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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Definitely listen to this as an audiobook. It is best to hear about Eric Idle from Eric Idle. I don't think this book would have been as interesting as a reading book -- a lot of speeches, sort of a list of every time he sang "Always Look on the Bright side of life," etc. but hearing his voice made it all that much more interesting.
I listened to this one (read by Idle). I do love a comedy memoir and enjoyed the Pythons angle. And there was something about his British accent that kept the name dropping from becoming tedious.
I was tickled and entertained by this fast-paced account of Eric Idle's life, mainly focusing on his creative projects both solo and with Monty Python, as well as some key creative friendships he cultivated over the years. Idle was very close with George Harrison, David Bowie, and Robin Williams among others and each of those friendships gets explored in its own chapter. If you are interested in the interconnected development of British and American comedy in the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties this is a very fun account, and just manages to stay on this side of annoying in regards to name dropping and the fabulous party life styles of the 1%. Idle is a very good writer, and this book is full of jokes, anecdotes, and moments of genuine reflection.
2.5 stars. Too much name dropping, gushing over his wife, and accounting for every single time he sang "Bright Side". Does he get royalties every time it's mentioned in the book? John Cleese apparently has a stick up his ass and Idle apparently came up with every brilliant idea for Python. Seemed a little one sided to my, I dunno
Certain things are quoted on an almost daily basis in our house: Red Dwarf (I firmly believe there is a Red Dwarf quote for every occasion), Bruce Willis and co-stars (mostly Die Hard and The Fifth Element - explosions are always referred to as "bada biiiiiig boom"), random geeky sci-fi related quotes and, of course, Monty Python. And if we aren't quoting the Python boys, you can be sure we're singing one of their songs. (the Galaxy song is my personal favourite, inaccuracies or no!)
My children have been familiar with the less rude Python skits since they were very young, and have themselves broken out a quote or two since around the time they learned to walk.
On one memorable occasion, my daughter - then three - was sitting on a blanket which she pretended was a raft, navigating her way across the river Livingroom, when she suddenly yelled out "Oh no! The rabbits are too strong!" While normal parents would have immediately realised she meant "rapids", and possibly corrected her, I decided instead to regale her with a description of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
Surprisingly, she's now 21 and turned out almost normal...
So when I say I think Eric Idle is a very funny man, I want to make it clear it's not just a throwaway statement about some guy I vaguely remember seeing on tv once. I mean I have consumed a very large proportion of his life's work, and I think he's not just funny, but at times absolutely hysterical.
Having said that, this book, while interesting and both funny and moving, is not as side-splittingly hilarious as I know he's capable of. Hence only 4 stars.
My children have been familiar with the less rude Python skits since they were very young, and have themselves broken out a quote or two since around the time they learned to walk.
On one memorable occasion, my daughter - then three - was sitting on a blanket which she pretended was a raft, navigating her way across the river Livingroom, when she suddenly yelled out "Oh no! The rabbits are too strong!" While normal parents would have immediately realised she meant "rapids", and possibly corrected her, I decided instead to regale her with a description of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
Surprisingly, she's now 21 and turned out almost normal...
So when I say I think Eric Idle is a very funny man, I want to make it clear it's not just a throwaway statement about some guy I vaguely remember seeing on tv once. I mean I have consumed a very large proportion of his life's work, and I think he's not just funny, but at times absolutely hysterical.
Having said that, this book, while interesting and both funny and moving, is not as side-splittingly hilarious as I know he's capable of. Hence only 4 stars.
I enjoyed this book for the most part. When I read Rob Lowe's autobiography, I read some reviews and some people did not like the name-dropping they said he did. But how can you be a celebrity and live in the celebrity world, and NOT drop names? So for Rob Lowe, that was fine. For the most part, the names he "dropped" were his colleagues. For Eric Idle . . . wellllll, I did feel he was kind of name-dropping. Sometimes, it was quite understandable (had no idea he and George Harrison were good friends), but other times, he read the list of celebrities at a given function to no apparent purpose except to read a list of celebrities. He also went a little overboard mentioning the exotic places he traveled and worked. Sometimes, he did convey his own sense of wonder of being from such humble beginnings and yet here he was hobnobbing and jet-setting, so for the most part, I forgave him that.
On the plus side, it was laugh-out-loud funny in places and his humor came across loud and clear. I also enjoyed learning a few interesting things about the aforementioned celebrities I did not know.
So all in all, a pleasant "listen." 3.5 stars
On the plus side, it was laugh-out-loud funny in places and his humor came across loud and clear. I also enjoyed learning a few interesting things about the aforementioned celebrities I did not know.
So all in all, a pleasant "listen." 3.5 stars
Thank you to Penguin Random House and First to Read for the Advance Galley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
If you are a fan of comedy, Monty Python, or fun biographies in general, this is a great book for you. Eric Idle tells his story and not just the story of the Pythons, which is refreshing. He also tells the story of the comedy scene in his youth and how it came to make him who he is today. I really enjoyed his conversational tone, wit, and how he organized things not by time but by subject.
This is a great read that will make you glad you read it.
If you are a fan of comedy, Monty Python, or fun biographies in general, this is a great book for you. Eric Idle tells his story and not just the story of the Pythons, which is refreshing. He also tells the story of the comedy scene in his youth and how it came to make him who he is today. I really enjoyed his conversational tone, wit, and how he organized things not by time but by subject.
This is a great read that will make you glad you read it.
I've written more than is probably necessary about music's role in shaping the person I am today. My politics, my belief in the importance of kindness and compassion, my annoying desire to be one or two steps to the side of what's popular – it's all down to discovering R.E.M. and The Smiths and The Cure and Pixies and on and on when I was 15 years old. But what I haven't written about nearly as much – even though it was occurring at the same time – was my discovery of, and head-over-heels love affair with, Monty Python. Seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail was just as seismic as hearing This Year's Model for the first time, and my first experience with Monty Python's Flying Circus cracked my head open in the best of all possible ways. It was the combination of low and high comedy – "The Ministry of Silly Walks'" blatant silliness rubbing elbows with the elaborate conceit and sophisticated structure of "The Funniest Joke in the World" – that really got me. But of course it was also the personalities of the troupe itself that made me want to be both more erudite and more weird.
Some of my friends argued about which Beatle they were. I, on the other hand, pondered which Python I was. The answer – pretty definitively, I think – is John. But as I read and enjoyed Eric Idle's "sortabiography" Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, it was worth remembering that I sang his "The Lumberjack Song" at a talent show when I was a senior in high school. Bits of bobs of all the Pythons have been hardwired into my sensibility, and for that reason Idle's book is a sheer delight. The title song serves as a rough frame for the book, tracing its many appearances over the years, from The Life of Brian to Spamalot to the London Olympics' closing ceremonies to various charity benefits and even his daughter's college commencement. Along the way, as you would expect, we get a wealth of anecdotes about Python – from their origins at Oxford and Cambridge to making Flying Circus to shooting three movies to Graham Chapman's early death to their triumphant final shows in 2014. Even if you know most of these stories from other sources, it's worth it to hear them again in Idle's indelible voice and open-hearted humor.
But his book is also as much about the people Idle met along the way. There are long passages about his friendship with George Harrison and the role the late, lamented Beatle played in financing The Life of Brian. Late in the book we're treated to a genuinely heartwarming chapter detailing his decades-long friendship with Robin Williams. And, most importantly, the connecting thread in his life after 1977 is his deep and abiding love for his wife Tania. Steve Martin, Edie Izzard, Mike Nichols, Steve Coogan, various Rolling Stones, and many other celebrities all make an appearance, and the overriding impression is that Idle is one of the beloved comedians of the last 50 years. Written in his distinctive voice and shot through with humor and kindness, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life makes it impossible to disagree.
Some of my friends argued about which Beatle they were. I, on the other hand, pondered which Python I was. The answer – pretty definitively, I think – is John. But as I read and enjoyed Eric Idle's "sortabiography" Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, it was worth remembering that I sang his "The Lumberjack Song" at a talent show when I was a senior in high school. Bits of bobs of all the Pythons have been hardwired into my sensibility, and for that reason Idle's book is a sheer delight. The title song serves as a rough frame for the book, tracing its many appearances over the years, from The Life of Brian to Spamalot to the London Olympics' closing ceremonies to various charity benefits and even his daughter's college commencement. Along the way, as you would expect, we get a wealth of anecdotes about Python – from their origins at Oxford and Cambridge to making Flying Circus to shooting three movies to Graham Chapman's early death to their triumphant final shows in 2014. Even if you know most of these stories from other sources, it's worth it to hear them again in Idle's indelible voice and open-hearted humor.
But his book is also as much about the people Idle met along the way. There are long passages about his friendship with George Harrison and the role the late, lamented Beatle played in financing The Life of Brian. Late in the book we're treated to a genuinely heartwarming chapter detailing his decades-long friendship with Robin Williams. And, most importantly, the connecting thread in his life after 1977 is his deep and abiding love for his wife Tania. Steve Martin, Edie Izzard, Mike Nichols, Steve Coogan, various Rolling Stones, and many other celebrities all make an appearance, and the overriding impression is that Idle is one of the beloved comedians of the last 50 years. Written in his distinctive voice and shot through with humor and kindness, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life makes it impossible to disagree.
It's...fine? Not as funny as you'd think, not as insightful as you'd think, not as well-written as you'd think, but...fine?