''Live in Belfast'' is a

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

. It was first released in 1980 as a vinyl LP and

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, then re-released in 1996 on CD. It was recorded in front of live audiences at two evening performances at the Grand Opera House in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, on 19–20 September 1980. The performances were part of a four-month tour of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Atkinson was supported by comedy

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Richard Curtis, who appeared doing setups or at the receiving end of jokes, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...

, who provided musical accompaniment. The cover photography and design for the album and CD was by

Paul Yule Paul Yule may refer to: * Paul Yule (photojournalist) (born 1956), photojournalist and film maker * Paul Alan Yule, German archaeologist See also * Paul Youll Paul Youll (born 1965 in Hartlepool, England) is a science fiction and fantasy artist ...

Background

Rowan Atkinson met Richard Curtis and Howard Goodall at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. The three have collaborated numerous times during their careers. Atkinson's tour occurred between series two and three of the British comedy television programme '' Not the Nine O'Clock News'', for which Atkinson was an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, Curtis was a writer and Goodall was the

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

Comedy in the show

The comedy in the show was in the form of sketches and

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s. The sketches were written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. The

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

were written by Richard Curtis and the

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

was composed by Howard Goodall.

Personnel

– main character in sketches, lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

on " Mary Jane" and " Do Bears Sha la la" * Richard Curtis – second character in " The Wedding", "Mary Jane", " Senator Brea's Dead", " Impatient Man in Queue Behind Student" and "

Joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

" *

– music, vocals on " I Hate the French", backing vocals on "Mary Jane" and "Do Bears Sha la la"

Track listing

;Side one #" Man in Seat C23" – Rowan Atkinson as the man in seat C23 #" Sir Marcus Browning M.P." – Atkinson as the announcer and Sir Marcus Browning, MP #" Mary Jane" – Richard Curtis as the announcer, Atkinson as Will "Nigger-hater" Bowen and Howard Goodall as Peterson #" The Wedding a. The Vicar" – Curtis as Gerald and Atkinson as the vicar #"The Wedding b. The Best Man" – Curtis as the announcer and Atkinson as the best man #"The Wedding c. The Father of the Bride" – Curtis as the announcer and Atkinson as the father of the bride #" I Hate the French" – Goodall as the French-hating singer #"Interval Announcement" – Atkinson as the announcer ;Side two #" Do Bears Sha la la" – Atkinson as the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer and Goodall as the backing vocalist #" Senator Brea's Dead" – Atkinson as the first American and Curtis as the second American #"

The Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...

" – Atkinson as Toby

the Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...

#" Impatient Man in Queue Behind Student" – Curtis as the

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

and Atkinson as the impatient man #" Station Announcement" – Atkinson as the impatient man and the announcer #"

" – Atkinson as the joke-teller and Curtis as the joke-receiver

References

{{Rowan Atkinson 1980 live albums Arista Records live albums Live comedy albums Rowan Atkinson albums Stand-up comedy albums