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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.