Rowland Rivron on Rik Mayall, The Young Ones, The Comic Strip, and the birth of Alternative Comedy

Rowland Rivron was there at the birth of alternative comedy, sharing stages and dressing rooms with Rik Mayall, French & Saunders, Alexei Sayle and The Comic Strip. In this episode he reveals what Soho was really like during the wild 1980s and 1990s, from The Young Ones to the Groucho Club and beyond. Episode Summary / Bullet Points In this episode of Martin Deeson Unloaded, Martin sits down with comedian, actor, writer, musician and broadcaster Rowland Rivron. Long before alternative comedy became mainstream, Rowland was part of the scene that transformed British entertainment. From living with Rik Mayall while The Young Ones was being written to performing alongside French & Saunders, Alexei Sayle and The Comic Strip, he found himself at the centre of one of the most influential cultural movements of modern Britain. The conversation also explores the legendary excesses of Soho, the Groucho Club, television in the Channel 4 golden era, life on the road with Jools Holland, and the infamous Loaded magazine Christmas stunt that left children convinced Father Christmas had been killed. Topics include: • Rik Mayall and the creation of The Young Ones • The Comic Strip and the birth of alternative comedy • Working alongside French & Saunders • Alexei Sayle and the early comedy circuit • Jonathan Ross and Channel 4’s golden era • Jools Holland and life as a touring musician • The infamous Loaded magazine drunken Santa stunt • Wild nights at the Groucho Club • What Soho was really like in the 1980s and 1990s • Why comedy, music and television were changing Britain Time-Coded Highlights 00:00 – Introduction and memories of the Loaded years 01:15 – The infamous drunken Santa Loaded cover story 04:40 – Chaos in Dalston and traumatising Father Christmas 07:30 – Raw Sex, French & Saunders and alternative comedy 08:20 – The Comic Strip and the birth of modern British comedy 10:30 – Living with Rik Mayall during The Young Ones years 12:40 – How a jazz drummer accidentally became a comedian 14:00 – Night Network and late-night television in the 1980s 15:20 – Interviewing Mel Brooks and Spike Milligan 18:00 – The theatre job that nearly ended his drumming career 22:00 – Jools Holland, touring and surviving a near-fatal crash 24:30 – Creating Dr Martin Scrote and getting a Channel 4 series 29:00 – Soho’s golden age and the world of the Groucho Club 30:30 – Winning lifetime Groucho membership in a poker game 31:00 – The legendary Groucho staircase bicycle crash 33:00 – Why drummers are always the most dangerous people in the room 34:20 – Being genuinely drunk on television 35:00 onwards – More stories from Soho, television, music and comedy SEO Keywords Rowland Rivron, Rik Mayall, The Young Ones, The Comic Strip, French and Saunders, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Alexei Sayle, Jonathan Ross, Jools Holland, Groucho Club, Soho, alternative comedy, Channel 4, Loaded magazine, British comedy, 1980s comedy, 1990s culture. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4f8zXJ9... Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... X: https://x.com/martindeeson Instagram:   / martindeeson   Tiktok:   / martindeeson   Website: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/