Bottom 2001: An Arse Oddity

26th October 2000

On 15th November 2001, I saw Bottom 2001: An Arse Oddity at the Apollo in Oxford. There's a story in itself about getting there, but I won't go into that. All I'll say is, "get some more car parks Oxford"!! I must just tell you that I drove past the 'Lamb and Flag on the way to the theatre! Anyway, I happened to miss the first 10 minutes of the first half, but I managed to pick up the plot - not that there really was one! :-) It was set on an island (I think it must be the same island Eddie and Richie were trapped on in Hooligans Island). The memorable moments in the first half for me were when Eddie was trying to milk the pig and when they were fighting. It was just so funny seeing them hitting each other with spades and such like when they were right in front of me, instead of on television! It was so LOUD and realistic! I'm not suprised they've accidently hit each other in past shows! You also get to meet Dave the Parrot in this part of the show. By the way, if you're going to a show or are buying the video/DVD, check out the rocks in the scenery - they made me giggle!

The second half is all about Richie and Eddie being trapped in some kind of capsule and there's no way out, apart from the way they came in - which still leads them back to the capsule. I loved the bit where they were talking about their actors and the Richie and Eddie characters! There was a brilliant finish to the show - it was cross between a Bad News reunion concert and The Young Ones 1986 Comic Relief appearance. Richie and Eddie sang 'The Pants Song' and Ade played a guitar, which was lowered down to him. He's a great guitarist!! It's a crazy song and this is the point of the show where members of the audience now thow pairs of knickers at Richie while he's singing and dancing about! In the words of Young One Rick, "they're mad, mad, mad"! So, remember if you're seeing the show.........:-) Rik even throws his/Richie's pants into the audience!! Unfortunately, I didn't catch them, but it was an amazing finish! I can't wait to see the video! By the way, there's a selection of cool merchandise available to buy, including T-Shirts, mugs, posters and programmes. Here's the tour t-shirt: