Ben Elton, the comedian and writer behind The Young Ones and Blackadder, has said he feels the entertainment industry has moved on from his style of comedy. In a new interview promoting his memoir What Have I Done?, Elton reflected on his rapid rise to fame in the 1980s and his current status.
Elton, now 65, said he was 'briefly the most influential comic in Britain' during the 1980s, when his political stand-up on Saturday Live and sitcoms like Blackadder II defined the era. However, he acknowledged that his brand of comedy no longer appeals to modern platforms. 'Netflix doesn't want me,' he said, noting the shift in tastes.
The comedian wrote his first pilot for The Young Ones in a single night at age 21, after studying drama at Manchester University where he met Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. He described his early success as 'ubiquitous' but also attracting criticism, including a Newsnight segment on why he was 'so awful' and a John Osborne article titled 'Why I hate Ben Elton'.
Elton spoke about his complex friendship with the late Rik Mayall, who vetoed him from acting in The Young Ones and later demanded co-writing credits. 'He was meaner to me than I ever was to him,' Elton said, though he recalled fond memories such as attending a Carl Perkins gig with Mayall where they met George Harrison and sang with Ringo Starr on drums.
Despite the changing landscape, Elton remains active with his memoir and a book tour featuring friends like Emma Thompson and Richard Curtis. He said sustaining friendships has been 'the gift of my life', having worked closely with Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and others since the 1980s.
