle: ''I am eight inches long and three inches round! What an amazing bloke. I wonder what his knob is like!'' and Richie telling Eddie that he is so sweaty it feels like he has been masturbating for a month. ''You have, haven't you?'' asks Eddie, to which Richie replies ''Well, it has been a long tour, hasn't it?''.
Following the success of this show, a sequel followed in 1995 entitled 'Bottom Live - The Big No. 2 Tour', which was then followed by three further shows - 'Bottom Live 3 - Hooligan's Island', 'Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity' and 'Bottom Live 2003: Weapon's Grade Y-Fronts Tour'.
Funniest bit - Eddie searching the house for his missing glasses of booze. After finding them inside a light switch, the entire room is plunged into darkness, making Eddie think he has gone blind!