Bottom 2001: An Arse Oddity

This was the first of the live Bottoms that I actually went to see live. My review of that show (@ Newcastle City Hall) is very much the same as of the DVD which I am reviewing here.

Now, I would have to say first that this is the weaker of the four shows. It is still, however, very funny indeed.

The first half is more of the same. Ritchie and Eddie are still on Hooligans island, with a parrots funeral and some day glow pant removal activities to fill their time in. There are some very memorable parts of this half, such as their pet pig called Vanessa Feltz.

The second half however was nothing short of surreal. It was all set inside a dome, with only the two of them in there (as Eddie says, like the millenium dome, only fuller!), with only two shutes and a button marked 'do not press' for company. In this section they took themselves away from their characters, taking the mick out of the people who played them on stage (themselves essentially). And they were worrying about getting back to the play for the second half.

The main difference is that this time, the show ended without them being killed. Instead we were to treated to a two piece musical number "Take off your pants" and "F*ck off you w*nkers".

All in all this began as more of the same, but ended as something completely original. Like I say, hillariously funny, and highly recommended, even though it is still not a patch on the first three.

I hope they do another one after this because it really does deserve to go on further and it has the potential to do so. Bottom has never failed to get the laugh and never will do even when you watch it again. i'd rate it 10 out of 10

It's just so boring.

It's Rik and Ade doing nothing in the second act.

It's like they didn't have a script for it.

It's like they're just ad-libbing through out the whole thing.

They may found it funny, but I found myself yawning.

Stick with the first three shows.

At least they were funny.

I think that's why this show sucked.

How do you top your first three funny shows.

The answer is you can't. Move on and do something else.

Well what can I say except dreadful. Having been a Bottom fan and Young Ones nut I have to say this is awful. If your expecting laughs a minute like the tv show you sadly wont find it here unlike it's first live installment which remains the best.

I'd also like to give some credit to the original tv show director Ed Bye, who was not involved here, that his direction with Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson was perhaps the key to the success of the series as with The Young Ones, Red Dwarf etc.

As for an arse odditty - it's a wonder the audience never got off them and demanded they're money back.

I cringed the whole way through the old jokes feeling sorry for the talented two.

2/10

The fourth live show of Bottom hits all the marks of the previous endeavors, from the rude humor to on stage bloopers, prop malfunctions, strong language and the few times when the leads follow the script.

Richard and Eddie are still on a desert island, whether it's the same from Hooligan's Island is unknown, but this series is renowned for many things, continuity is not one of them.

The second act I feel was weaker, even with particularly funny blunders. (Vecks in Practice, anyone?) It is a little diluted in comparison with the older live shows but is not without its highlights.