Rob Newman remains a comic genius. I saw the great man live at Colchester in 1999 and was inevitably heckled by him halfway through his stand up routine... After the gig I walked to the bar and he was stood there having a pint. Once off stage, his comedy persona was replaced by that of a very normal, very nice guy. "Was the show okay?" he asked me in a nervous tone.
I replied that I'd enjoyed it immensely.
I was a big fan of TMWE, it was revolutionary in it's day IMHO bringing a new generation of "Youth" comedy talent to TV. The partnership with Baddiel was on the rocks by then, with Baddiel being the more controversial of the two. Newman's observational comedy and characterizations were pretty spot on.
Anyway, for those who've never heard of him; Bez (aka Mark Berry) was a mate of Shaun Ryder, frontman of The Happy Mondays. Ryder dragged Bez up on stage during a gig and thanks to Bez's rhythmically challenged gyrations (fuelled by a drug intake rivalling that of Unichem) he quickly became the band's mascot and was as much of a frontman as Ryder himself.
What's made Bez a hero in my book is his total refusal to take himself seriously. He's sent himself up many times on national television and is candidly honest about himself too.
Bez still lives next door to Shaun Ryder and they remain the best of mates...
