20th Century Coyote

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

20th Century Coyote was a comedy group famous for first uniting Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. Mayall started the group at Manchester University with friend Lloyd Peters and some others and attempted to gain a lunchtime residency at The Band on the Wall club. Their first performance was an improvised affair called "Dead Funny".

Members soon began to drop, so Mayall asked Edmondson if he would be interesting 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 in London, it had become a double act with just Mayall and Edmondson (though they would sometimes perform separately). 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 Alexi Sayle, "The Outer Limits", French and Saunders and Arnold Brown to set up their own comedy club, The Comic Strip. Here, working as "20th Century Coyote", Mayall and Edmondson gained the attention of television producers and went on to work on The Comic Strip Presents... and The Young Ones.

Though Mayall and Edmondson did not really use the title "20th Century Coyote" for their partnership again, it's style was reflected heavily in The Young Ones and Bottom. In the mid-80s they appeared in Saturday Live with a similar act under the title "The Dangerous Brothers".