Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
A Sortabiography
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
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.
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 lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout that involve other close friends and luminaries such as Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon and Mike Nichols - let alone the Pythons themselves - Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named after the song he wrote for Life of Brian that has since become the number-one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the off-beat humour that has delighted audiences for decades.
A legend in his own lunchtime, Eric is the author of many books, some not half bad, some not even a quarter bad. Now he enters his anecdotage as the last word in Python memoirs, and the last of this extraordinary group to tell his story. 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons, and Eric is celebrating the occasion with this laugh-out-loud memoir, chock-full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life that features everyone from Princess Leia to the Queen.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The term comedy genius gets thrown around too loosely, but it’s 100% true of Eric Idle. So of course the Monty Python star’s autobiography is hilarious. It’s also poignant and insightful. We learn how some of the greatest sketches and songs in British comedy history came to be and revel in warm, evocative recollections of encounters with Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, The Queen and many other fascinating figures. We never sensed the ugly clang of names being dropped though—just Idle’s appealing air of amusement that his life, which began in difficult circumstances, came to be so eventful and star-studded.
Customer Reviews
Ok
The incessant name dropping gets annoying though. Didn't anything interesting ever happen to Eric without another celebrity being involved? Maybe it didn't.