Visar resultat för..."Eric Idle"

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Funny, wicked, naughty, eye-popping and compulsively, joyously brilliant'STEPHEN FRYFrom the ingenious comic performer, founding member of Monty Python, and creator of Spamalot, comes an absurdly funny memoir of unparalleled wit and heartfelt candour.Best known for his unforgettable roles in Monty Python, from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this brilliantly entertaining memoir that takes us on an unforgettable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of The Pythons, and this laugh-out-loud memoir is the perfect celebration, chock-full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life that features everyone from Princess Leia to the Queen. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout that involve close friends and luminaries such as Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Steve Martin, Paul Simon and David Bowie - let alone the Pythons themselves - Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal hilarity and heart. Named after the song he wrote for Life of Brian that has since become the number-one song played at funerals in the UK, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life reflects on the highlights of his life and career with the off-beat humour that has delighted audiences for decades.

This is the definitive, the official, the most lavish, the completely-different-to-anything-done-before Pythons' autobiography, reissued to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated live shows.Over forty years ago, a group of five Englishmen - and one wayward American - rewrote the rules of comedy. MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, an unheralded, previously unseen half-hour show of sketches, hilarities, inanities and animations, first appeared on the BBC late one night in 1969. Its impact has been felt on the world ever since. From its humble beginnings, it blossomed into the most influential movement in modern comedy. THE PYTHONS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY THE PYTHONS is a unique look at arguably the most important comic team of the modern age, with 64 pages of photographs, many culled from the team's own personal collections, many more seen for the first time. This is the definitive word on all things Pythonesque.

Carlton is an android working for Alex and Lewis, two comedians from the twenty-second century who travel the outer vaudeville circuit of the solar system known ironically as the Road to Mars. Being a computer he can't understand irony, but is nevertheless attempting to write a thesis about comedy, its place in evolution, and whether it can ever be cured. He is studying the comedians of the late twentieth century (including obscure and esoteric comedy acts such as Monty Python's Flying Circus) in his search for the comedy gene.Meanwhile, during an audition for a gig on the Princess Di (a solar cruise ship), his two employers inadvertently become involved in a terriorist plot against Mars, the planet of showbiz.Can Carlton prevent Alex and Lewis from losing their gigs, overcome the love thing and finally understand the meaning of comedy in the universe?From one of the original members of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python - from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and many more, as well as the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humour that has delighted his audiences for five decades. The year 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons and Eric is marking the occasion with this hilarious memoir chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life featuring everyone from Princess Leia to Queen Elizabeth.Written and read by Eric Idle(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018

A hilarious and heartwarming memoir of Monty Python legend Eric Idle's fifty-year quest to build the perfect home in Provence.In 1971, two years after the launch of Monty Python's Flying Circus made his comedy troupe global superstars - and made all their lives a little more complicated - Eric Idle decided to buy a ramshackle property in the south of France.In search of a simpler, quieter life, what followed was a story akin to A Year in Provence, but with more disaster, more heartbreak, more laughs - and much more spam.A tale spanning a fifty-year quest of home-building, friendship-making and bad-French-learning, Idle in Provence is a hilarious, tender and unforgettable memoir of Eric Idle's very own escape to the country.

ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD 'This is probably my favourite book of all time' Billy Connolly A pithy, laugh-out-loud story following John Kennedy Toole's larger-than-life Ignatius J. Reilly, floundering his way through 1960s New Orleans, beautifully resigned with cover art by Gary Taxali_____________'This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians . . . don't make the mistake of bothering me.'Ignatius J. Reilly: fat, flatulent, eloquent and almost unemployable. By the standards of ordinary folk he is pretty much unhinged, too. But is he bothered by this?No. For this misanthropic crusader against an America fallen into vice and ignorance has a mission: to rescue a naked female philosopher in distress. And he has a pirate costume and hot-dog cart to do it with . . ._____________'I succumbed, stunned and seduced, page after page, vocal with delight. A masterwork of comedy' New York Times'A fine funny novel. This is the kind of book one wants to keep quoting from' Anthony Burgess

Completed before he died, thirty years ago, this is the newly discovered autobiography of one of the most influential comedians of recent times, Marty Feldman. Marty Feldman was one of the most essential creative forces in British comedy embodied also by his close friends and creative partners from Beyond the Fringe (especially Peter Cook and Dudley Moore) and Monty Python (especially John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle).Marty played the fool, often very happily and with tremendous talent and volcanic, anarchic energy, for his entire life. Marty finished, and set aside eYE Marty soon before travelling to Mexico to shoot his final film. He did not know that he would die there, although he certainly felt he might die soon, and was haunted by the notion. The book is exactly as Feldman wrote it, with even the photos inserted where Feldman had noted they should go. Hilarious, deeply charming, aphoristic, ironic, charged throughout with lust for life and filled with scenes of great vanished eras and and portraits of other performers and friends, eYE Marty is the amazing discovery of the story of a man who was at the heart of the British comedy revolution.

A candid and brilliantly funny memoir......of how a tall, shy youth from Weston-super-Mare went on to become a self-confessed comedy legend.En route, John Cleese describes his nerve-wracking first public appearance at St Peter’s Preparatory School at the age of eight and five-sixths; his endlessly peripatetic home life with parents who seemed incapable of staying in any house for longer than six months; his first experiences in the world of work as a teacher who knew nothing about the subjects he was expected to teach; his hamster-owning days at Cambridge; and his first encounter with the man who would be his writing partner for over two decades, Graham Chapman.And so on to his dizzying ascent via scriptwriting for Peter Sellers, David Frost, Marty Feldman and others to the heights of Monty Python.Punctuated from time to time with John Cleese’s thoughts on topics as diverse as the nature of comedy, the relative merits of cricket and waterskiing, and the importance of knowing the dates of all the kings and queens of England, this is a masterly performance by a former schoolmaster.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'THE ROCK 'N' ROLL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Essential for fans and great reading for anyone else' Classic RockBreak-ups, make-ups, groupies, band politics, court battles, the tragic death of Rick Parfitt . . . This is Francis Rossi as you have never seen him before.Status Quo have sold over 100 million records worldwide, including 65 hit singles and 32 hit albums. The legendary band's career has mirrored the evolution of rock music. From the struggles of the flower-power '60s, the highs of the denim-clad '70s, the coke- and tequila-induced blur of the '80s, to fighting for musical integrity in the '90s and '00s and a fresh lease of life from new band members in recent years, Rossi has been there for the entirety of Quo's turbulent history.In I Talk Too Much, Rossi will reveal the truth behind one of the biggest rock bands of all time, as well as the personal highs and lows of a career spanning over 50 years. He lifts the lid on the man behind the music - from humble beginnings in Forest Hill and being labelled a has-been by the press in his twenties to opening Live Aid in 1985 - and why he's still going strong at seventy. Along the way he has fathered eight children with three mothers and beaten both alcoholism and cocaine addiction. Rossi comes clean about the time he almost left the band, what he really thinks about the music industry today and the complexities of his fifty-year friendship with Rick Parfitt.Painfully honest, riotously funny and frequently outrageous, I Talk Too Much covers the glory years, the dark days and the real stories behind the creation of some of the greatest rock music of all time.

The funny, warm and moving diaries of a man at the centre of one of the world's most influential comedy troupes.Michael Palin's diaries begin when he was newly married and struggling to make a name for himself in the world of television comedy. But Monty Python was just around the corner . . . This engaging volume is a window into the world of Monty Python, from the group's early cult success to the global superstardom that followed. Amongst tales from the making of THE HOLY GRAIL and LIFE OF BRIAN are stories of the three-day week and the various trials of a peripatetic life, told with Michael's trademark warmth and good humour.

'The soundtrack of [Harrison's] spiritual journey begins with the explosions of battle and ends, fifty-eight years later with the harmonies of eternal peace. And like all good stories, this one starts when the hero was just a child.'In Here Comes the Sun Joshua Greene sheds new light on the most mysterious of the Beatles, George Harrison, and provides a unique portrait of the man through his music and his spiritual quest. As Greene looks back at Harrison's early life and the years he spent growing up in an impoverished, post-war Liverpool, he follows the path taken by the quietly rebellious teenage, the experiences and friendships that helped to shape his destiny and, of course, explores Harrison's rollercoaster ride to fame as a member of the legendary Beatles. He also draws on scores of previously unpublished transcripts of recorded conversations, first-hand accounts and fresh anecdotes about Harrison and other musical greats such as Dylan and Presley. Poignant, insightful, and written with an immediacy that captures the very essence of the 'quiet one', Here Comes the Sun gives us an unprecedented close-up of Harrison's often underrated contribution to the Beatles' legacy, and his spiritual awakening through Indian music, mysticism and meditation.

If you're going to read one book about Hollywood, this is the one.As co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Michael Ovitz earned a reputation for ruthless negotiation, brilliant strategy and fierce loyalty to his clients. He reinvented the role of the agent and helped shape the careers of hundreds of A-list stars and directors, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Steven Seagal, Bill Murray, Robin Williams and David Letterman.But this personal history is much more than celebrity friendships and bare-knuckled deal-making. It's an underdog's story: How did a kid with no connections work his way into the William Morris mailroom, and become the most powerful person in Hollywood? How did a superagent also become a power in producing, advertising, mergers & acquisitions and modern art? And what were the personal consequences of all those deals?After decades of near-silence in the face of intense controversy, Michael Ovitz is finally telling his whole story in this blistering, unforgettable memoir.

'An affectionate biography of the polymath includes details of never-produced gems such as Monty Python's Third World War... As an adoring account of the career of one of the men who ran away to join the Flying Circus, it could hardly be bettered'- Guardian'Very readable...Ross writes beautifully and unsentimentally...there are factoids that even big Python fans may not know'-The Times'Comedy historian Robert Ross has achieved the impossible, sort of, with all of the surviving Pythons contributing to his new biography on the late Terry Jones.' - Daily Express'it provides an extraordinary glimpse into not only Terry's life but the early days of the Pythons' - Daily Mirror 'This book is timely. I hope it will send people back to his work, whether it be films he's directed, roles he's played ... and everything else that made him everybody's favourite polymath.' MICHAEL PALIN'He reminded me of somebody out of a children's story. Out of one of his children's stories. Or out of the children's literature he loved so much' TERRY GILLIAM'My finest time with Terry was playing Ratty to his Toad in his movie of The Wind in the Willows, which he also wrote and directed, and indeed for the rest of his life we emailed each other as 'Ratty' and 'Toady'' ERIC IDLE'My finest time with Terry was playing Ratty to his Toad in his movie of The Wind in the Willows, which he also wrote and directed, and indeed for the rest of his life we emailed each other as 'Ratty' and 'Toady'' Eric IdleSeriously Silly is an intimate portrait of Terry Jones - Python, actor, director, historian, reluctant national treasure and purveyor of sincere silliness - written by the man he chose to tell the story of his life. From his Welsh upbringing in Colwyn Bay, to meeting his lifelong friend Michael Palin at Oxford through revue sketches, anarchic children's shows and the creative genius of Monty Python, this is the story of a comedy legend. Throughout this journey, Terry's extraordinary determination and resilience shine through, not least in his final years as he battled with dementia.Written by his close friend Robert Ross, with a foreword from Michael Palin, A Middle Word by Eric Idle, plus an Afterword by Terry Gilliam (and the blessing of and cooperation of his family and the people who knew him best) Seriously Silly is not only the definitive celebration of a true pioneer of comedy, but a loving portrayal of the man behind the laughter.

Get to know a national icon in Eddie Izzard's hilarious and dazzling autobiography'Comic genius . . . Entertainment incarnate' Telegraph______Star of stage and screen. Tireless supporter of charity. Marathon runner. Political campaigner.Fashion icon. Human.There is no one quite like Eddie Izzard. This is the story of how she broke through.Her relentless optimism has led her to always do things her own way, even if it didn't work the first time, and her incredible self-belief has pushed her to keep on trying, even if it didn't work the second or third time either.Whether she was putting on teddy bear shows on boarding school beds or swordfighting on the streets of London, Eddie never stopped trying to achieve her dreams of becoming a performer.Brimming with her distinctively surreal humour and disarming candour, Believe Me tells the story of a person who never took no for an answer.______'This book is a raw, honest exploration of what it means to live your truth, to be unapologetically ambitious. It's about being brave. And hilarious' Chelsea Handler'Laughter trumps sorrow in candid comedian Eddie Izzard's Believe Me' Vanity Fair'A comedy gem' Guardian

'An excellent stocking filler' SpectatorThree Men on a Diet is the very funny and brutally honest story of three mighty men with nothing to gain and so much to lose: a diet book with a difference.Three Men on a Diet is the story of George, Reggie and Sebastian, three middle-aged friends and food- and drink-lovers, learning how to lower their calorie intake without losing their joie de vivre.Determined to improve his looks and health before it's too late (and after being told that he looked like a pregnant bulldog), Reggie persuades the others to join him on a five-month quest to shed three stone. Each has his own degree of cynicism, commitment and willingness to compromise on breakfast, parties and alcohol.Amidst the bewildering array of information on offer (what is a carb? What is saturated fat? How many units in a bottle of wine?), together they learn how to navigate stumbling blocks such as mayonnaise, chocolate and cheese, and support each other through fortnightly weigh-ins and varied levels of success with the Fast Diet, the Atkins Diet and others. At the very least, they hope to give up snoring and rekindle their love lives.Join the trio on their journey as they learn the truth about dieting. This hilarious and realistic guide rips up the rule books: it is an anti-diet book for those who enjoy the finer things in life.

The term 'national treasure' has seldom been more appropriate. Richard Briers was not only the nation's favourite next-door neighbour thanks to his work in the iconic BBC sitcom The Good Life, he was an actor you felt like you really knew, despite having only seen him on stage or screen.While his role as Tom Good might be considered the pinnacle of Richard's sixty-year career, it sits atop a mountain of roles that combined represent one of the most productive and varied careers in British entertainment history. Indeed, Richard's television work alone makes up a not insignificant portion of our country's best endeavours on the small screen, from Jackanory and the anarchic Roobarb and Custard through to Dr Who, Inspector Morse, Ever Decreasing Circles, Extras, and the long-running comedy drama, Monarch of the Glen. On the big screen Richard appeared alongside Raquel Welch, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Kathy Bates and Michael Keaton, and he even taught Keanu Reeves how to act like Sir Henry Irving.But it was on the stage where Richard felt most at home as, in addition to testing him as an actor, it would often satisfy his passion for taking risks. Appearances in the West End were often interspersed with pantomime seasons or a world tour playing King Lear alongside Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. He was, as he always described himself, 'just a jobbing actor'.Anecdote-rich, this revealing but celebratory book will also lift the lid on the stories behind the shows, films and plays that made up this extraordinarily prolific career, not to mention Richard's working and personal relationships with many of his best-known collaborators and co-stars.

'A great celebration of one of our most loved national treasures' Felicity KendalThe term 'national treasure' has seldom been more appropriate. Richard Briers was not only the nation's favourite next-door neighbour thanks to his work in the iconic BBC sitcom The Good Life, he was an actor you felt like you really knew, despite having only seen him on stage or screen.While his role as Tom Good might be considered the pinnacle of Richard's sixty-year career, it sits atop a mountain of roles that combined represent one of the most productive and varied careers in British entertainment history. Indeed, Richard's television work alone makes up a not insignificant portion of our country's best endeavours on the small screen, from Jackanory and the anarchic Roobarb and Custard through to Dr Who, Inspector Morse, Ever Decreasing Circles, Extras, and the long-running comedy drama, Monarch of the Glen. On the big screen Richard appeared alongside Raquel Welch, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Kathy Bates and Michael Keaton, and he even taught Keanu Reeves how to act like Sir Henry Irving.But it was on the stage where Richard felt most at home as, in addition to testing him as an actor, it would often satisfy his passion for taking risks. Appearances in the West End were often interspersed with pantomime seasons or a world tour playing King Lear alongside Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. He was, as he always described himself, 'just a jobbing actor'.Anecdote-rich, this revealing but celebratory book will also lift the lid on the stories behind the shows, films and plays that made up this extraordinarily prolific career, not to mention Richard's working and personal relationships with many of his best-known collaborators and co-stars.

'The Sahara embodies scale and mystery, the thin line between survival and destruction, the power to take life or to transform it . . .'Of all Michael Palin's epic voyages, this may be his greatest ever challenge: crossing the vast and unforgiving Sahara Desert. From the westernmost point of Senegal to Libya's Mediterranean beaches, Sahara is a journey full of beauty, excitement, danger - and plenty of camel stew.

'A battleground of immense geological forces that is a centre of human tectonics as well, with sacred and secular, tradition and technology, all pushing up against each other . . .'In Himalaya, Michael Palin travels the length of the world's most astonishing mountain range from its origins in the Khyber Pass to its final descent to the sea in the Bay of Bengal. Along the way he encounters landscapes both beautiful and deadly - and meets the extraordinary people who make these mountains their home.

'For most of my lifetime, half of my own continent had been chilled by a Cold War and concealed behind an Iron Curtain. Now there was the prospect of being able to travel through once-forbidden lands; of making a voyage of discovery on my very own doorstep . . .'In New Europe, Michael Palin embarks on a very different kind of adventure: a journey around the Europe he has never known. Along the way he meets Romanian lumberjacks, celebrates the summer solstice in Latvia and takes in some traditional olive oil wrestling in Turkey. This is an unmissable odyssey through twenty different countries from one of our most beloved travel writers.

'Once a traveller, always a traveller, and as long as there were maps and guide books and airline schedules I was still fatally susceptible to the lure of the open road . . .'Brazil: a growing global superpower, the size of half a continent, home to some of the world's most astonishing natural habitats. But despite having journeyed around the world and from pole to pole, Michael Palin had never explored this extraordinary country for himself. Here, he sets out to discover this vast and diverse nation in the adventure of a lifetime. Taking in shanty towns and waterfalls, pristine beaches and bustling cities, Brazil is the record of a journey of dazzling extremes.

'It was a journey of dazzling extremes. Beauty and ugliness, sophistication and squalor, unceasing urban noise and monastic tranquillity . . . This is a record of a year of wonder'Full Circle is the diary of Michael Palin's epic 245-day, 50,000-mile adventure around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. It's a journey that takes him through eighteen different countries - including some of the most politically volatile and physically demanding places on Earth. Told with Michael's trademark warmth and good humour, this is a spectacular story of high contrasts, intense drama and unmissable beauty.

'Home seems impossibly far away as we step out onto a rough base of ice and snow. The temperature is -25°C. This is considered warm . . .'Michael Palin's journey from North to South Pole sees him tackling Arctic ice floes, scaling Sudanese sand dunes and white-water rafting on the Zambezi. Pole to Pole chronicles this awe-inspiring overland adventure by train, truck, bike and Ski-Doo as Michael races against time to finally stand in Scott's shoes in the Land of the Midnight Sun.