A musical written by Eric Idle and based on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is about to open in Chicago before moving on to Broadway. Dave Eggers (of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” fame) explains in this interview and this article why he’s a Python fan. As was Elvis apparently: known to quote Idle’s “Nudge Nudge” skit to his friends.
I’m quite happy to read of Americans praising British humour, but one of the key differences between US and British comedy is that generally we know when to quit. The Pythons, to their credit, moved on – or at least all of them did except Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. Chapman took the Peter Cook route and drank himself to death, but Idle has been living off Python ever since. Spamalot – presumably the title is a not-so-subtle reference to the Pythons’ main claim to linguistic immortality – sounds a terrible idea. Mind you, a West End revival of Mary Poppins sounds a terrible idea but it’s opened to rave reviews, so what do I know.
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