Always
Look on the Bright Side of Life (A sortabiography)
Eric
Idle
Crown
Archetype.
Comedian,
actor, author, singer, playwright, director and songwriter. Eric Idle
has turned his hand to all these with enormous success. The name
Monty Python is known all over the world, and millions have taken the
absurdist and so-typically British silliness to their hearts. Much
has been written about the Python phenomena over the years, but
there’s always something to add. Most of the Python crew have
written memoirs, and Eric Idle adds to the knowledge by producing his
own sortabiography.
Idle
was born on March 29, 1943 in South Shields, County Durham, England.
His early life was touched by tragedy when his RAF veteran father
died in a road accident on Christmas Eve 1945 while hitchhiking home
on leave to his family. Idle was sent on a charitable basis to the
Royal Wolverhampton School, a tough boarding school where bullying
was rife. As he writes of the establishment, “It was a physically
abusive, bullying, harsh environment for a kid to grow up in. I got
used to dealing with groups of boys and getting on with life under
unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny and subversive at
the expense of authority. Perfect training for Python.”
Idle
went on to Cambridge University under a scholarship, where he met
John Cleese and formed a lifelong friendship that expanded over the
swinging Sixties to include all the future Pythons. Idle’s
induction to the famous Footlights saw him blossom as a
sketch-writer, which segued into a varied career which has seen him
travel the world almost as much as fellow Python, Michael Palin. Idle
got to know and love such great stars as Beatle George Harrison,
comic geniuses Robin Williams and Billy Connolly, as well as
countless other stars of stage, screen and TV. His tributes to
Harrison and Williams are especially moving.
Named
after his greatest hit, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,
which became the top request at British funerals, this sortabiography
is a laugh aloud insider account into the Python crew at their best
and worst, and one man’s incredible journey into the world
consciousness.
