The Man Who Made Us Laugh (Poetry)

20th June 2014
i.m. Rik Mayall

The man who made us laugh is dead —
buggered off with no goodbyes —
no parting joke but left instead
a gap of quite stupendous size

that none can fill. The whole world knows
how big his famous Bottom was
and every re-run series shows
his underpants were huge because

the British sense of humour’s weird —
we crave the stupid, crazy stuff
(and more so now he’s disappeared).
The Young Ones proven daft enough

to keep us laughing when, too soon
dear Rik’s snuck off, the silly sod —
away like some impulsive loon
to seek an audience with God.