The green room at the Beacon (actually, under the Beacon) Theatre was well-stocked with food and drink after the Q & A, as the Pythons and friends made their way downstairs (thanks to Jeff Slate for the photo!). One of the nicest things about a Monty Python party (and, to paraphrase from Life of Brian, I should know, I’ve been to a few) is how so many familiar faces and members of the Python family seem to turn up. It’s always particularly happy to see the various family members, former co-workers and devoted friends that only seem to turn up every few years at these kinds of events. Strange as it may sound, Python is a family (and of course, the fans are a valued part of that family. But it was delightful to see folks like Roger Graef, Simon Jones and his wife Nancy, and John and Linda Goldstone.

I followed Terry Jones and John Oliver into the room and we all had a drink as the rest of them poured in, and everyone had a chance to catch up properly. I was approached by several people whom I had forgotten, and had to be reminded that I knew because they were “friends of Graham.” I took them at their word because, well, Graham certainly had a lot of friends.

A few famous faces made their way in, and I saw John talking to Hank Azaria. It soon became rather crowded, and Terry J suggested that we head down the block to the Amsterdam Ale House for dinner, where I mentioned earlier that they were serving Stone Dry Hopped IPA on cask. Terry hadn’t forgotten. I made my way over to John to let him know I was leaving, and I saw him talking to John Goldstone. As I approached him, however, I realized it was not John Goldstone, but in fact Kevin Kline and his son. I apologized for my intrusion, but Kevin was glad to see me, as we had spoken on the phone several times when I worked for John, but we had never met. We also joked about how John used to make fun of his acting, noting that while he felt Kevin was a great actor, he was an even greater over-actor.

And so with that, Terry J and I and a couple of other friends headed up to the Ale House for dinner and drinks. Despite the jet lag and general lack of sleep (I had gotten up at 3 a.m. for my flight), we found some extra adrenalin that kept us going well past midnight for a successful day, and a memorable Python anniversary.

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