When Brighouse resident Guy Walker wrote to his comedy idol Rik Mayall nine years ago to ask for his advice on comedy writing, he did not expect a reply.
Yet that December he was treated to an early Christmas present when the off-the-wall comedian’s reply landed on his doorstep.
Scrawled on his original letter were responses to his three questions, written in his stereotypically witty and no-holds barred style.
He revealed his letter on social media in honour of the late comic legend, who died on June 9.
Rik's funeral takes place today.
All signed ‘with love and violence’, they offer a glimpse into his interactions with fans, who became captivated with his hilarious yet crude performances in The Young Ones, The New Statesman and Bottom.
Guy, then 20 and in his third year of a media and television degree at the University of Huddersfield, got in touch with Rik to give his opinions on writing comedy and production, as part of his dissertation.
On the subject of the differences in writing for TV and radio, he replied: “There is none. They’re both run by BBC middle class neo-situationalist class–racists”.
His response to whether political correctness was ruining the opportunities to create new innovative comedies, was even closer to the bone.
This he followed by signing the letter, ‘Lenny Henry’.
Guy, who now creates films with his company Culture Counter and works in Sainsburys, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the reply.
“I’d written to quite a few comics like John Cleese and Simon Pegg because I wanted their input for my dissertation, but hadn’t had any replies up to that moment.
“I remember thinking, ‘how on earth am I going to use this’ but I found away and quoted him on his thoughts on the BBC.
“And what he wrote taught me that there is no set way to make comedy.”
His letter was retweeted 982 times when he posted it on Twitter, after noticing that other people had begun to do the same.
He said: “I’d kept the letter in my bedside drawer since he sent it but when I saw that other people were posting theirs, I decided to share mine.”
Guy then got to meet the man behind the response a couple of years later, when he saw him perform as Alan Beresford B’Stard in The New Statesman at the Alhambra in Bradford.
He said: “He was such a nice guy and completely different to how he appears on TV."
High-energy, scene-stealing comedy: Rik Mayall's most memorable lines - click here to read
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