If I could swap places with any person in history for a day or so, Sam Beckett style (Quantum Leap rather than Krapp's Last Tape, though that might be interesting too) then I'd probably like to have a go at being King Henry VIII (pre-gout) or Ra-Ra-Rasputin (pretty much any time, even the day of his death as I'd be keen to see what actually happened). For a Total Recall style holiday something like that would be cool.
If I had to choose someone else's life to live then I think it would have to be Michael Palin. He was a central (and for me the best) part of one of the most influential comedy troupes of all time and unlike most of his colleagues has gone on to produce a consistently high standard of incredibly varied work in the last thirty years. By all accounts he has managed to do all this and still remained a thoroughly likeable and pleasant man throughout. It's good to know that it is possible to have a career in this business whilst retaining both poise and a professional integrity.
Tonight courtesy of the mawkish Emma Kennedy I was able to go to the NFT to see a screening of two episodes of "Ripping Yarns" followed by an interview with Jones and Palin conducted by Arthur Smith. I was also given access to the green room after the show where I would be able to rub shoulders with these brilliant men who meant so much to me as a teenager and who have failed to disappoint me in my adult life.
Having said all this "Ripping Yarns" is not my favourite Palin/Jones project and although it has some wonderful moments and terrific comedy ideas I've always felt it to be a bit flawed. Flawed in a great way. Flawed in a "let's try and do something different and original" way. Rather than flawed in an Eric Idle "you're paying me how much?" kind of a way.
All the nerds of London seemed to have assembled for the evening. If a bomb had blown up during the screening then "Forbidden Planet" shares would have plummeted. I am guessing when the cleaners came to tidy up afterwards they noticed a strange sweaty smell hanging in the air. But there was a sense of excitement and although I am scrupulously clean I was sharing in it and possibly exuding the same adolescent pheremones.
The episodes that were shown were not the more famous ones that I've seen several times, but ones that I haven't seen for ages if ever. They confirmed Palin as a fine actor and each had two or three moments of surprising and brilliant comedy, but I still found them a little too slow-paced. Still miles better than most modern day attempts at something similar, but I am judging them against the other work these guys have done rather than against the work of Avid Merrion. They are still definitely well worth watching, though I think the criticisms that Jones and Palin made afterwards were valid (it would have been better to have a team doing all the episodes, rather than employing actors with varying levels of performance and also much better if Palin had played some of the more comedy characters).
After the episodes the writers of this show were introduced and approached the stage very touchingly with their arms around each other. "When did you last see each other?" was an early question and they both laughed, "About two weeks ago for dinner," one of them answered, "And we'll probably be going out for a pizza afterwards." After all these decades of friendship and despite having had to write in partnership for a good chunk of this time they are still great friends. You had to love them both.
Best story of the night was Palin revealing that when he'd been on Saturday Night Live he'd had to do a sketch where he stuffed live cats down his trousers. In rehearsal this had worked fine, but in the heightened atmosphere of a live TV show even the animals got nervous and he was struggling with them, aware that the sketch was failing and that he was being watched by 45 million Americans and this could be the end of his career (and he was in danger of being accused of abusing the animals as he tried to force them down his trousers). The terrified creatures had shat themselves and Palin had to do the rest of the show smelling of cat shit. In a confessional box sketch with Dan Akroyd the smell was so bad that the star of "Spies Like Us" forgot his lines and looked at Palin as if to say, "I know this show is nerve-racking, but not that nerve-racking". It was only about half an hour into the show that he could explain it was the cats who had had the indiscretion and not him.
There was also a nice moment when he discussed the fact that in the show about the claw he had been acting as a 60 year old, but now he was one and remarked on the disparity of what he had imagined that would have been like all those years ago and the truth of it now. It has to be said he was looking phenomenally good for someone over 60. I am beginning to think maybe he's made a pact with the devil.
At the end I was tired and hungry and a little bit shy about being with my comedy heroes. What would I say? So I just sloped off for a pizza with my friend instead. I knew Emma would be cross for me missing the opportunity to embarrass myself in front of these comedy gods, but I have already met them both once (Palin I think I mentioned in Warming Up and Jones at a book signing of his when I was 18). I just thought I'd feel like a spare cat at a trouser stuffing and maybe make the same judgement call as well.
As we were finishing our meal, Jones and Palin did indeed enter the restaurant as they'd promised. I'd kind of assumed they were joking and that they wouldn't really want to eat at Pizza Express anyway. But there they were. Still friends after all these years.
Luckily I had the sense not to go up and disturb them now. I hope everyone else was as respectful. They deserve to share a pizza uninterrupted by anything but their own laughter.
