Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years PDF

Author: Michael Palin

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2008-11-11

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 1429918330

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The amazingly insightful, funny and brilliant record of Michael Palin's prime years as a member of the famed comedic group, Monty Python. Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s. This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face of British comedy. But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort---as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime. Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading. The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period. "A wealth of fascinating stuff about Monty Python." ---The Independent (UK)

Travelling to Work

Travelling to Work PDF

Author: Michael Palin

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2015-11-24

Total Pages: 658

ISBN-13: 1466888911

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

As in Halfway to Hollywood and The Python Years, Travelling to Work contains a decade's worth of unedited, unabridged diary entries from multi-talented funnyman Michael Palin. In this volume, the last Palin has agreed to publish, the former Python documents his experience hosting a series of BBC travel documentaries even as he continues to develop new dimensions as a writer and actor. Python faithful will love Palin's candid comments and wry wit even as they are awed by his dogged work ethic and myriad accomplishments. From his work for the BBC to his dramatic portrayal of the headmaster on Alan Bleasdale's award-winning drama GBH, to his success as screenwriter, playwright and novelist, these pages display a true modern-day Renaissance Man. Included as well are behind the scenes stories from the making of Fierce Creatures, the tumultuous follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, along with Palin's reflections on dealings with his manager, editors and publishers--enough insider information to please any show business enthusiast. In short, Travelling to Work is a roller-coaster ride driven by the Palin hallmarks curiosity, a sense of adventure and unflappable cool demonstrating he is truly, in his own words, 'someone grounded and safe who can be tempted into almost anything.'

Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years PDF

Author: Michael Palin

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2008-11-11

Total Pages: 700

ISBN-13: 9780312384883

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A perceptive and funny chronicle, these diaries are a rich portrait of how Monty Python emerged and triumphed.

Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980--1988

Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980--1988 PDF

Author: Michael Palin

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2011-03-15

Total Pages: 649

ISBN-13: 1429995939

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 title The second volume of Michael Palin's diaries covers the bulk of the 1980s, a decade in which the ties binding the Pythons loosened—they made their last film Monty Pyton's Meaning of Life in 1983. For Michael, writing and acting took over much of his life, culminating in his appearances in A Fish Called Wanda, in which he played the hapless, stuttering Ken, and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. Halfway to Hollywood follows Palin's torturous trail through seven movies and ends with his final preparations for the documentary that was to change his life—Around the World in 80 Days. During these years he co-wrote and acted in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits as well as spearing in Gilliam's follow-up success Brazil. Palin co-produced, wrote and played the lead in The Missionary opposite Maggie Smith, who also appeared with him in A Private Function, written by Alan Bennett. In television the decade was memorable for East of Ipswich, inspired his links with Suffolk. Such was his fame in the US, he was enticed into once again hosting the enormously popular show Saturday Night Live. He filmed one of the BBC's Great Railway Journeys as well as becoming chairman of the pressure group Transport 2000. His life with Helen and the family remains a constant, as the children enter their teens. Palin's joy of writing is evident once more in Halfway to Hollywood as he demonstrates his continuing sense of wonder at the world in which he finds himself. A world of screens large and small.

The First 28 Years of Monty Python, Revised Edition

The First 28 Years of Monty Python, Revised Edition PDF

Author: Kim "Howard" Johnson

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Published: 1999-06-19

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780312169336

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The ultimate guide for Python fans is back, newly revised for the nineties. The years since the publication of the first edition have brought a great deal of change for the Python alumni-most notably most celebrated postgraduate successes: A Fish Called Wanda, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Disney's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This revised edition also contains all of the original material (dead parrots, fish-slapping, silly walks, Knights Who Say Ni, etc.) that made the first edition such a success! The First 280 Years of Monty Python celebrates the group's career with exclusive interviews, rare photographs, and an episode guide detailing the original TV shows. It's a must-have item for any Python fan.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About _____* I Learned from Monty Python

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About _____* I Learned from Monty Python PDF

Author: Brian Cogan

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2014-03-18

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1250004705

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A comprehensive and hilarious guide to understanding the many Monty Python jokes and allusions Throughout their five seasons on British television (and well into the troop's movie sequels and assorted solo projects), Monty Python became a worldwide symbol not only for taking serious subjects and making them silly, but also for treating silly subjects seriously. Monty Python provided a treasure trove of erudite "in" jokes, offering sly allusions to subjects as diverse as T.S. Elliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" (as part of a commercial for a weight loss product) and how to conjugate Latin properly (as explained by a Roman centurion to a Jewish zealot painting anti-Roman graffiti on a wall). It was this combination of the uniquely highbrow but silly humor that inspired countless followers (Saturday Night Live, to name one). This hilarious and helpful guide puts Python's myriad references into context for the legion of fans, scholars, and pop culture aficionados that still strive to "get" Monty Python.

The First 200 Years of Monty Python

The First 200 Years of Monty Python PDF

Author: Kim Johnson

Publisher: Saint Martin's Griffin

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 9780312033095

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book celebrates the group's career with exclusive interviews, rare photographs, and an episode guide detailing the original TV shows still being aired daily across the country. Photos throughout.

And Now for Something Completely Different

And Now for Something Completely Different PDF

Author: Kate Egan

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2020-09-21

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1474475175

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Examining Monty Python's enduring status as an unconventional, anti-authoritarian comedy touchstone, this book reappraises Python's comedy output from the perspective of its 50 years of cultural circulation. Reconsidering the group's originality, impact and durability, a range of international scholars explores Python's influences, production contexts, frequently controversial themes, and the cult status and forms of fandom associated with Python in the present day. From television sketches, including The Funniest Joke in the World, Hell's Grannies, Dead Parrot and Confuse-a-Cat, to the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, to songs from the albums and live shows, this book is a ground-breaking critical analysis of the Monty Python phenomenon.

Professor at Large

Professor at Large PDF

Author: John Cleese

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781501716577

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"Comedian and actor John Cleese in the role of Ivy League professor at Cornell University, where he is currently professor-at-large. This book includes a selection of talks, essays, and lectures and provides a unique view of Cleese's endless pursuit of intellectual discovery across a range of topics"--