Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island

Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island is a live stage show that was recorded at the Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol, in 1997, written by and starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. This is the third instalment of five live shows based on the television show Bottom.

Plot

Act one

Richard Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth Hitler (Edmondson) are stuck on the titular uncharted island. The show begins with Richie stuck in the island's latrine and getting himself out. After doing so, Eddie arrives and tells Richie that he rescued an unconscious "bird" from the beach which he put into his hammock. Richie proceeds to give her the "Shag of Life" only to realize that the "bird" is actually an albatross. After starting a fight with Eddie (and losing as usual), Richie prepares breakfast consisting of brambles and a dying fish he found in the latrine. This breakfast gives Richie food poisoning causing him to involuntarily vomit, burp and fart. The two then suddenly hear the sound of drums being played and spot a group of Welsh cannibals cooking Keith Floyd in a pot nearby. The cannibals then notice them and plan on hunting them. Richie manages to fend them off by vomiting in their direction (as an effect of the prior food poisoning). However, the cannibals land a poison dart on the tip of Richie's penis and the brim of Eddie's hat as they flee. To save Richie's life, Eddie retrieves a Japanese army World War II medical kit from his secret Japanese bunker and injects an antidote directly into the buttocks via a giant medical syringe (in the recording of the show this is done after Eddie manages to work through a blooper he had caused making Richie see the entrance to the bunker BEFORE he was meant to see it in the second act, claiming that the dart has also giving Richie momentary amnesia just for the bunker and nothing else). After a male albatross (presumably the mate of the unconscious female albatross) arrives and defecates on Eddie's head, he and Richie recap on how they ended up on Hooligan's Island in the first place.

It all started when Eddie talked Richie into taking ecstasy for the first time resulting in them both performing the non-stop "Nightmare 12-Hour Dance," getting chased by the police and hijacking an ambulance. Whilst on the run, they ran into a seemingly homosexual theatrical impresario named Sir "Pervy" Leslie McBlowjob who was willing to give them a job in exchange for sexual favours (i.e. presumably inserting a spade into his rectum). They were then set to perform on-stage aboard a cruise liner as "The Great Arsehole (Richie) and Norman (Eddie)," but their performance went horribly wrong. Their awry performance consisted of Eddie shoving a sword down a passenger's throat and throwing rabbits into the audience whilst naked (with his penis in a vodka bottle as part of his impression of a Molotov cocktail), Richie literally sawing the ship's captain in half with an electric chainsaw (which got soaked in blood and malfunctioned mid-way) and Eddie crashing a motorcycle and sidecar into the disco console during the "Curtain of Death" finale. As a result, the entire ship was set on fire. In a desperate attempt to put the fire out, Eddie tore a big hole through the ship with an axe unfortunately causing the ship to fill with water and sink. With all available lifeboats full, Richie and Eddie survived the shipwreck by holding onto Eddie's electronic organ for six hours until they eventually found shore.

After fully recapping on how they wound up on the island, Richie and Eddie decide to find ways to pass time while they wait for someone to rescue them and take them back to Hammersmith, London. They then end the first act of the play by performing a brief cover of Born to Be Wild and rehearse their speciality act "The Great Arsehole and Norman."

Act two

Richie and Eddie get bored and continue finding ways to pass time (e.g. discussing interests, watching sharks, etc.) while waiting to be rescued. But, they eventually find a 15 megaton nuclear bomb in the middle of the island. This was left behind by a French frogman (who had a three-month supply of food, booze and porn magazines whom Eddie told to 'fuck off outta here') as part of a nuclear testing program. After accidentally activating the bomb, Richie and Eddie then try various methods to defuse it (e.g. using tools from Eddie's secret Japanese bunker, banging Richie's head on its surface until it shuts down, etc.) Near the end of the play, a French boat sails nearby and Richie and Eddie desperately try to grab their attention in hopes of being rescued. Eddie lights and detonate signal flares which accidentally hit the ship and cause it to explode. The play then ends with Richie and Eddie running out of time and the nuclear bomb exploding with them both near it.

VHS & DVD Release

Shortly after it was filmed, it was released on VHS and in 1999, it was released on DVD.

In late 2006, a DVD box set titled the Big Bottom Box, contains the show, along with the other 4 live shows, the movie and a "Best of Bottom Live" mockumentary titled Big Bottom Live.

Bloopers

This show, much like the past two live shows and the next two after it has plenty of bloopers made by Ade and Rik, however Hooligan's Island is subject to a large blooper midway through the first act that manages to unravel the plot for a brief moment in the show. During one scene Eddie was supposed to momentarily distract Richie so he could retrieve a medical kit from his secret Japanese bunker then return and cure Richie after being struck by a poisoned dart. However, when exiting the bunker Ade doesn't close the door properly and when Richie looks around he clearly sees the door to the bunker. Out of character Rik then bursts into a fit of hysterical giggling and is unable to continue. Eddie then improvises that the poisoned dart also gave Richie "momentary amnesia" and a "side effect of excessive giggling" due to Rik being unable to stop laughing. He will therefore not remember the door until act two when he is supposed to find out about it, which Rik goes along with.

Television adaptation

On 23 August 2012 the BBC announced that Hooligan's Island was to be adapted into a television series.^[1] The show would be a spin-off sequel to Mayall and Edmondson's BBC Two sitcom, Bottom, and was due to air on BBC Two in 2013.^[2]

On 15 October 2012, Edmondson announced during an interview with BBC Radio Essex that he had pulled out of the new series of Hooligan's Island stating that he wished to pursue other interests.^[3]

References