Ade Edmondson’s ‘Berserker!’ regularly goes off the rails and that’s just the kind of read his fans would want

British sitcom The Young Ones, which first aired during Thatcher’s early ’80s, featured four key characters that each inadvertently (or perhaps it was planned) represented a good segment of the BBC’s ever-fracturing audience. There was cool, diplomatic Mike (Christopher Ryan) standing for the average but articulate punter who simply wanted to get on with it; laidback Neil (Nigel Planer) – a leftover hippy who wouldn’t know if his bum was on fire; gender-bending Rick (pronounced ‘Vic’ with a lisp) – expertly played up by Rik Mayall; and last yet quite possibly the loudest, anarchic Vyvyan – brought to effervescent life by Adrian Edmondson.

If I were to pick one of those characters to best respond to the F-ed-up state of things today – a world of wild cultural upheaval, mixed-up anti-messaging, and greater rifts between the haves and havenots – I’m going to go with Vyvyan.

Rebellious idolatry aside, I’m reminded while reading Edmondson’s memoir Berserker! that the man isn’t just The Young Ones. As he explains on page three, making The Young Ones only took up a fortnight of Edmondson’s life – less than one half of one per cent of his being so far, according to his mathematics. He’s obviously thought about this, even though he needn’t have – fans know he can do drama (A Spy Among Friends), sci-fi (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) or any other genre he sets his (otherwise mad) mind to.

Edmondson proves he’s more than an anarchic airhead – always a fun role he’s played up to for the small screen. He proves it by the simple fact he’s been able to recollect so many fascinating moments in his life via some of the brightest scripture I’ve read in a celebrity memoir – and some of the darkest, eg: being molested by an assistant headmaster as a public school boy.

While memories are vivid, the good and the horrific, this isn’t the most linear of autobiographies (which Ade admits to) but it’s certainly one of the most excitingly erratic, all-absorbing ones. As the writer says at the start, our memories aren’t linear, so why should recollections of our past be expressed so? For Ade, it’s all about the tangents, and that’ll probably work in his favour right now because… well, have you seen the state of the world lately?

Besides, he always makes an important and valid point.

Edmondson writes for the most part in the present tense like he’s still there at the scene. And that’s nice because it puts you better in the picture. When he’s encountering another celebrity at an industry party and not sure if what he’s saying is making sense to said celebrity, the reader is more on his side than on that of the not-so-gregarious guest. Who wants prudence and stuffiness when there are ambiguity, enlightenment and shenanigans to be had? But just as he’s describing a situation that’s bordering on the absurdist, he reigns things in, making you recognise a certain method to the madness.

Freely referencing moments in pop culture that have had an effect on him – and there’s plenty that did – while oddly throwing in the occasional cooking reference, ‘Berserker!’ makes for a wildly refreshing read.

For the record, ‘Berserkers’ were an elite Norse fighting group who, apparently off their nuts on hallucinogens, “fought with a particular fury and senseless abandon still present in many Scandinavian heavy metal groups”. On that note, Edmondson kind of admits he’s missed his calling to become a rock star. And comedy fans are all the more happier for it.

Antonino Tati

‘Berserker!’ by Adrian Edmondson is available in paperback through Pan Macmillan, RRP $36.99.

COMPETITION: WIN 1 OF 5 COPIES OF ADRIAN EDMONDSON’S ‘BERSERKER!’

Courtesy of Pan Macmillan, Cream has five copies of Adrian Edmondson’s ‘Berserker!’ to give away. To try winning a copy, simply email your name, address and the Subject heading ‘Berserker!’ to cream@pobox.com. Competition closes 5pm AWST, Tuesday 17 October, 2023.

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