Malcolm Hardee on the Thames (Photo by Steve Taylor)
In yesterday’s blog, Australian performer Matthew Hardy remembered British comedian Sean Lock, who died earlier this week.
Matthew also mentioned the late comedian Malcolm Hardee – oft called ‘the godfather of British alternative comedy’ – as “the most outrageous individual I’ve ever known”.
Eight days after Malcolm’s death by drowning in 2005, Matthew Hardy shared this memory.
Stories about Malcolm Hardee are plentiful but, to my mind, this one from Matthew may be the definitive one…
Malcolm took my visiting elderly parents out in his boat. Goes up the Thames and on the right was some kind of rusted ship, pumping a powerful arc of bilgewater out of its hull, through a kind of high porthole, which saw the water arc across the river over fifty foot.
I’m on the front of the boat as Malcolm veers toward the arc and I assume he’s gonna go under it, between the ship and where the arc curves downward toward the river itself. For a laugh.
Just as I turn back to say “Lookout, we’re gonna get hit by the filthy fucking water” – the filthy fucking water almost knocked my head off my shoulders and me off the boat. I looked back to see it hit Malcolm as he steered, then my Mum and then Dad.
I wanted to hit him and my Dad said afterwards that he did too, but we were both unable to comprehend or calculate what had actually happened.
Malcolm’s decision was beyond any previously known social conduct.
He must have simply had the idea and acted upon it.
Anarchy.
We laugh… NOW!”.
SO IT GOES - John Fleming's blog 
Thank you John, thanks Matthew for that blast from the past as it echoes Malc’s appealing insanity back to me. I too have stories!