2018;
272 pages. Full Title : Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography. New Author? : Yes. Genre
: Biography; Autobiography; Monty Python. Overall Rating : 9½*/10.
Full Disclosure: IMO Monty
Python and the Holy Grail is the greatest film of all time, and I will
brook no debate about it. I’m open to
any opinions as to the second-greatest film, especially if
you nominate The Magnificent Seven, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or The
Princess Bride. But for me, The Holy Grail is, well, the cinematic Holy
Grail.
Beyond that movie, however, I am quite ignorant about Monty Python. Their other movies didn’t wow me, and I’ve watched neither their Flying Circus television
series, nor their musical, Spamalot. I’d have trouble telling you the names of all the
Pythons, although I think I’d recognize them if you showed me them on a list.
So
it was quite the treat when Santa Claus brought me Eric Idle’s book “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” last
Christmas. It’s not quite a memoir,
since he tells you right up front he’s left out the shameful bits (on the advice
of his lawyer) and the filthy bits (on the advice of his wife). Nor is it quite an autobiography since
there’s very little about his personal life in the book. The main focus is his professional career.
Eric Idle calls it a “Sortabiography”,
and I think his suggestion is as good as any.
In the book’s Foreward, he says “if this isn’t exactly what went down, it’s certainly how
it should have happened”, and that certainly sounds like a
Sortabiography to me.
What’s To Like...
At
32 chapters covering 272 pages, Always Look on the
Bright Side of Life will tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know
about the careers of Monty Python in general and Eric Idle in particular. You’ll learn where the name came from, how
all the members met each other, and how they approached writing absurd comedy
as a group effort. There are eight pages
of glossy color photos in the middle, and a slew of
Eric’s personal pictures (in black-&-white) scattered throughout the text. In addition, there’s a 13-page index in the back, which I
found to be quite useful.
The
book primarily focuses on the ups-and-downs of the Monty Python troupe, and I
liked learning just how they broke into, and climbed up the ladder, of show biz. Comedy may be zany on the surface, but it’s a
serious enterprise underneath, with lots of outsiders trying to mooch a piece of the profits pie. Fame also takes its toll on
personal lives, and I liked that Eric Idle takes the bulk of the blame for the break-up
of his first marriage.
For
the most part, ALotBSoL is written in the
tone of a Monty Python routine, chock full of one-liners and irreverent
absurdities. This made it a delight to read.
Yet there are also some touching scenes.
Eric Idle’s closest friends seem to have been George Harrison, Robin
Williams, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, and Steve Martin, and when you look at
that list, all but one has passed away. George Harrison’s death seems to have had a
particularly profound effect on the author.
There’s a ton of name-dropping throughout the book, which I thoroughly
enjoyed. Musicians are in abundance, and
among those whom I haven't mentioned yet are the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (who?),
Alvin Lee (of Ten Years After), Deep Purple, Randy Newman, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Paul Simon, One
Direction, Mick Jagger, and Joni Mitchell.
Among the non-musicians cited are Spike Milligan (I can never find any of his books at the used-book stores), Firesign Theatre (yes, it’s properly spelled the British way), Brian Cox, and
Stephen Hawking. The latter two, both top-tier physicists, were huge
Monty Python fans, and they both are featured in a YouTube video,
wherein Hawking sings a verse of The Galaxy Song. You can see it here.
There’s
nothing lurid in the book, but unsurprisingly, there is plenty of sex and
drugs and rock-&-roll. There's also some cussing, as I'd expect from a Monty Python effort, yet I found the book to be well-written, funny, and informative. I learned about the devastating “Lewy body dementia”, had to look up the
“Curry’s brain” reference, got an bit
of art appreciation with the picture of Theodore Gericault’s “The Raft of the Medusa”, and learned a
new Latin phrase “Ars est celare artem”
(“The art
lies in concealing the art”).
Given that Eric Idle was 75-years-old when he wrote this, I was quite impressed.
Kewlest New Word ...
Doss (adj.;
British, informal) : To sleep in rough
or inexpensive accommodations.
Others : Vinous
(adj.); Demotic
(adj.); Doddle
(n.; British,
informal).
Excerpts...
I had flown to
Barbados to spend Christmas at the Coral Reef Club with Lorne Michaels and
Susan Forristal, Paul Simon and Shelley Duvall.
Unfortunately, Shelley was trying to give up smoking and cried a
lot. She was so miserable we begged her
to smoke again. Christmas Day was
illuminated by an extraordinary performance from a waiter who, slightly
inebriated, managed to pour flaming brandy all over himself instead of
Christmas pudding. Luckily only the
brandy burned, but it was a startling effect to be served by a burning
waiter. It felt like a Pink Floyd cover. (pg. 86)
Laughter is still
the best revenge. One day the sun will
die, one day the galaxy will die, one day the entire Universe will die. I’m not feeling too good myself. So, what have I learned over my long and
weird life? Well, firstly, that there
are two kinds of people, and I don’t much care for either of them. Secondly, when faced with a difficult choice,
either way is often best. Thirdly, always leave a party when people
begin to play the bongos. (pg.
269)
At fourteen I wanted to play
guitar very badly. By fifteen I did. (pg. 10)
I can’t
think of anything to nitpick about in Always Look
on the Bright Side of Life, so instead, here are some bits of Monty
Python trivia to whet your reading appetite.
Three things you didn’t know about Eric Idle:
01) His father was an RAF pilot, and died in
a highway accident while coming back home after WW2 ended. Eric grew up in a military orphanage.
02) His wife’s butt cheeks graced a cover of
Playboy magazine in the 1970’s. It's one of the color photos in the book.
03)
He once shook hands with Prince Charles while he was in
full-drag (Eric. Not the Prince.). There's a photo of it included in the book, albeit in black-&-white.
Three things you probably didn’t know about Monty Python:
01) They formed in 1969, but their work
wasn’t released in the USA until 1974.
02) They couldn’t find any film companies
that would finance the making of The Holy Grail. It was finally bankrolled by various members of
the bands Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, et. al.
03) From 1969 to 1983, they put out 5
movies, 45 TV shows, 5 stage shows, 5 books, and countless records including a
hit single. They were busy.
9½ Stars.
I’m not big on reading biographies/autobiographies, averaging about one per year. Always Look on
the Bright Side of Life was an unexpected treat for me, both for its trivia and its
humor. Who knows, this may inspire me to read a
second (auto)-biography
in 2019.
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