Rik Mayall quotes:

I had a very happy childhood, happy teenage years and I was famous by the time I was 22. A charmed life.

Other people get moody in their forties and fifties - men get the male menopause. I missed the whole thing. I was just really happy.

I don't have moments of weakness. I'm Rik Mayall.

I was brought up to be a good boy and proud of myself so I suppress all the things about me that are bad.

I ought to be groovy and be able to say the enemy is this and the enemy is that... but I've never been very good at... I don't want to have to answer questions I don't know the answer to properly. I have an opinion.

It's difficult for me, to look into eyes of a journalist and trust him to present it as you say.

With 1,000-seater venues, rather than 5,000-seaters, there are richer opportunities for sucking the audience in.

On stage you can group 200 people together and scare them or embarrass them or whatever. You can't do that on TV. You have to use the conventions, that's why Kevin (Turvey) works so well.

I was in a coma for five days - I was dead longer than Jesus before he was raised from the dead.

I would love to do more on the stage; having actual contact with the audience is great. You can give them a good seeing to!

I live on the limit, Vyvyan. The limit, because I'm a rider at the gates of dawn and I take no prisoners!