Category Archives: Monty Python

Happy birthday Graham

On January 8, 1941, Graham Chapman made his first appearance in Leicester, England. According to his autobiography, however, he was born in Leamington on February 7, 1942. Of course, one should keep in mind that it was titled A Liar’s Autobiography, and that should be enough to give you a pretty good idea of the sort of strangeness that Graham embraced his whole life.

Graham and me City Center

This is a photo of the second time I met Graham, in April of 1976, backstage at the City Center. I would be embarrassed at my leisure suit and ridiculous hair, except I’m with Graham, and Graham was never embarrassed about anything. Boy, do I miss him.

#montypython #grahamchapman

Bringing back Basil:

Celebrate the holidays with the return of Basil Fawlty. Yes, you read that correctly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_74nSQ2TNY

#fawltytowers #johncleese #montypython

Fawlty Report

Fawlty TowersJohn Cleese is looking to have a very busy 2016. In addition to everything else on his schedule, including an Australian tour with Eric Idle (which I wrote about here), filming a movie, scripting a Feydeau farce for a possible West End production, and lots of writing, The Daily Telegraph is now reporting that a stage production of Fawlty Towers will be opening in Australia in August.

I haven’t had a chance to confirm this yet with @johncleese, but this would undoubtedly be similar to a very successful Scandinavian production that was presented recently. John has found a way to stitch together three episodes of @fawltytowers into a full-length play, and will doubtless be down under overseeing the production this summer. No, John and the rest of the cast of the original TV series won’t be on stage, but if John is involved, this will be good.

 

Now it’s good night from me…

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I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Ronnie Corbett, 85, the diminutive half of Britain’s much-loved The Two Ronnies.

The Two Ronnies show began in 1971 and ran for 12 seasons over 16 years. But Ronnie Corbett actually began working with Ronnie Barker years before that, most prominently on The Frost Report. Most of the individual Pythons worked with the pair as writers, and one of the most successful ongoing sketches featured John Cleese with the pair as upper (Cleese), middle (Barker), and Corbett (working) class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2k1iRD2f-c

It’s a brilliant concept (written by Marty Feldman and John Law), almost works as a sight gag alone, though the writing is brilliant. This clip doesn’t include the punch line(s) however:

Middle: We all know our place, but what do we get out of it?
Upper: I get a feeling of superiority over them.
Middle: I get a feeling of inferiority from him. But a feeling of superiority over him.
Working: (looking up to them, literally) I get a pain in my neck.

I never met Ronnie Corbett (who always reminded me of my pal Tim Kazurinsky), but the first time I visited London, I was staying at Graham Chapman’s house, and was delighted to hear that The Two Ronnies were headlining at The Palladium, and at Graham’s suggestion, scored a ticket. It was money well spent.

We’re losing way too many talented folks lately, and it makes me sad that Ronnie Corbett is gone, but happy that he had such a long, wonderful career and, by all accounts, a happy life.

And now, sadly and for the last time, it’s good night from him.

@johncleese @grahamchapman @montypython #montypython #ronniecorbett

Del’s Rolling Stone debut…

If you read my Del Close biography The Funniest One in the Room, you probably know that this is the 50th anniversary of Lysergic a Go Go, which preceded the first Acid Test by one week.

Del Book cover

The former was a happening organized by Del and Hugh Romney (later Wavy Gravy), and it’s finally being recognized by the historians. Well, okay, Rolling Stone, but still, this was nice to see. sic/news/acid-tests-turn-50-wavy-gravy-merry-prankster-ken-babbs-look-back-20151130

This was very likely the first psychedelic light show; Del liked to say that he invented them, and there’s no reason to think that he didn’t. BTW, many years ago, he gave me the lantern that he used for the light shows, and somewhere or another, I still have it…

 

Gilliamesque Regards

I don’t think I’ve written anything about Terry Gilliam’s new autobiography, Gilliamesque (which @johncleese was kind enough to buy for me a couple of weeks ago), but I can’t think of a better day to mention it. First of all, happy birthday Terry! Secondly, this is a pretty amazing book, down to the art directed scrawling on the borders of the pages. I always thought I knew a lot about Terry’s life, but I was amazed at the Zelig-like events of his youth even before he left for England. And did you know that Terry is the only one of the Pythons who ever had acting lessons? Gilliamesque

He’s managed to cram a lot into this volume, but it could have been twice as long and I would have come up begging for more. So on this @terrygilliam birthday, buy yourself a present. If you’re at all a Gilliam fan, or a @montypython fan, you’ll love Gilliamesque.

#montypython #johncleese #terrygilliam

Happy birthday Monty Python!

On October the 5th, 1969, the very first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus first aired on the BBC.

montypython

A lot of things have changed since then, but those shows are just as funny now as they were then. The second episode recorded was the first one aired. Here’s what BBC audiences first saw that evening:

Terry Jones and Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s 40th Anniversary

As promised–here are some of the memories of Terry Jones at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on September 8th for the 40th anniversary screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail! As seen through the lens of Bryan Willy!

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In Case You Missed This:

…John Cleese will be guesting on Real Time with Bill Maher this Friday night. If you enjoyed his solo interview last year, wait till you see him on the panel!

Terry Jones in Atlanta…

Yes, I know I haven’t written much about Terry’s trip down South. But I’m waiting for a whole packet of photos to arrive that document his evening at the Fox Theatre and his 40th anniversary presentation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So be patient. It’ll be worth it. @montypython @PythonJones