Category Archives: Monty Python 

iO Class 10-14
I spent the weekend substitute teaching for Michael McCarthy's writing classes at the iO. Here, I'm showing the Sketch-writing class Monty Python's Joke Warfare/Funniest Joke in the World Sketch as we study editing (an appropriate choice on the Python anniversary weekend, I thought). 
This was my first time teaching in the new building, and I'm still amazed just walking into the place. I always have to think back to the crumbling, barely building-code legal Crosscurrents cabaret, where the iO (then ImprovOlympic) first started; to say it's come a long way is hugely underestimating it.
I highly recommend anyone in the Chicago area stop by for first-class improvisation (or, in the case of Dave and TJ's Mission Theatre, first-class sketch comedy), and stick around for drinks and dinner as well. It's only been a couple of months in the new building, but it's fast becoming a landmark. In fact, it's the Great Wall of China of Improvisation. Go now and thank me later.

Where it all began…

…On this, the 45th anniversary of the first telecast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, it seems appropriate to watch the first scene of the first show recorded (though it was broadcast second). While Terry Jones and Graham Chapman were performing this, John Cleese was in the wings with Michael Palin, saying “You know, it’s possible that this will be the very first comedy program that doesn’t get a single laugh.” Fortunately, he couldn’t have been more wrong…

 

Twenty-five years. A quarter of a century. That’s how long ago Graham Chapman was snatched away from us after his battle with cancer on October 4, 1989.
Graham
It doesn’t really seem possible, because Graham seems more alive than ever. He was much-remembered in the Monty Python Live (Mostly) reunion show at the O2 last summer. And, John Cleese does an excellent job of bringing his old writing partner back to live in the pages of his upcoming autobiography So Anyway…

But of course, none of that can replace the living, breathing, squawking man that so many of us know and love, and I count myself fortunate to have so many personal memories. I try to blog an occasional Graham story and should do so more often. For instance…
Graham and his son John Tomiczek were in Chicago over a long weekend, when Graham was on one of his lecture tours. I had met up with them, as I usually did, showing them some of the more interesting people and places, catching up, and having a good time in general. Not long after they arrived, they made an unfortunate discovery: the hotel did not provide laundry service over the weekend. None of the other options had a sufficiently short turn-around time, and they wouldn’t have a chance to get their laundry done before leaving town. They had been counting on this and were down to the last of their supplies. When I arrived at their room, Graham was concerned enough to mention it to me. Don’t worry, I assured him, I know what we can do. And so, we piled into my car, laundry in the trunk, and headed to my parents’ house in Ottawa, Illinois.
About two hours later, we arrived late in the afternoon, and my parents were apparently about to leave to go out for dinner. But when Graham walked in, their plans went out the window. We all sat down and visited for a few minutes, and I explained their predicament. Dinner plans went out the window and my mother, bless her heart, immediately began doing their laundry. Shortly after that, I took Graham and John out to show them the sights of Ottawa, which did not take terribly long. But when we arrived back at my parents’ house, the laundry was finished. “She even folded everything!” admired John, as indeed she had, down to the socks and underwear. Graham and John were tremendously grateful, and we packed things up and went back to Chicago. I later told the story to Michael Palin, who dubbed her “Marge Johnson, Laundress to the Stars!”
It’s hard to imagine what Graham would be up to now if he were still with us (though I’m sure he’d be more organized with his laundry). Still, I can’t help thinking how unfair it was that he wasn’t about to join the other five at the O2. But I can tell you this: for the limited number of days he had, Graham lived each one to the fullest.

Cleese’s Canadian Club, Pt. 2

When I posted my previous entry, I didn’t have much information about John’s three scheduled appearances next month in Canada. I do now, and in fact, strongly suggest that you get tickets now (that goes for the US events as well)–they’re going fast and in some cases are sold out!

So here’s the deal:

TORONTO – Interview with Ian Brown, writer for the Globe and Mail
Saturday, November 8th, 7:30 PM
John Bassett Theatre
255 Front Street, Toronto, ON

VANCOUVER – Interview with Stephen Quinn from CBC Radio’s On the Coast
Friday, November 14th at 7:30 PM
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
777 Homer St., Vancouver, BC V6B 2W1

VICTORIA – Interview with Jo-Ann Roberts, from CBC Radio’s All Points West
Saturday, November 15th at 7:30 PM
Farquar Auditorium
University Centre, Victoria V8W 3P2

JC Book cover

Cleese Canadian Club

Yes, to those who have been asking, John Cleese will indeed be promoting So, Anyway… in Canada in November. If you’re in the Toronto area, look for him Nov 8, 9, and 10.

November 13, 14 and 15, he’ll be in Vancouver and Victoria, respectively (if not respectfully). More to come…
JC Book cover

Python Live, 34 years ago

It was 34 years ago this week that the Pythons played four nights live at the Hollywood Bowl. At that time, none of them would have dreamed that they’d be playing ten nights at the O2 in London 34 years late. For one thing, the O2 didn’t exist. But at the time, it seemed like the high point of Python, and in many ways, it was.

Bowl

They were still active, making movies together. They were all together, including Graham, along with other fans and friends who were hanging out at the Bowl that I now miss very much, including George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, and John Tomiczek.

It was a very special four nights, part of which I was lucky enough to spend backstage, and even luckier to be on stage, with the Pythons. Not to take anything away from the O2 shows, which comprised one of the most amazing curtain calls for show business careers ever. But the Hollywood Bowl was just as special in its own way. It was where Python peaked in America, where Graham took his final Python curtain calls, and where I get way more nostalgic than I probably should. But it might be a good weekend to put Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl in the DVD player…

Cleese in Chicago

So Anyway…here’s the link to the John Cleese event in the Chicago area on November 11. It should be such a great time, even the interviewer won’t screw it up…

JC Book cover

Better Call Cleese

Bob Odenkirk has come a long way since the days when we used to improvise together under the tutelage of Del Close. In addition to Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Fargo, Mr. Show, and a whole slew of other credits, he has agreed to interview John Cleese on November 20th in San Diego, where John will be promoting his autobiography, So Anyway… If I were you, and I was anywhere in that neck of the woods at that time, I’d get my tickets now…

The Gilliam Theorem

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s here and it’s worth the wait

Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem is finally opening in the U.S. this weekend. This may well be Terry’s most polarizing movie, and that’s saying something! Some people love it, some people can’t stand it, but if it’s Terry, it’s worth seeing. You can find out a little more about it here and watch the trailer as well.
I’ll be seeing it myself this weekend, and I recommend that you do the same. You may have to look around a little if you don’t live in a larger city, as the distributors are a little uneasy about movies that actually make you think. But Time magazine calls it “a spectacle that demands to be cherished.” So find it and cherish it, already!

Cleese in Seattle

And as promised, here’s the link to the info on John’s appearance in Seattle on Sunday, November 16th, to promote his upcoming autobiography So Anyway... I may be wrong, but this could be John’s first-ever appearance in Seattle. Either way, if I were you, I wouldn’t miss it.

JC Book cover