20th Century Coyote
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20th Century Coyote was an English comedy group famous for first uniting
Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series ''The Young Ones (TV s ...
and
Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...
. Formed by Lloyd Peters (lloydpeters.uk) in March 1976 whilst studying B.A. Drama at
Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, this improvisatory character-led comedy troupe was to become the resident company at The
Band on the Wall Band on the Wall is a live music venue in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, England. History Early history The building dates back to around 1862 when a local brewery, the McKenna Brothers, built it as the flagship pub of their operation. I ...
in Manchester. Peters recruited fellow thespian student Rik Mayall principally because they shared the same off-beat humour – anarchic slapstick mixed with a large dose of
Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...
. Two further drama students were press-ganged from the year below and rather late in the day (October 1976) Adrian Edmondson to appear in Coyote's first improv-based comedy entitled Dead Funny (1976). Six other shows followed before an Edinburgh Fringe Festival spin-off. The 40-minute live shows were self-contained narratives based on recognized comedy templates but worked, or more correctly warped, by improvisation and then re-improvised in performance. The shows were often loud, crude and grotesque. The group were important in that, its techniques and the lasting influence of character-led sketch and 'improv' comedy helped shape a distinctive brand of 'alternative comedy' in the 1970s and 1980s and that would soon dominate the comedy mainstream. Mayall asked Edmondson if he would be interested in joining. Mayall recalls: "he had a bit of a reputation in our year as the actor". Edmondson's reply was: "well, I'll have to have a contract, luv". Mayall wrote out a contract during the seminar saying: "''I promise it will be horrible and nothing will ever go right. La de da. Rik Mayall''". Though at this point the group was a five-piece, by the time "20th Century Coyote" began appearing at
The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...
in London, it had become a
double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...
with just Edmondson and Mayall. This double act became something of a blueprint for their later careers, with slapstick violence, crude humour and eccentric characters. As The Comedy Store and "20th Century Coyote" grew in popularity, Edmondson and Mayall broke away, along with
Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gr ...
, " The Outer Limits",
French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...
, and Arnold Brown to set up their own comedy club,
The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...
. Here, working as "20th Century Coyote", Edmondson and Mayall gained the attention of television producers and went on to work on '' The Comic Strip Presents...'' and '' The Young Ones''. Though Edmondson and Mayall did not really use the title "20th Century Coyote" for their partnership again, its style was reflected heavily in ''The Young Ones'' and ''
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''. In the mid-1980s, Edmondson and Mayall appeared in '' Saturday Live'' with a similar act under the title "
The Dangerous Brothers The Dangerous Brothers was a stage and TV act by anarchic comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, performing respectively as "Richard Dangerous" and "Sir Adrian Dangerous". Originally appearing on stage in London at the comedy club 'The Comic Stri ...
". Rik starred in Lloyd Peters' BBC comedy 'A Higher Education' (2000 and repeated to present)


References


External links


All about Rik Mayall! From the BBC

All about Ade Edmondson! From the BBC
* Peters, LH 2013, 'The roots of alternative comedy? – the alternative story of 20th century coyote and eighties comedy' , Comedy Studies, 4 (1), pp. 5–21. {{The Comic Strip British comedy duos The Comic Strip