No Naughty Bits — an imaginative retelling of the landmark case between Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and US network television. Quote 'MONTYP' when booking.
September 19, 2011
NO NAUGHTY BITS Midweek Two for One
No Naughty Bits — an imaginative retelling of the landmark case between Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and US network television. Quote 'MONTYP' when booking.
September 16, 2011
The Life of Brian/Jesus: Turning Biblical Doctrine on its Head
Spoil Christmas for someone special with The Life of Brian/Jesus
I had been waiting on my copy of Julian Doyle's THE LIFE OF
BRIAN
JESUS, which finally arrived in the mail a few days ago, after which I blasted through the book—a miraculous thing in itself considering the snail's pace at which I normally read. I couldn't put it down. Doyle was the Editor for Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN—the film that caused a religious uproar and was banned in numerous countries for its supposed blasphemy.
Having been raised in the church myself, and still recovering from those weekly brainwashing sessions, oh how I loved this book! The Bible was written by men (i.e. not God). And then re-written, re-imagined, re-worked, re-invented again and again—by men. Doyle's book, well-researched and thoroughly absorbing, challenges everything you think you know about the life of Jesus vis-à-vis the sacred myths the keepers of the faith have used to indoctrinate en masse for centuries. A book wide-ranging in all that it deconstructs, Doyle challenges the unquestionable dogmata, what is literal and what is not, as well as many historical Biblical "facts" long held as truths. For one example that is sure to have some ecclesiastical shorts in a twist, Doyle suggests that Joseph was not a carpenter at all; rather, a Freemanson.
Along with Doyle's brilliant heresy, he analyzes the film LIFE OF BRIAN, scene for scene against actual Biblical events. His writing is Pythonesque itself, and at times juicily acerbic. Here's what some of the Pythons had to say:
"It's gripping stuff. Lots of interesting research and lots of blasphemies. I learned a lot. I've got my kids into it as well." —Terry Gilliam
"Disgusting book! I threw it in the bin, as instructed by Sarah Palin. My lawyers are currently looking at a copy and rather enjoying it." —Michael Palin
"A joyfully mischievous journey of discovery." —Terry Jones
No matter what your denomination, be it Catholic or Protestant, THE LIFE OFBRIAN
JESUS is sure to offend equitably; like Jones says in his introduction to the book—"likely to outrage and irritate a lot of people." Spoil Christmas for someone you love this year. You know you want to! The book, published by Matador, is available through Amazon and Amazon UK.
About the Author
Julian Doyle was the Editor and Special FX Director for Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL; Editor, FX Photographer and 2nd Unit Director on TIME BANDITS; Associate Producer on Gilliam's JABBERWOCKY; Post Production Director on MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL; and Editor for Monty Python's THE MEANING OF LIFE and LIFE OF BRIAN.
From the Publisher
"Four hundred years ago, the Pythons would have been burnt at the stake for making the film Life of Brian. But this was the late 20th century and the antiquated British blasphemy laws were something of an irrelevance. That was until July 1977 when a blasphemy case succeeded against Gay News for publishing a poem about a Roman centurion's homoerotic leanings towards the crucified Christ. It was decided to open Life of Brian in the USA where freedom of speech is enshrined in the constitution. Or so it was thought but soon after the premiere in New York in 1979, the opening salvo in what became a heated and often surreal religious war of words came from Rabbi Abraham Hecht who declared, 'Never have we come across such a foul, disgusting, blasphemous film before'. Life of Brian was banned in many countries for blasphemy. But what is blasphemy and what should be the punishment? Who wants the law and why? And does God believe in it? Julian Doyle, the film's editor, analyses the film and compares each scene of the film with the actual Biblical events and comes to some extraordinary conclusions, including some special insights into the film that has been voted Britain's best comedy ever. "
Having been raised in the church myself, and still recovering from those weekly brainwashing sessions, oh how I loved this book! The Bible was written by men (i.e. not God). And then re-written, re-imagined, re-worked, re-invented again and again—by men. Doyle's book, well-researched and thoroughly absorbing, challenges everything you think you know about the life of Jesus vis-à-vis the sacred myths the keepers of the faith have used to indoctrinate en masse for centuries. A book wide-ranging in all that it deconstructs, Doyle challenges the unquestionable dogmata, what is literal and what is not, as well as many historical Biblical "facts" long held as truths. For one example that is sure to have some ecclesiastical shorts in a twist, Doyle suggests that Joseph was not a carpenter at all; rather, a Freemanson.
Along with Doyle's brilliant heresy, he analyzes the film LIFE OF BRIAN, scene for scene against actual Biblical events. His writing is Pythonesque itself, and at times juicily acerbic. Here's what some of the Pythons had to say:
"It's gripping stuff. Lots of interesting research and lots of blasphemies. I learned a lot. I've got my kids into it as well." —Terry Gilliam
"Disgusting book! I threw it in the bin, as instructed by Sarah Palin. My lawyers are currently looking at a copy and rather enjoying it." —Michael Palin
"A joyfully mischievous journey of discovery." —Terry Jones
No matter what your denomination, be it Catholic or Protestant, THE LIFE OF
About the Author
Julian Doyle was the Editor and Special FX Director for Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL; Editor, FX Photographer and 2nd Unit Director on TIME BANDITS; Associate Producer on Gilliam's JABBERWOCKY; Post Production Director on MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL; and Editor for Monty Python's THE MEANING OF LIFE and LIFE OF BRIAN.
From the Publisher
September 15, 2011
No Naughty Bits: How smutty British childish humour took on corporate America and won
GUEST BLOG BY Pythonesque
Running until 15 October 2011
Tickets: Hampstead Theatre Box Office
No Naughty Bits at the Hampstead Theatre is much more than a documentary about the landmark legal battle between Monty Python and ABC Network Television in 1975. It's about the rights and wrongs of censorship (I wonder what Mary Whitehouse would have made of it!), about Anglo-American cultural differences and an examination of what's funny about Python humour, and why some people get it and some really don't (a bit like Marmite).
Talking of not getting it, Franklin, played by Issy van Randwyck, did a brilliant job of just not understanding what Python was about—at all. She blatantly misses the whole Python premise (reminds me of my ex!) and it's hilarious to watch.
Judge Lasker (played by Matthew Marsh whom I last saw on the set of Chancer many moons ago) was another memorable character. The author, Steve Thompson, has given Lasker such an unexpected, loveable, informal personality for a judge and a wry sense of humour: "I like my waffles with banana. How about you guys?" Keeping it legal, the other character which stood out for me was Python's lawyer, Osterberg (Clive Rowe). He is larger than life and fun. I can't find any one line that conveys his character so you'll have to take my word for it. Better still, go and see No Naughty Bits for yourself. I had a chance to ask Steve Thompson whether the appearance and personalities of the characters (other than Palin and Gilliam) were based on reality. "Not a jot" was the jist of his answer. To demonstrate the point, he told me that in real life, Osterberg was a small white guy!
As for Palin and Gilliam, my worries that someone else playing them would not be as good as the real Pythons got quashed a long time ago—after seeing my first performance of Spamalot. Harry and Sam did great and were very believably Palin and Gilliam. On press night, I had a balcony seat that gave me a clear view of where Terry Gilliam and Nancy Lewis-Jones were sitting. (Nancy, one of the characters in the play, in real life is married to Simon Jones of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame, plus Blackadder, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). It was a surreal experience to be able to watch Terry and Nancy both in the audience and on stage, and to see how they were reacting to lines their younger selves were saying!
All the Pythons get mentioned in the script but I felt something special was going on with respect to Graham. Perhaps, as a result of being a life-long Python fan, I felt his spirit was very much present even though his character was not in the play: Firstly, the line from which the title of the play is taken—"Joseph Michael Montgolfier went on to wash his torso, his legs and his... er, naughty bits" from a Series 4 Python episode—was Graham's line; and the fact that No Naughty Bits is playing in the Hampstead Theatre reminds me of Graham. In fact, every time I hear the word "Hampstead," I am reminded of Graham because the reversal sketch in which he plays a writer, dressed as a miner, was played in the TV news reports of his death: “Hampstead wasn't good enough for you was it? You had to go poncing off to Barnsley. You and your coal-mining friends.” Lastly, the script includes a reference to the "Face the Press" sketch in which Graham appears as the Minister for Home Affairs wearing a pink dress.Yes, you guessed it—the "high-pitched whine" line that has made it to the play, was Graham's.
A production detail I thought original was the way in which some scenes started, where the loud music playing during scene changes suddenly stopped and the dialogue would continue almost mid sentence. It was reminiscent of jump cuts in a movie. The way the audience are given the POV of the judge when witnesses are being questioned is really clever, requiring the defendants and plaintiffs to switch places. I'll leave you to figure that one out for yourself.
What's my favourite scene? It's where Gilliam, Palin and Osterberg read through a sketch in court at the request of the judge who says in response to Fried's objection to the read through: "I'm not doing this for my amusement...although I am amused." This Python sketch in fact is recommended viewing before you see the show:
so is this!
and this!
WARNING: This production may contain naughty bits.
Running until 15 October 2011
Tickets: Hampstead Theatre Box Office
Talking of not getting it, Franklin, played by Issy van Randwyck, did a brilliant job of just not understanding what Python was about—at all. She blatantly misses the whole Python premise (reminds me of my ex!) and it's hilarious to watch.
Judge Lasker (played by Matthew Marsh whom I last saw on the set of Chancer many moons ago) was another memorable character. The author, Steve Thompson, has given Lasker such an unexpected, loveable, informal personality for a judge and a wry sense of humour: "I like my waffles with banana. How about you guys?" Keeping it legal, the other character which stood out for me was Python's lawyer, Osterberg (Clive Rowe). He is larger than life and fun. I can't find any one line that conveys his character so you'll have to take my word for it. Better still, go and see No Naughty Bits for yourself. I had a chance to ask Steve Thompson whether the appearance and personalities of the characters (other than Palin and Gilliam) were based on reality. "Not a jot" was the jist of his answer. To demonstrate the point, he told me that in real life, Osterberg was a small white guy!
As for Palin and Gilliam, my worries that someone else playing them would not be as good as the real Pythons got quashed a long time ago—after seeing my first performance of Spamalot. Harry and Sam did great and were very believably Palin and Gilliam. On press night, I had a balcony seat that gave me a clear view of where Terry Gilliam and Nancy Lewis-Jones were sitting. (Nancy, one of the characters in the play, in real life is married to Simon Jones of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame, plus Blackadder, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). It was a surreal experience to be able to watch Terry and Nancy both in the audience and on stage, and to see how they were reacting to lines their younger selves were saying!
All the Pythons get mentioned in the script but I felt something special was going on with respect to Graham. Perhaps, as a result of being a life-long Python fan, I felt his spirit was very much present even though his character was not in the play: Firstly, the line from which the title of the play is taken—"Joseph Michael Montgolfier went on to wash his torso, his legs and his... er, naughty bits" from a Series 4 Python episode—was Graham's line; and the fact that No Naughty Bits is playing in the Hampstead Theatre reminds me of Graham. In fact, every time I hear the word "Hampstead," I am reminded of Graham because the reversal sketch in which he plays a writer, dressed as a miner, was played in the TV news reports of his death: “Hampstead wasn't good enough for you was it? You had to go poncing off to Barnsley. You and your coal-mining friends.” Lastly, the script includes a reference to the "Face the Press" sketch in which Graham appears as the Minister for Home Affairs wearing a pink dress.Yes, you guessed it—the "high-pitched whine" line that has made it to the play, was Graham's.
What's my favourite scene? It's where Gilliam, Palin and Osterberg read through a sketch in court at the request of the judge who says in response to Fried's objection to the read through: "I'm not doing this for my amusement...although I am amused." This Python sketch in fact is recommended viewing before you see the show:
so is this!
and this!
September 13, 2011
I Just Told Terry Gilliam "I Love You!!"
September 3, 2011
Hampstead Theatre's World Premiere of No Naughty Bits
WARNING: This production may contain naughty bits.
Dates: 8 September - 15 October 2011
Tickets: Hampstead Theatre Box Office
Audio Described Performance, Saturday 18 June 3pm, with a touch tour at 1.30pm
Captioned Performance, Tuesday 11 October 7.30pm, with transcribed post-show discussion
Director: Edward Hall
Writer: Steve Thompson
Designer: Francis O'Connor
Lighting Designer: Rick Fisher
Composer: Simon Slater
Sound Designer: Matt McKenzie
Casting Director: Suzanne Crowley and Gilly Poole
Costume Supervisor: Caroline Hughes
Production Manager: Andrew Quick
Cast:
Sam Alexander
Harry Hadden-Paton
John Guerraiso
Matthew Marsh
Joseph May
Clive Rowe
Issy van Randwyck
Charity Wakefield
September 2, 2011
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