All My Birthdays

Happy birthday wishes to my old pal and co-producer Walt Willey! You may know him from his standup comedy, you may know him from his portrayal of (fellow LaSalle County native) Wild Bill Hickok, you may know him from his new web series Thurston. Who knows? You may even know him from his 25 year stint playing Jackson Montgomery on All My Children. But of course, I know him from Mrs. Finkeldye’s first grade class, and a lot of classes after that.

For the past several years, we have kept busy reviving community theatre in our hometown of Ottawa, Illinois, co-producing and acting in an annual summer play with a spectacular cast, including All My Children guest stars like Jill Larson, Julia Barr, Taylor Miller, Kale Brown, Vincent Irrizary, and Bobbi Eakes. If you’d like to keep informed, check in here and here, and even right back here.  

And hey, Buddy-Boy, I’d tell you to relax for your birthday, but I know you too well for that. Have a great birthday! 

More Python Rarities

These are from what eventually was aired as Show 8. Lots of Graham (including the Colonel), animation, and never-seen material that was cut from “Hell’s Grannies.”

Python Rarities

Some rarely-seen inserts are making their way onto Youtube. This one is from Show 9, though the clapboard indicates that most of these were apparently planned for Show 7. This may not be a mistake, as the order of the shows (and some of the contents) changed before broadcast. The most interesting bits are inserts from “The Barber/Lumberjack Song,” things I’ve never seen before. A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look behind the scenes at Flying Circus. I don’t know how long this will be up, so have a look in case it’s removed from the web…

My Favorite Book of 2014 (So Far)

And no, it’s not one of mine.

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Beyond Reach  is an action adventure that you won’t be able to put down. It opens with one of the most terrifying real-life scenes I’ve ever read, as a rescue diver tries to recover a body deep within an underwater cave. And from there, it never lets up until the last page.

Did you know there is a subterranean system of caverns that extends underground from Florida to the Midwest. I didn’t, until I read this book. Do you know what it’s like to explore a cave? I didn’t, until I read the incredibly detailed, claustrophobic, terrifying passages here.

The characters are engaging, and the mystery is absorbing. There’s even a paranormal twist that I didn’t see coming.

I hesitated to write about Beyond Reach because I’m married to the author, but even if I wasn’t, it’s simply too good a book to miss, all prejudice aside. It’s the first in the Deepview series of adventures; it’s just been released as an e-book, but a print version will be coming soon. Here’s the link, and you can thank me for it later.

Early Pre-Python

This is one of the sketches I may be showing my iO class in the coming weeks. Known variously as “The History of Slapstick,” “The History of the Joke,” “The Custard Pie Sketch,” and probably by a few other names as well, this is probably the oldest sketch that ever made it into any of the Monty Python shows (the runner-up: probably “Four Yorkshiremen”). Written by Terry Jones and, I think, Michael Palin, long before the Pythons ever got together, it was eventually incorporated into the Python stage show, in part because the Pythons wanted to include some sketches that most of their fans hadn’t seen before. We’ll find out in July if they will include it in the O2 shows…
This version is from one of the Amnesty International Benefits. Enjoy.

Remembering Harry…

It’s hard to believe that Harry Nilsson has been gone for twenty years this week.

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When I think of Harry, I think of a big, gregarious teddy-bear of a man, always smiling, always happy to see you. It’s hard to describe Harry to someone who doesn’t think they know who he was, because he did so much music that’s ubiquitous to our present-day culture. His was a quirky career, just as Harry was a man who embraced quirkiness. His best-known songs were not written by him (“Without You,” “Everybody’s Talkin'”), while the best-known songs that he wrote were not recorded by him (including Three Dog Night’s “One”).

I first met Harry when he hosted a party following the final night of Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. My pal George Harrison first introduced me to Harry. [The previous sentence is one that I try to use as often as possible.] Harry wrote the introduction to my third Monty Python book, Life Before (and After) Monty Python. I’m pretty proud of that book, but the introduction by Harry may be the best thing in it.

We were able to get together the few times Harry was in Chicago or, at the time, the few times I was in L.A. He had quit drinking and cleaned himself up admirably in the years before he left us. Recently, he’s been the subject of a biography, a documentary, the reissue of most of his albums in a boxed set. I’ll write more about Harry later. I miss him, but it’s good to know his music lives on.

If He Could Build a Nuclear Reactor Out of a Coconut…

…Why couldn’t he build a boat and get them off the island?

GilliagnAnother piece of my childhood has slipped away with the passing of Russell Johnson, who will always be The Professor to anyone who ever saw Gilligan’s Island. I didn’t know him (and no, we’re not related), but I did have the opportunity to interview him once, along with Bob Denver and Dawn Wells (Gilligan and Mary Ann, to the uninitiated). He was nice, funny, and everything else you would hope him to be.He did a lot more than Gilligan’s Island–including roles in This Island Earth and Twilight Zone–but he knew he would always be remembered for Gilligan and, unlike others, was perfectly happy with that.

Oh, and he did supply me with an answer to that question: “If I’d gotten them off the island, the show would have been over.”

Rest in peace, Russell Johnson.

No Idle Hands for Palin

It looks like 2014 is going to be a busy year for Michael Palin. The Hollywood Reporter notes that he will be starring in a three-part drama for the BBC. It sounds great, though I’m having trouble picturing him as a resident of a nursing home. If he was that old, he wouldn’t be doing ten Python shows at the O2 this summer, right?
No air date yet–I will post when more details are available.
3:18 AM PST 1/16/2014 by Georg Szalai
Michael Palin - P 2013
Jo Hal/Getty Images

In his first TV drama lead role in more than 20 years, he will star opposite “Game of Thrones” actor Mark Addy.

LONDON – Monty Python’s Michael Palin will star in a three-part BBC supernatural thriller in his first lead role in a TV drama in more than 20 years.

Remember Me will see him play a “mysterious” resident of a nursing home who becomes the only witness to a violent death. Palin will star opposite Game of Thrones and The Full Monty actor Mark Addy, who will portray a detective.

Palin, mostly known for his comedic work, last had a lead role in a TV drama in 1991 when he played a principal in GBH on Britain’s Channel 4.

“It’s also a return to Yorkshire [where the mini-series is shooting now], where I was born, brought up and learned my acting in amateur dramatics,” Palin told the Guardian. “I was attracted to Remember Me not only by the Northern setting, but also by a good, strong, challenging role, something I could really get what remains of my teeth into.”

The show will air on BBC One, the U.K. public broadcaster’s flagship channel. Said BBC One controller Charlotte Moore: “It’s a real coup for us that Michael Palin has chosen to make his return to a leading role for the first time in over 20 years on BBC One.”

Palin will reunite with the other surviving members of comedy troupe Monty Python for a series of sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena in July.

Four-Star Review for Time Police Book Two

A nice four-star review of my second Time Police book, The Return of the Time Police, which you can view right here at jalynely.com! Thank you Jalyn!

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Meaning of Creosote

Here’s another clip I’m using for my iO Chicago writing class (see yesterday). This is a classic, but is also NSFD (not safe for dinner) viewing.
At a workshop I conducted a while back, I asked Terry Jones about the writing of this scene. He revealed that it initially got an unenthusiastic response from the other Pythons, so he put it away. Then, about a month later, John Cleese rang him up and told him that he thought it could be very funny. As Terry put it, “John discovered that the waiter gets all the laughs!”
Enjoy.