Eric Idle

Yes, getting five stars from me, and not just because I'm a fan of Monty Python. It's also because Eric Idle is a very good writer (as one would expect) and he puts his childhood out there as well as his fame. And the famous people he became close friends with who were as famous as he without setting out to be icons: George Harrison, Keith Moon, Ron Wood are a few among many.

He is unstinting on his father's ironic post-War accidental death and his years in boarding school that were pretty show more darn traumatic. He's also brutally honest about his first marriage and relationship with his son, Carey. But then he got better, in no small thanks to his fellow Pythons and the comedic art they made.

And he dishes on their work sessions, his contributions of music to the troupe, the cold and wet that was Scotland during the filming of "Holy Grail" and how much George Harrison contributed to making sure that "Life of Brian" got made. There are also hilarious tales of their tours, including "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" and late plane arrivals and zig-zagging across Canada because they did not realize when they booked the tour how vast things are on the other side of the pond.

In short, a great read, insightful and honest and a glimpse into a life that was forever impacted by his work as a young man. And "Always look on the bright side of life" is the most requested song at British funerals, so that's gotta be something. show less

From extremely humble origins in small-town northern England … enduring a childhood marked by misfortune … toughened by years of hard knocks at public school where irreverence, a cheeky attitude and an ability to make people laugh ensured his survival … then on to Cambridge University, where he discovered his love of preformance and a genius for comedy, and where he made contacts that would change the course of his life … The unlikely story that unfolds in Eric Idle’s genial show more “sortabiography,” Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, is bracingly candid, often self-effacing, reassuringly humane and always entertaining. Many people reading the book will, of course, be on the hunt for naughty gossip about Monty Python’s Flying Circus and inner-circle revelations regarding the creation of the group’s surreal and audacious brand of sketch comedy. Eric Idle doesn’t disappoint but he also doesn’t devote disproportionate space to the five years of the series’ run, though certainly the outlandish success of Python made everything that followed possible. What we discover in these pages is that there is much more to Eric Idle than Monty Python. We discover a man who is truly grateful for the success that, against the odds, has come his way, one who acknowledges that he has often been absurdly lucky, and someone for whom friendship is a sustaining force on a par with food and drink. Idle writes eloquently and with compassion about his many creative partners and all the other people, some of them famous, whose support and encouragement helped steer him through the bleak times. We finish the book with the impression of a supremely gifted, highly intelligent, multi-faceted performer who after fifty years in show business still possesses the resolve to make things happen and the energy to get the job done. Covering everything from WWII to a meeting of the surviving Pythons in 2017, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is as inspiring as it is enjoyable. show less

An edited and improved version of a blog for his website in the mid 2000s, while on the road on a tour of North America and Canada. I read it expecting to be amused - and was; I didn't expect to be moved quite so much. Written in his early 60s, he was clearly besotted with his wife, absolutely doted on his young daughter, who he missed a lot and enjoyed being a stand up comedian for the first time and playing in front of an audience with his small group of performers.

Many descriptions of show more traveling, the towns and cities he played but quite often his blog would meander off into other areas. Some (having a good time with a famous friend) seemed a bit like name dropping and "whoo look at me with my famous mates" but he writes movingly and in detail about his friendship with George Harrison (a real bromance, if ever there was one), when Harrison and his wife were nearly killed in a break in at home by a madman, his death, and how he has grown tired of losing friends. Perhaps most movingly was the ending, when he writes of being back home, the delight of his daughter waking up to find him there and how happy he was to be home with family and dogs.

It's the kind of book you can pick up and read anytime; the chapters are generally short, relating to each tour date. As a bonus there's also a chapter at the end on the genesis of Spamalot - how it came about, the response from the other Pythons, etc.

Idle (unsurprisingly) writes very well, despite by his own admission never having been able to keep a diary for long. I was fortunate to pick this up for very little in a charity bookshop in 2018 but I think I'd have been more than happy to buy when it came out in 2005, if I'd known of its existence back then. show less

This was an entertaining, touching and warm memoir of Eric Idle’s life and career. It was chock-a-block with photos (I love photos) and plenty of great stories. It was interesting to hear about how he honed his craft as a screenwriter and playwright, adapting Spamalot for the stage, and about his more recent work such as The Entire Universe in One Hour. Glimpses into his composing technique are interesting too, such as how he came up with “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”. And I show more always, always love hearing about his friendship with George, even if reading about the funeral and the memorial service makes me cry every single time. There are also lovely moments about Robin Williams, and Eric’s recent collaborations with John Cleese where they renewed and strengthened their friendship.

Some reviews expressed irritation or fatigue with the name-dropping; I was OK with the name-dropping, because if you know a lot of famous people, that’s going to come with the territory. I became exhausted reading about all the epic parties they went to! For someone whose idea of a wild Friday night is staying up reading until 11 instead of going to bed at 10, going to a masked ball in Venice or partying till dawn with the Rolling Stones is the sort of thing that I prefer to read about from the comfort of my own sofa rather than actually experiencing.

This is good fun to read if you’re a fan of Eric Idle. But if all you want is Python, there are plenty of more in-depth books on that subject: this book is about all of Eric’s life. show less