I’ve been a big Monty Python fan for over 30 years. Little did I know that some of my favorite movies as a kid like A Fish Called Wanda and Yellowbeard which I saw in the 1980s had that Pythonesque humor to it. (Ok, Yellowbeard is not so good once you get older.) And I had seen Eric Idle in that movie as well as Nuns on the Run, National Lampoon’s European Vacation and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. And I was very aware of him as a comedy actor.
So, Idle had the abilities as the one Python who work the best with whatever material they could hand to him. Graham Chapman and John Cleese explored the darker humor themes while Terry Jones and Michael Palin seemed to have the slapstick like humor that was common more in The Benny Hill Show along with Terry Gillam’s absurdist surreal humor. Yet, Idle, despite his surname, seemed to be the most animated of all the Pythons.
Maybe it was because Idle seemed to be the one who always broke out in song and dance that he seemed to gravitate toward more roles than the other Pythons in the movies. Even though Palin had originated “The Lumberjack Song” on the Flying Circus TV show, Idle would later perform it in live performances especially Live at the Hollywood Bowl. While Palin and Idle both had good singing voices, Palin always seemed to hold a little back. For an outrageous song like “Lumberjack,” you need someone like Idle to perform it well on stage.
I had been thinking for years in the late 1990s that Monty Python and the Holy Grail would make a good musical. And apparently so did Idle. Even though the movie didn’t have many songs, there was a feel to it like it could work as a musical. The movie had basically been financed by many musicians and musical groups like Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin and George Harrison started Handmade Films to get Life of Brian into production.
So, a musical like Spamalot was inevitable. And it became a big hit on Broadway. Directed by Mike Nichols and starring Tim Curry as King Arthur, there were over 1,500 performances and it made about $168 million winning three Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction for Nichols. However, reading Idle’s The Spamalot Diaries feels like you’re the third party in a circle of friends who is hearing an event you didn’t go to. It’s hard to read about the importance of a musical number that you’ve never seen. So, this book is really only for those that have seen the musical.
It’s nice reading how Idle, Nichols and the rest of the cast and crew worked together but it’s missing two key elements – Nichols and Curry. Nichols died in 2014 and Curry suffered a stroke in 2012 that affected his mobility as well as his speech. So, a book like this might have worked out better had it been released 15 years ago while Curry and Nichols could still contributed to it. There are copies of emails that are used but it’s still missing the voices from others with the production. I almost feel the release of the book is meant as a publicity tool as Spamalot will be traveling around the country this year.
There were plans to make a live-action movie adaptation but in 2021, reportedly two other Python members didn’t want that. Chapman died in 1989 and Jones passed away in early 2020. So, it’s either Cleese, Gilliam or Palin who refused to allow a movie adaptation. Rumors have also persisted following the original theatrical run that other Python members weren’t too happy with Idle. He’s continued to do work with Cleese, so I’m not pointing any fingers deductive reasoning can point to who those two Python members might possible be.
Also, movie adaptations of popular musicals based on movies haven’t been too popular. Look at Mean Girls, The Color Purple and even The Producers, which was a hit on Broadway. Maybe the success of Wicked might change their minds, but it’s hard to imagine Monty Python and the Holy Grail done differently on the screen. It’s considered by many American audiences to be the best Python movie, so why mess with perfection?
Diaries a very short book at about 200 pages and a smaller book dimensions. If you’re an avid reader, you could probably put it away in a weekend. You might find some of the stories and recounts amusing. But I really felt Idle was stretching a lot of material to make it even a short book length for publication. If there is ever was a book publication that is the equivalent of “Well, you just had to be there,” this would be it.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 