Greg Davies says his comedy hero Rik Mayall deserved more praise

Comedian Greg Davies has been one of the performers taking part in an eight-day festival remembering the late Rik Mayall. After Davies left the stage following his turn on Thursday, he shared the following thought – that his hero, who “defined decades of comedy”, had not been celebrated enough after his death.

“I don’t think when he passed there was enough said about him,” Davies stated.

The festival, a first, has sought to redress the balance. It has featured more than 200 performers across 30 venues in Mayall’s home town of Droitwich, Worcestershire.

“If this festival carries on and builds, as I’ve no doubt it will, then there’s this permanent reminder of him and his work,” Davies said.

Mayall died 11 years ago at the age of 56.

He broke out of the so-called alternative comedy scene of the early 1980s and on to British TV screens, becoming a familiar face that decade and beyond. He starred in series including The Comic Strip; The Young Ones; Filthy, Rich and Catflap; Blackadder; The New Statesman; and Bottom.

“I think that him and his peers changed comedy totally,” Davies said. “It moved it into an entirely different gear, a different arena, and I remember loving the fact that my parents didn’t get it.”

Shaparak Khorsandi and Mayall’s contemporary Helen Lederer have also taken part in the festival, which has featured stand-up, improvisational comedy and live music. Mayall’s friend and collaborator Ben Elton is the event’s patron.

Before appearing in front of 170 people at the Norbury Theatre on Thursday, Davies met Mayall’s sisters and learned a little history lesson- the venue was where Mayall first performed publicly, as a child.

“I’ve never met Rik’s sisters before and that felt really special, to sort of have that connection to know how important this theatre was to him,” Davies said.

“It’s just sort of quite spooky to imagine little Rik Mayall coming in here and getting his first taste of being a massive attention seeker.”

Davies had previously said of the performer, who played his father in the series Man Down: “If you’re my generation, sort of 10 years younger than Rik, we were all at school at 15… running into school to talk about the last episode of The Young Ones.

“Everyone on the [Man Down] crew was affected by that and he just swans around like a lord really and was adored by everyone.”

Earlier this week, Mayall’s friend Lederer appeared at the sold-out venue.

She remembered him as always being encouraging and “accepting of everyone”.

She said: “He loved what he did and he loved what other people did.”

The festival, she added, was “eight days of amazing comedy events”.

Organisers hope to make it an annual occasion. This year’s festival finishes on Saturday.

Claire Fellows, landlady of the Old Cock Inn, which sits opposite the theatre and has also hosted events, said of the festival: “It’s been amazing… You just couldn’t imagine I don’t think the impact on Droitwich that it’s had.

“We’ve just been rammed all day – Saturday was just a stupidly insane day.”

She added: “It’s not just for local people, there’s people down from Scotland, from Dorset staying all week or the weekend.”

Davies said following Thursday’s show: “I’m increasingly a grumpy middle-aged man and I’m on tour at the moment… and I’ve just had such a wonderful night.

“I feel so energised by it and I loved the atmosphere in the room. I loved the love [for Rik].

“I think he would have been stomping around these rooms just being thrilled at every mention of him. Quite right too.”