Book Review: Berserker! by Adrian Edmondson

What is our life? Is it the days we live or the way others perceive us? The comedian Adrian Edmondson steps us through his life. But, as he points out, what we remember and what we're interested in isn't necessarily the most significant part of the subject's life.

In 2016 I adapted William Leith’s book Bits of Me Are Falling Apart into a one-man play. It took six weeks to do the adaptation, four weeks to rehearse it, and it played for a further four weeks at the Soho Theatre, a small London venue, to a total of around 2,500 people. It took up the same amount of my life as The Young Ones. I’m not expecting you to think it’s as noteworthy, but the Numskulls in my head have given it exactly the same amount of space.

Many years ago, I read Rik Mayall's "autobiography" - it was a hilarious and chaotic mess. This is a more subdued affair. No less funny, but a good deal more heartfelt. Amusingly, Rik is introduced almost immediately. He's just "Rik" as it's assumed everyone will know who he is. He actually enters the book exactly halfway though. Rik dominates the book and, when the end of their relationship comes, it is unbearably sad.

This is a book about madness, friendship, and the way our lives twist and turn around each other.

Fabulous.