Eric Idle

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Hello, my name's Eric Heidel. And I feel moderately aroused
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about being Conan O'Brien's friend.
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You're moderately aroused?
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Yes, which is about as much as I can get
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at this age.
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LAUGHTER Hey there, and welcome to.
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Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, my little podcast.
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Really just a scheme of a grift to force people
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to talk to me and possibly end up being my chum,
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a word you don't hear much anymore and for good reason.
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In fact, I've got some chums with me right here. Sonia,
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would you say you're my chum? I'm your chum. No
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one says chum. It's a weird word. It's a weird one, right?
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It's also what you throw in the ocean to attract sharks. Yes,
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I know. Isn't that interesting? We're your bloody fish guts.
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Yes.
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Thank you. Do you need an introduction at this point,
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Matt Gourley? I guess they're always first-time listeners, long-time fans.
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Matt Gourley, you are my chum as well. Do you
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ever use chum? You seem like a guy that might
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use chum. I think maybe ironically, yes. Chum chap, uh,
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boon companion.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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Right. My boon companion. That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah.
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Uh, no.
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I say pal a lot.
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Pal's good.
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Why do some words stick around and others just sort
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of fade?
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Imagine if you did this show a hundred years ago,
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it would have been Conan O'Brien needs a chum.
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Yeah.
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Well, also it would have been called filthy Irish immigrant
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needs a chum. How did you get in this studio? Dirty,
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dirty Irish dog needs a chum. Uh, Scum that should
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just be cannon fodder for the northern troops in the
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Civil War. Conscripted soldiers. Caveman. Recently arrived from the country
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with no food. Anyway, we could go down a darker
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and darker path. There was a time, you know, I
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grew up in a household. My grandmother lived with us
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for quite a while, and she used to tell us
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stories about being persecuted when she was young because she
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was born in like 1890. In Massachusetts? Yeah, in Massachusetts.
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And in Western Massachusetts, she would remember people playing pranks
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on you if you were an Irish Catholic and teasing
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you if you were an Irish Catholic. So she used
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to try and warn me, be careful when you go
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to school. I'm like, you know, what are you talking about?
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My teacher's wearing a dashiki, you know? But how good
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the Irish had it. There's a poster of Malcolm X
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on the wall of my English class. Malcolm X and
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the Fonz. And you're like, look out! They're going to
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taunt you for being Irish, Catholic today. But the Irish,
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the persecution they face is pranks and teasing. That's having
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it pretty good. Yeah, the big one was my grandmother
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used to say, now today, on St. Patrick's Day, she'd say,
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they're going to come after you pretty hard today. And
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I'd be like, what? What are you talking about? And
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she used to say, they're going to wear orange, which
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is the Protestant color. So she said, the other fellows
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will wear orange to try and get your goat, you know,
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to tease you. So the others will wear orange to
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get you and they'll put chalk in your milk when
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you're not drinking. When you're not looking, I'm sorry. When
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you're not looking, they'll put chalk in your milk. And
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I'm like, uh-huh. Well, off to school now to see
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my Iranian friends. The most diverse. I had the most
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diverse school in the world. And this was at the
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height of the Iranian hostage situation. And when, you know,
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people were really mad at Iranians. This is like 1979
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for taking our people at the embassy hostage. It'd be
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great if I got to school and the Iranian kids
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during the height of that were like, look, look at
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the Catholic. We're going to put chalk in your milk.
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What does that do? I think it just tastes terrible.
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You drink your milk. And keep in mind, milk then
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tasted terrible anyway because in 1890 they weren't, wasn't homogenized
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or anything probably. Straight out of the teat. Yeah, it
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probably just, you know, everything tasted horrible in the 19th century.
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People didn't, things didn't start to taste good, I looked
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it up, until 1965. That was the first time food
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tasted good. Was it pumped full of hormones? I don't know.
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I don't know what they did. They just started adding
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a ton of really good, cool chemicals that made everything
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taste good. A lot of salt. I think whenever they
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invented Boo Berry and Count Chocula is when stuff started
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to taste good.
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Yeah.
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And before that, everything just tasted horrible. Oh, yeah.
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Yeah.
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Okay, I guess.
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I don't know.
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The first Thanksgiving was called This Blows. The day of
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this blows. Eat your really skinny turkey. Mmm, look, here's
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a root. Did you boil it? No, we just let
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it sit in the sun for one minute. Try and
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keep it down, then drink this corn husk. Anyway, very
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excited about our guest today. Very excited. My guest today is...
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And people say comedy legend. I get that all the time. Conan, Conan,
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comedy legend.
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Right, Sana?
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I've never heard anybody say that about you. I'm trying
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to get someone to say it. I know. That's so sad.
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What if I planted the seed? Well, anyway, I don't
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get it, but this guy really, I think, probably hears
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it 10 times a day. He is a comedy legend.
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He's one of the members of the iconic comedy group
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Monty Python, the group that changed it all. His book,
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Always Look, on the Bright Side of Life, which details
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his illustrious career, is available now. I am lucky enough
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to call him a friend. I'm honored he's with us today,
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truly honored. Eric Idle.
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Eric.
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I am spectacularly delighted that you took the time to
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sit down with me on this podcast. The only reason
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I invented this podcast was so that I could sit
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with the people I want to speak to most. And that, sir,
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includes you. I'm just, I'm really, it's a joy. And
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you wrote a book, Always Look, On the Bright Side
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of Life, your memoir. I devoured it because this is
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the book I've been waiting for. That and the Third
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Testament to the Bible. The one that redacts all the-
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It goes into overtime. Yeah, it goes into overtime, and
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it redacts a lot of the stuff in the Second Testament. Right, right,
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it does, yes. No, I was just- The Middle Age Testament.
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Middle Age Testament, yeah, yeah. Thou shalt become only moderately aroused.
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The book is a joy.
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Well, you very kindly wrote about it and put it
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on a blurb, which was more than kind of you.
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It was very sweet of you, and I was very
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touched by it. that.
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Well, thank you. I wrote it on one copy in
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a Barnes and Noble and then ran out. They erased it.
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You know what's nice is there's a bit of a
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challenge when talking to you about comedy, particularly Python, because
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it was such a culturally defining moment that you've discussed
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it and discussed it and discussed it. And I wonder,
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do you get sick of it? And I think to myself,
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how do I talk to Eric without asking him the
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same bloody questions he's been asked? 650,000 times.
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I had a very good friend called George Harrison, and
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we'd bother each other. I'd ask him all the questions
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about the Beatles, and he'd ask me all the questions
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about Python. He was an enormous Python fan. I mean,
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he was ridiculous.
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Well, he was not just a fan. I already knew this,
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but you really go in detail in your book. George
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Harrison went to great lengths to help support you guys financially,
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Life of Brian, when you were in trouble, when you
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weren't sure you were going to get the movie made.
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George Harrison wasn't just a casual fan. He was someone
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who was willing to risk his house.
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George mortgaged his house to pay for the life of Brian. Yeah.
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Which is quite something. It was like four and a
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half million dollars. In those days. And imagine telling your wife,
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you know, hey, honey, I've just given all the money
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from my house to the pythons.
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To make a movie.
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To make a movie about religion.
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That makes fun of the crucifixion at one point.
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I think it'll be all right.
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It'll be all right. It should go fine.
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I mean, that's an insane thing to do, isn't it?
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Yeah. It's ridiculous.
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It's fantastic.
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It's a great story. He obviously has a cameo in
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the movie that diehard fans know about. You can see
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George in the movie with a ridiculous beard on.
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In Tunisia.
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In Tunisia.
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Yeah.
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And you've told me over the years when we've had
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a moment to chat, you've said that you often would
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play the guitar with George. You talk about it in
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your book. You would. You would sit around and strum
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the guitar, and I can't even imagine playing guitar with
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a Beatle, especially the best guitarist in the Beatles.
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Well, he's very encouraging. I mean, he would be very encouraging.
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So we'd just play. I mean, he loved playing. I mean,
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he's a musician. Right. It's one of the lucky things
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I had that I could play guitar, so I could
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sit in with a lot of these chaps and just play,
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you know. And then at our house, he'd come over
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and we'd have little sing songs and, you know, and
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then he'd teach you how to do the riffs.
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So you'd ask him, I just don't know how this
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part of Here Comes the Sun goes, and he would
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say it goes like, and he would he would.
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Show you like Norwegian wood he goes it's all there
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you know and he'd just show you on the keyboard
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on the fretboard.
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Isn't that insane that's just mind-boggling to me.
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In fact later on in life he got all these
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ukuleles and he'd give everybody who came to dinner a
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ukulele and he'd sit around doing he's only got four
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strings it's hard to be wrong And we'd play ukulele songs.
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That sounds either wonderful or like some kind of punishment.
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You will go to the lowest level of hell where
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everyone has a ukulele.
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It's quite a nice little instrument.
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It's a beautiful instrument. It's a beautiful instrument. One of
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the things I loved about the book and why I
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really encourage anyone who's Python fans, comedy fans, just fans
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of reading about an amazing life, is that you... I
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thought that because you had this very posh education, you know,
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and the pythons all met each other at the footlights
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in Cambridge, or not all of you, but some of you,
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I had always assumed that you came from this upper
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crust background. I think there's a bit of an American,
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when we hear a British accent... we tend to assume
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that this person had a valet and a butler when
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they were growing up and nothing could be further from
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the truth.
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I don't know anybody who ever had a butler.
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Well, you do now. He's waiting for me outside. He's
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holding my trousers in the parking lot.
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I did write a play called Pass the Butler. Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I mean, the fact is that I think only John
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was sort of could be called upper class. middle class.
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I mean, he was at a public school, Clifton College,
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and then he went to Cambridge. But I was at
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a little horrible orphanage in the Midlands, you know, for
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12 years. And Palin was at a sort of semi-decent school.
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Chapman was a grammar school. Jones was not, you know,
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we weren't upper class or anything at all.
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Yeah. And you're, I mean, not to say it was Dickensian,
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but your childhood wasn't easy. We're depressed everyone's on rations
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things are rough you're living in an orphanage this was
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I mean what.
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Could possibly go right it is and now 110 years later.
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Yeah 110 years later you get to sit with me
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in a little room in a seedy section of Hollywood
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but you describe this life and what's so incredible is
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that you where you started from and then all these
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things that you experience I mean first of all going
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to college for you was very fortuitous going to university
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that was not something that could not have happened right well.
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Going to Cambridge yeah Cambridge any college is like extraordinary
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I mean you couldn't imagine a more different uh two
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places than Wolverhampton in the Midlands and Cambridge yeah which
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is all 1490s and beautiful old buildings you know.
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And it was a bit of a culture shock for
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you when you first showed up.
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It was a fabulous culture shock. I mean, I didn't
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know that you didn't even have to go to classes.
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You could do anything you wanted for three years. It
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was fabulous. But I mainly did comedy.
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Right.
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I stumbled into comedy.
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And you knew right away, this is– I have an
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aptitude for this. I like this. You were a funny kid,
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but you knew once you got– working in the footlights
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and performing that this just feels right.
264
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It was an extraordinary time because they were very, very gifted.
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Cleese was there and he was really funny. Chapman was there,
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Timbrook Taylor, Bill Ardy. There were all these people who
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were all being very funny. And so that's how you learn.
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You watch people be funny. And so the footlights was
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great because you could learn how to be funny and
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try it out, which is, of course, the only way
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you can really be funny. And then, you know, you'd perform.
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You would go and do cabarets. We got paid for
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doing cabaret. We got to get a car on the weekend.
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Four of us would go and we'd get 20 quid,
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I think, to share. Wow. But it was great because
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I learned how– you learn how to do it and
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what to avoid. And that was very, very useful because
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I had another two years doing it before we even,
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you know, got into the real world.
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And in the real world, we're talking about what year
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do you graduate?
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65.
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You graduate in 65. And you and I talked about
284
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this once. The whole world changed overnight. It did worldwide culturally,
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but particularly in England, you saw the whole culture change.
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It sort of went from this stodgy black and white
287
00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:41.769
to vibrant color, mod hair, almost overnight.
288
00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:45.070
It wasn't almost overnight. It was the Beatles coming through.
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The Beatles went on a huge tour of England and
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they changed everywhere they went. I mean, everywhere. It was
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00:14:49.990 --> 00:14:52.889
riots and, well, not riots, but there was great excitement
292
00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.429
and people bought things and clothes and And the records.
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00:14:56.470 --> 00:14:58.720
And it was a very exciting time. And what was
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interesting to me was that at Cambridge, graduates would ask
295
00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:05.539
you questions like, who's your favorite Beatle? These people doing
296
00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:09.580
architecture and maths. And they're all Beatle fans. Totally. The
297
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.200
whole country was Beatle fans. And it did change the
298
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way people could be and feel about themselves and what
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they could do.
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00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:21.720
Were you apprehensive about taking a career in comedy when...
301
00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.679
This is a question I faced because... I went to
302
00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.399
a very nice college here in the United States and
303
00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:30.820
I had people critically say to me, wait a minute,
304
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you just graduated from this very nice college with this
305
00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.379
very sophisticated degree. What are you doing? Why are you
306
00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:42.909
doing comedy? Shouldn't you be out curing cancer? And, you know,
307
00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.289
I would convince them that I really don't, I would
308
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not be very good in the lab. And if I
309
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found the cure to cancer, I'd lose it.
310
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I found it, but I forgot it.
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Somewhere here. Somewhere in the car.
312
00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:02.600
Well, he was doing very well on a career, but
313
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now he's gone back into comedy.
314
00:16:05.450 --> 00:16:09.269
So what did you, it's an undertaking to say, you
315
00:16:09.309 --> 00:16:12.840
know what, we're essentially, I'm going to try and, It's
316
00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:15.700
almost like entering vaudeville. It's like you're leaving Cambridge. But
317
00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:17.789
we didn't know that. You didn't know. No.
318
00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:20.250
We were leaving Cambridge, and all we knew is we
319
00:16:20.269 --> 00:16:22.690
were going on the Footlights Tour, which was going around.
320
00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:25.710
We'd end up at the Edinburgh Festival, and you'd get
321
00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:28.350
a professional engagement. We were on television and things like that.
322
00:16:28.970 --> 00:16:31.269
So I had no idea what I was going to do.
323
00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:35.519
I went into repertory for a little while, which was terrible. Acting,
324
00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:39.860
hated that. And then I fell into writing for radio,
325
00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:44.379
what you call podcasts these days. And it was a
326
00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:46.919
show called I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. And it
327
00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:51.360
had John Cleese and Graham Chapman, various other people from
328
00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:54.620
the footlights. And I began a career as a writer
329
00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:58.080
for radio. And I got three guineas a minute for that.
330
00:16:59.259 --> 00:16:59.539
Really?
331
00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:01.330
Yeah, BBC. Three guineas.
332
00:17:01.350 --> 00:17:04.349
It's like you have a cab running. You have a
333
00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:05.009
meter going.
334
00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:06.849
This is early days.
335
00:17:07.049 --> 00:17:07.230
Yeah.
336
00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.299
But then Frost got all of us and pulled us
337
00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:12.200
all into television.
338
00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:15.700
Something I can relate to is I got started through writing.
339
00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:20.309
I would always be thinking constantly what's funny, what would
340
00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:22.049
be a good sketch, what would be a funny sketch.
341
00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:28.190
And then my introduction to performing was I would do
342
00:17:28.250 --> 00:17:29.269
it for people. Right.
343
00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:33.390
The very first time I performed, I performed a piece
344
00:17:33.450 --> 00:17:36.869
written by John Cleese, which they gave to me. And
345
00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:38.730
the very, I looked up at the end and there
346
00:17:38.769 --> 00:17:40.470
was John Cleese. I'd never met him before, but we
347
00:17:40.549 --> 00:17:43.559
met immediately after he watched me give my first performance
348
00:17:43.619 --> 00:17:44.279
in the world.
349
00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:50.799
Isn't that extraordinary? Did he like your performance? He did.
350
00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:53.349
He said he liked it.
351
00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:54.299
He said he liked it.
352
00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:55.680
He said he liked it, yeah. You could tell.
353
00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:59.619
You could tell he didn't really mean it. You, when
354
00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.750
you walked in today and I saw you and we,
355
00:18:02.910 --> 00:18:06.579
we struggled briefly. It was an altercation, but then, Then
356
00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:11.319
we became friendly again. You handed me this great book
357
00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:13.700
that you just– you said this is fresh from London.
358
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.460
It's a magazine. It's Radio Times' official guide to Monty
359
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:21.440
Python at 50. Hard to believe that Monty Python turned 50.
360
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.480
And then I realized, of course, it started in 1969. Yes,
361
00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:25.539
the math works out.
362
00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.920
It does work out. Yeah.
363
00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:31.309
I have always maintained. I got started in professional comedy
364
00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:35.490
in 1985. And I said the Brits are way ahead
365
00:18:35.509 --> 00:18:40.710
of us. Monty Python cracked the atom. They figured out
366
00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.299
that sketches should be as long as they are funny,
367
00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:47.140
and then they don't need an ending. They figured that out.
368
00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:51.299
And here in America, we're still catching up. And I
369
00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:56.480
honestly believe that you guys were 40, 30 years ahead
370
00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:58.519
of your time. I just think it was absolutely incredible.
371
00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:01.420
I don't know how you knew to do that, how
372
00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.779
you knew that a sketch didn't have to have an ending.
373
00:19:04.789 --> 00:19:08.970
Well, I think because we'd been professional writers for about
374
00:19:09.910 --> 00:19:13.109
six years at that point. We'd been writing for television
375
00:19:13.190 --> 00:19:16.450
and doing other TV shows and other comedian shows. And
376
00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:18.349
so we'd seen a lot and we'd seen a lot
377
00:19:18.369 --> 00:19:21.730
of junk. And we didn't much care for light entertainment
378
00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:23.730
where people say, you know, we're now for something completely different.
379
00:19:23.789 --> 00:19:24.730
Here's a little song, you know.
380
00:19:24.849 --> 00:19:25.069
Yeah.
381
00:19:25.269 --> 00:19:28.910
We hated all that. So in a sense, it was self-taught.
382
00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:33.319
We figured out. Once we were given a show of
383
00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:35.609
our own and we had total charge of it, we
384
00:19:36.109 --> 00:19:39.369
then had to decide what we'd do. And that was
385
00:19:39.849 --> 00:19:42.990
not obvious or evident. But then it became clear that
386
00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:46.990
you could pile on sketches together and form a theme
387
00:19:47.069 --> 00:19:49.470
and go into something else. So we got a lot
388
00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:50.640
of fun playing. with that, I think.
389
00:19:51.099 --> 00:19:54.799
One of the things the Pythons did so beautifully was
390
00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:58.960
you guys played everything with an intense straightness. There's no
391
00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:01.180
awareness that something funny is happening.
392
00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:01.579
Right.
393
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:05.630
Nothing funny is happening here. And, you know, Graham Chapman,
394
00:20:06.210 --> 00:20:09.529
angry that someone might think something, as the general would,
395
00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:12.529
angry that someone might think that something funny is happening
396
00:20:12.549 --> 00:20:15.509
here and wants to get things back in shape. Enough
397
00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:17.589
of that. I mean, you talk about this in your book,
398
00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:21.380
Ministry of Silly Walks works because nobody thinks what they're
399
00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:22.819
doing is funny. Right.
400
00:20:23.180 --> 00:20:25.920
And if they're smiling or winking or laughing at it,
401
00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:28.880
it's not funny. It stops being funny immediately. So you
402
00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.339
have to take it seriously. I think Mike Nichols did
403
00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:33.539
that very well when we did Spamalot. He would always
404
00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:36.500
say to the cast, you've got to take this seriously.
405
00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:38.880
If you don't take this seriously, why should the audience?
406
00:20:39.450 --> 00:20:41.880
which I thought was a really good director's note. And
407
00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:44.079
I said, but Mike, they're doing the knights who say knee.
408
00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:50.720
He said, nevertheless. It's true.
409
00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:53.700
You have to believe in it. You are a knight
410
00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:55.779
who says knee. Oh, I say knee to you. If
411
00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:57.759
you don't believe in it, there's no threat and there's
412
00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.299
no comedy. It just has to be played that way.
413
00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:02.680
One of the other things that was always startling to me,
414
00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:06.579
you guys, you made this show and you were completely
415
00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:09.880
unaware of the effect you were having. It took a
416
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:10.480
long time.
417
00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.779
It was a slow reaction. It was on very late
418
00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:16.240
on a Sunday night, about 10.30, 11 at night. So
419
00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:19.039
there wasn't a big audience. The BBC were trying out
420
00:21:19.099 --> 00:21:21.119
a time slot because they wanted to see if people
421
00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:24.660
were still awake. They were. And it took a long
422
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.950
time actually to break it before people, you know, you
423
00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:30.150
had that reaction in public or people said, oh, I
424
00:21:30.190 --> 00:21:32.410
like your show. You know, it took a long while.
425
00:21:33.029 --> 00:21:35.130
We didn't mind because we were quite, we weren't sure
426
00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:36.829
what we were doing anyway. I mean, I remember the
427
00:21:36.869 --> 00:21:41.349
first show being distinctly confused. about the audience going, who
428
00:21:41.369 --> 00:21:43.609
were hardly laughing at all. They were old people brought
429
00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:45.049
in to see a circus. Right.
430
00:21:46.549 --> 00:21:47.109
They really did.
431
00:21:47.150 --> 00:21:49.170
They really thought it was a circus. So BBC had
432
00:21:49.190 --> 00:21:52.779
sold them as a circus. So it was very bizarre.
433
00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:55.779
But then I think we found our stride and we
434
00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:57.400
made each other laugh. And I think that was the
435
00:21:57.420 --> 00:22:00.500
point about it is that we always made it. That
436
00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.319
was the key. If we can make other people, if
437
00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:04.329
we made other people laugh, then it was in our show.
438
00:22:04.650 --> 00:22:05.470
That was the only test.
439
00:22:05.829 --> 00:22:07.799
You would pair off as writers. Yes. Who did you
440
00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:08.539
mostly work with?
441
00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:09.759
I mostly worked with Eric Idle.
442
00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:10.059
Yeah.
443
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:12.640
Because I liked him. I thought he was very clever.
444
00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:14.059
You're the only one.
445
00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:18.569
That was my pair. Fun and very entertaining.
446
00:22:18.829 --> 00:22:20.920
I hear he's a prick. I'll be honest with you.
447
00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:22.339
I hear he's a prick.
448
00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:26.759
Well, you know, I stuck with him. Give a guy
449
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:31.269
a chance, I say. You know what?
450
00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:36.049
I admire that about you. Your loyalty to Eric Idle
451
00:22:36.190 --> 00:22:36.950
is really impressive.
452
00:22:37.009 --> 00:22:38.809
It's one of the things you learn at boarding school.
453
00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:42.230
That and how to get out.
454
00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:47.150
But you got very disciplined. You were tough on each other.
455
00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:50.660
You know, like you would write something maybe with someone else. Honest.
456
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:52.039
Not necessarily tough.
457
00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:55.839
But, yeah, a scientist can be tough. Honest. You say, well,
458
00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:58.220
that was very funny up until that point. And then
459
00:22:58.240 --> 00:22:59.160
it stopped being funny.
460
00:22:59.420 --> 00:22:59.599
Yeah.
461
00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:01.359
And you have to say that. And they go, oh.
462
00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.309
And then, you know, you may have an idea to
463
00:23:03.369 --> 00:23:06.250
add to it or somebody else may. But I think
464
00:23:06.269 --> 00:23:10.809
that Python editorial board was very good.
465
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.160
I would imagine there'd be hurt feelings, disagreements. That's just
466
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.140
part of the process.
467
00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:17.400
But I think that happens when you don't know or
468
00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:20.059
trust people and you don't know who they are. But
469
00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:22.720
when you're working with somebody, like I've worked already with
470
00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.849
these people since Cambridge and certainly on TV with Mike
471
00:23:26.869 --> 00:23:29.190
and Terry for three or four years. So we were
472
00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:32.029
already used to working together and giving criticism. And that's
473
00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:35.329
the most valuable thing you can get in comedy. Don't
474
00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:37.950
do that line. It's not funny. You want that beforehand,
475
00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:38.210
don't you?
476
00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:42.539
I usually hear that several years later. I wouldn't have
477
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.319
done any of that. That whole section of your career
478
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:52.619
was a mistake. Thanks, Dad. You guys, obviously, it was
479
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.690
a surprise to you. And I know this has been
480
00:23:54.710 --> 00:23:57.529
discussed a lot, but just describe for me, if you would,
481
00:23:57.630 --> 00:24:00.589
the shock of you come to the United States and
482
00:24:00.609 --> 00:24:05.839
you realize that people have memorized the sketches from Python
483
00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.369
and you weren't at all sure that they gave a
484
00:24:09.410 --> 00:24:11.630
shit at all. And they've memorized them.
485
00:24:11.849 --> 00:24:13.849
Yes. I mean, the first place you went was Canada,
486
00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:16.829
where they were insane about it. They learned everything. And
487
00:24:17.130 --> 00:24:20.569
they learned it all. So that was interesting. Right. But
488
00:24:20.630 --> 00:24:24.869
then in America, everybody found it on PBS. PBS, we
489
00:24:24.910 --> 00:24:27.569
would never have existed without PBS. We still wouldn't. It
490
00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:29.509
would still not be on primetime television.
491
00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:33.369
I remember going to, in elementary school, There was a
492
00:24:33.380 --> 00:24:36.490
kid who sat next to me who had memorized, I
493
00:24:36.549 --> 00:24:42.210
think 40 minutes straight of Holy Grail. Wow. And it
494
00:24:42.250 --> 00:24:45.930
was annoying. Because- No, of course. You know, there was
495
00:24:45.970 --> 00:24:50.450
a lot of American kids in my generation that would
496
00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:53.859
do the, what would to you sound like an intolerable
497
00:24:54.130 --> 00:24:58.079
British accent, but it was all, you know, the sketches
498
00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:05.450
and the routines And everything over and over and over again.
499
00:25:05.470 --> 00:25:08.400
And you'd say, it's not, I love it. I love
500
00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:10.539
it when I see it on television. I don't want
501
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:11.680
to hear it out of your face.
502
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:12.279
Absolutely.
503
00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:16.200
Because you're from, you know, Needham, Massachusetts. And I don't
504
00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:17.480
want to hear it. I want to smash you in
505
00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:17.980
the face.
506
00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:20.940
But I understand it. Because I did that with Beyond
507
00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:24.390
the Fringe when I saw it. With Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller,
508
00:25:24.470 --> 00:25:27.430
and Dudley Moore. I bought the album and I learned
509
00:25:27.470 --> 00:25:28.650
it all off by heart. And I would do it
510
00:25:28.670 --> 00:25:29.230
in my bedroom.
511
00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:29.710
I'd do it.
512
00:25:29.789 --> 00:25:31.529
And that made me want to be a comedian.
513
00:25:31.789 --> 00:25:31.930
Yeah.
514
00:25:32.130 --> 00:25:36.000
Just learning and doing somebody else's monologue. And that's, you
515
00:25:36.019 --> 00:25:37.619
can see how it works and you can see what
516
00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:39.579
else they might say. And, you know, it's good to
517
00:25:39.619 --> 00:25:40.359
learn like that.
518
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:43.160
But when you come down, okay, you're in Canada, but
519
00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:44.559
you can excuse that. You can say, well, this is
520
00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:47.420
a Commonwealth. Then you come down to the United States
521
00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:50.900
and you're in- Well, we came here first, actually. Oh,
522
00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:51.519
you came here first.
523
00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:54.240
After Canada, we went right across Canada. And then we
524
00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:58.670
went to San Francisco to, because in America, we only
525
00:25:58.710 --> 00:26:01.829
released the records. Right. So they thought we were recording artists.
526
00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:05.710
So the Buddha Records would bring us down to do publicity.
527
00:26:06.029 --> 00:26:06.230
Right.
528
00:26:06.450 --> 00:26:09.369
So we ended up on The Tonight Show doing 20
529
00:26:09.369 --> 00:26:12.730
minutes in about 10 minutes. Wow. Because there was so
530
00:26:12.769 --> 00:26:13.309
much silence.
531
00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:13.950
Yeah.
532
00:26:14.150 --> 00:26:17.710
I mean, the whole audience went, because the curtain opened.
533
00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:20.599
He said, it was like, what was his name? Brenner. Brenner?
534
00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:22.079
Brenner. Oh, David Brenner.
535
00:26:22.099 --> 00:26:22.519
Brenner.
536
00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:24.019
So David Brenner was guest hosting.
537
00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:25.920
People from England, they tell me they're funny. I've never
538
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:27.359
seen them. Bang, we're on.
539
00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:27.900
Yeah.
540
00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:30.019
And then we got 20 minutes and there's a little stage.
541
00:26:30.450 --> 00:26:32.109
And there's two of us there going, oh.
542
00:26:32.470 --> 00:26:34.640
I've been burying the cat. Is it dead now?
543
00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:36.119
Now we start to all the well cat.
544
00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:38.539
Now I've covered up blood all last night. Best to
545
00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:40.880
kill it now, I think. Yeah, kill it now.
546
00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:43.700
We looked up, the entire Tonight audience was like that.
547
00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:46.059
Just mouths open, nothing.
548
00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:47.059
Mouths open agog.
549
00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:47.440
Yeah.
550
00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:48.480
What the hell is this?
551
00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:48.849
Yeah.
552
00:26:49.420 --> 00:26:52.309
And that was really great. And we finished it, and
553
00:26:52.329 --> 00:26:54.650
we did about four of our sketches together. And we
554
00:26:54.750 --> 00:26:56.869
ran out into Burbank and we rolled around on the
555
00:26:56.910 --> 00:27:00.150
grass and we laughed our asses off. It was really funny.
556
00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:03.930
Nothing's funnier than when you don't make people laugh. It's
557
00:27:03.990 --> 00:27:05.529
really funny. Because the joke's on you.
558
00:27:05.650 --> 00:27:09.009
Yes, yes. Well, you know what happens is when they're
559
00:27:09.049 --> 00:27:11.970
not laughing, at first there's panic, but then there's almost
560
00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:14.720
a freedom. I don't know how to describe it, but
561
00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:18.400
there's like a, oh my God, I'm, it doesn't matter.
562
00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:22.000
This is so, this is such a terrible situation that
563
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:24.400
I'm going to enjoy this.
564
00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:24.700
Yes.
565
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:26.980
I'm going to enjoy it. And then you're doing it
566
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.240
for everyone else on stage and for yourselves.
567
00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:31.730
Because it is, I mean, we had been going through
568
00:27:31.789 --> 00:27:34.950
Canada and they've been giving standing ovations, going crazy and
569
00:27:35.069 --> 00:27:36.890
nuts and silence was a bit of a thing we
570
00:27:36.930 --> 00:27:39.380
weren't expecting. Right. It was good for us.
571
00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:43.619
But once you're on PBS, once the movies are coming
572
00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:47.839
out and it's, you're getting the reactions that rock stars get.
573
00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:50.700
Well, yeah, because we were on stage. Yes, but it
574
00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:51.400
was a theater.
575
00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:53.380
You were in a theater or you're playing the Hollywood
576
00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:57.140
Bowl and it's a happening. Everyone wants to be there.
577
00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:02.069
Everyone's excited. They're repeating, they're yelling out the lines to
578
00:28:02.109 --> 00:28:06.150
the sketches. That must have been a moment of how
579
00:28:06.190 --> 00:28:07.950
did this happen? How did we get here?
580
00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:11.339
It was, well, it happened first in Canada again, and
581
00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:13.200
it was very strange because it was the only place,
582
00:28:13.220 --> 00:28:16.480
the only show you could get a prompt from the audience. Right.
583
00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:18.740
I forgot your line. Yeah?
584
00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:19.400
Right.
585
00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:20.160
Parrot!
586
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:21.099
Oh, right, parrot.
587
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:26.019
Thank you.
588
00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:28.859
And we're back.
589
00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:29.640
Wasn't that fun?
590
00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:30.480
Did you like the break?
591
00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:32.119
Yeah, it was a great break for me. I had
592
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:32.960
a lovely time, yeah.
593
00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:34.089
You really did. You did a lot of.
594
00:28:34.109 --> 00:28:35.589
Yeah, I went out and I met a woman. I
595
00:28:35.789 --> 00:28:36.109
settled down.
596
00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:40.420
Really? Yeah, yeah. It's on the break. You're going to
597
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:41.240
have to tell your wife.
598
00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:43.420
Oh, don't tell her. Okay.
599
00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:46.160
This is your business, not mine. I'm going to flash
600
00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:50.430
back to a second when you're a kid and things
601
00:28:50.970 --> 00:28:53.630
must have seemed a little gloomy and it's the 1950s
602
00:28:53.789 --> 00:28:56.609
and you're in England and Elvis Presley shows up on
603
00:28:56.630 --> 00:29:00.210
the radio and it's a bolt of lightning. It certainly
604
00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:04.170
changed John Lennon's life, Paul McCartney's life. It created this
605
00:29:04.339 --> 00:29:08.819
seismic wave that invigorated a lot of young people. in England.
606
00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:12.430
And you were one of them, big Elvis fan. We
607
00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:15.569
cut to a number of years later, you find out,
608
00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:20.109
and it's true, Elvis Presley, a massive Python fan.
609
00:29:20.849 --> 00:29:23.490
Huge Python fan. And not just a Python fan, he
610
00:29:23.509 --> 00:29:26.779
was an idol fan. He would call everybody Squire from
611
00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:27.980
my Nudge Nudge sketch.
612
00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:28.400
Yeah.
613
00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:29.299
Hello, Squire.
614
00:29:30.839 --> 00:29:31.079
What?
615
00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:35.799
And I met, who was his... What's her name? His lady.
616
00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:36.579
Linda Thomas.
617
00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:37.509
Linda Thompson.
618
00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:38.789
Thompson, that's right.
619
00:29:38.789 --> 00:29:39.720
Linda Thompson.
620
00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:42.839
Linda Thompson told me that Elvis was such a Python
621
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:48.140
fan that when they were in Nashville, yes? Am I
622
00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:50.069
in the right place? Memphis. Memphis, sorry. When they were
623
00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:54.089
in Memphis, after the television went off at night, late,
624
00:29:54.569 --> 00:29:57.609
Elvis would make her do Python sketches with him. And
625
00:29:57.670 --> 00:29:59.819
not just any Python sketches. He'd make it a.
626
00:30:00.329 --> 00:30:01.670
Hello, I need a new brain!
627
00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:04.890
Now, if you can think of her and Elvis sitting
628
00:30:04.930 --> 00:30:07.880
up in bed doing that sketch without giggling about the
629
00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:11.880
absurdities of life. I mean, that to me was incredible.
630
00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:14.119
I made her tell me three times before I believed
631
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.250
it and I only believed it because she knew some
632
00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:20.289
of the words. Honey, a curry's brain. Now, nobody in
633
00:30:20.309 --> 00:30:22.369
America knows what a curry's brain is. So she must
634
00:30:22.390 --> 00:30:23.250
have known the sketch.
635
00:30:23.809 --> 00:30:27.759
We know, first of all, it's been documented that, you know,
636
00:30:27.819 --> 00:30:29.779
people in his entourage have talked about what a Python
637
00:30:29.819 --> 00:30:33.720
fan he was. And it's also been documented and it's well,
638
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:36.460
I'm a huge Elvis fan. And we all know that
639
00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:40.900
Elvis had one of those minds that could memorize, he
640
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:43.299
could memorize an entire movie script. He knew all the,
641
00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:46.109
you know, he didn't need prompts. for his lyrics. He just,
642
00:30:46.170 --> 00:30:50.589
he could memorize huge chunks of text. And, and so
643
00:30:50.650 --> 00:30:54.650
he knew his Python the way other people would know
644
00:30:54.990 --> 00:30:57.650
their Torah, you know, he just, he just knew it.
645
00:30:57.789 --> 00:30:59.509
And I think was delighted. I mean, he had an
646
00:30:59.609 --> 00:31:03.049
excellent sense of humor and, but the idea that this
647
00:31:03.130 --> 00:31:06.390
voice that came through the radio to you in an
648
00:31:06.490 --> 00:31:10.740
orphanage somewhere in the 50s, would then, you would get
649
00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:13.579
inside his brain with something he would come up, says
650
00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:15.680
something to me that's very beautiful about the way our
651
00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:16.240
world works.
652
00:31:16.869 --> 00:31:19.180
It was mind-boggling for me. I mean, I couldn't believe it,
653
00:31:19.250 --> 00:31:22.490
to be honest, because he did save our lives at school.
654
00:31:22.589 --> 00:31:25.210
You know, Elvis was the, you know, he was our man,
655
00:31:26.029 --> 00:31:26.430
our kid.
656
00:31:27.109 --> 00:31:27.289
Yeah.
657
00:31:27.309 --> 00:31:29.930
He was older than us, but that's what we aspired
658
00:31:29.970 --> 00:31:30.269
to be.
659
00:31:30.549 --> 00:31:33.930
You think of Elvis Presley, such a sex symbol, being
660
00:31:34.049 --> 00:31:37.170
in bed with a woman who, and your mind would
661
00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:39.619
go to all these crazy places, it wouldn't go to
662
00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:43.319
him saying, hey baby, let's do the, let's do the pipeline,
663
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:44.839
let's do the minister's silhouettes.
664
00:31:45.779 --> 00:31:48.349
You go first and then I'll do it. Okay, now
665
00:31:48.390 --> 00:31:51.069
you're the proprietor and I'm coming in and I'm looking,
666
00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:54.829
you got a parrot, this has been did. None of that.
667
00:31:55.950 --> 00:31:57.849
And then she gets a line wrong, no, no, no.
668
00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:01.700
Come on baby, get it together.
669
00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:04.920
I think we should get an Elvis impersonator to do
670
00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:05.740
Python sketches.
671
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:08.900
Yeah.
672
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:12.680
With a Linda lookalike. Yeah, I think we should.
673
00:32:12.859 --> 00:32:17.920
Yeah, he's wearing satin pajamas. She's wearing like one of those.
674
00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:19.359
I think they have to get into bed to start
675
00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:20.940
it too. They come in with it and they get
676
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:22.400
into the bed and then they start.
677
00:32:22.509 --> 00:32:25.130
And then it's very down to business. Oh, God, baby,
678
00:32:25.650 --> 00:32:26.549
which one are we doing tonight?
679
00:32:28.009 --> 00:32:28.910
Is your wife a goer?
680
00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:32.720
Oh, yeah, we're going to be all nudge-nudge, huh? Okay.
681
00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:36.319
Hold on a second. I got it. That'd be fair.
682
00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:40.700
Maybe there are, you know, because in the 70s, there
683
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:43.579
were people would sometimes get out the old camcorder and
684
00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:46.500
there'd be some sexy filming going on. There might be,
685
00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:49.299
maybe he set up cameras, but instead of it being
686
00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:54.920
Elvis having sexual adventures, it's Python sketches with Linda, his girlfriend.
687
00:32:55.309 --> 00:32:57.309
Well, that would be good to know, wouldn't it? I mean, I.
688
00:32:57.690 --> 00:33:00.460
Well, also, you'd get a piece of the royalties. Really? Yeah.
689
00:33:01.859 --> 00:33:02.519
Those are your words.
690
00:33:02.539 --> 00:33:04.539
The Elvis would say, I'm not sure. It's difficult, you know.
691
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:04.960
No, trust me.
692
00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:07.349
It's like getting money out of the Beatles. Although we
693
00:33:07.369 --> 00:33:09.269
did do that. We did do that. Let's be fair.
694
00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:10.930
You did. You did get many, yeah.
695
00:33:10.990 --> 00:33:11.890
Well, one of them anyway.
696
00:33:12.089 --> 00:33:14.990
Let me ask you something. You brought it up. The Ruttles.
697
00:33:15.410 --> 00:33:17.579
To my mind at the time, I remember it being
698
00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.000
the first real satiric take on the Beatles. What did
699
00:33:22.019 --> 00:33:25.450
the Beatles think? Did you ever hear? Did John have
700
00:33:25.470 --> 00:33:26.089
a take on it?
701
00:33:26.150 --> 00:33:29.279
They liked it. John and Yoko apparently liked it and
702
00:33:29.339 --> 00:33:31.819
wanted to go down to SNL one night when we
703
00:33:31.859 --> 00:33:34.700
were on doing it to promote it. They really liked it.
704
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:37.579
She really liked it. I mean, I was amazed by that.
705
00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:40.000
Yoko is portrayed as Hitler's daughter.
706
00:33:40.420 --> 00:33:40.640
Right.
707
00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:41.619
Loved it.
708
00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:42.740
Yeah, yeah.
709
00:33:42.769 --> 00:33:44.329
She thought it was hilarious because she was getting so
710
00:33:44.369 --> 00:33:45.329
much abuse anyway.
711
00:33:45.430 --> 00:33:45.650
Yeah.
712
00:33:45.890 --> 00:33:51.319
You know, George, of course, was involved. I was in it. Yeah.
713
00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:53.920
Ringo said he liked it after 1968. Still. I don't
714
00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:57.779
know what he meant by that. I don't know what
715
00:33:57.799 --> 00:33:59.380
that means. Puzzle me.
716
00:33:59.420 --> 00:33:59.660
Yeah.
717
00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:04.220
And Paul was very, very, he was very circumspect. He
718
00:34:04.259 --> 00:34:06.299
wasn't very happy. We bumped into him in a park,
719
00:34:06.700 --> 00:34:08.760
my wife and I, and he was with Linda. And
720
00:34:08.820 --> 00:34:09.679
Linda adored it.
721
00:34:09.699 --> 00:34:10.539
Right.
722
00:34:10.909 --> 00:34:14.030
Because it nailed him. Right. So she kind of like.
723
00:34:14.050 --> 00:34:15.090
Oh, she was like, oh, you got me.
724
00:34:15.090 --> 00:34:16.789
She was going on and on about how funny it
725
00:34:16.889 --> 00:34:20.679
is and how funny Dirk is. And then he'd go, oh. Anyway,
726
00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:22.809
he was very happy because he said, oh, it's all right, Linda.
727
00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:25.909
He's from Liverpool. Right. He found out I was from
728
00:34:25.929 --> 00:34:28.349
Wallasey in Liverpool, so it was all right. Real one
729
00:34:28.369 --> 00:34:28.590
of us.
730
00:34:29.090 --> 00:34:31.289
Okay. So once he found out that you were from
731
00:34:31.329 --> 00:34:33.570
the neighborhood. Yeah. That it was okay.
732
00:34:34.190 --> 00:34:37.739
It was always okay. I mean, it was not a
733
00:34:37.949 --> 00:34:41.460
thing that was commonly done. Rock and roll weren't being
734
00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:42.199
mocked a lot.
735
00:34:42.539 --> 00:34:42.760
Yeah.
736
00:34:42.940 --> 00:34:45.039
You know, we did it. We had a show called
737
00:34:45.059 --> 00:34:47.760
Rutland Weekend Television, and we would do a lot of
738
00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:49.480
rock and roll because I worked with Neil Innes on it.
739
00:34:50.150 --> 00:34:52.730
And we'd have, like, the all-dead singer would come on.
740
00:34:52.789 --> 00:34:56.110
And he'd be like, you're dead. He'd just have video
741
00:34:56.130 --> 00:35:00.130
with effects during the number. And we did a lot
742
00:35:00.190 --> 00:35:04.030
of heavy metal. And we'd do a lot of rock
743
00:35:04.070 --> 00:35:06.889
and roll. So it was a natural to slip into
744
00:35:07.710 --> 00:35:13.179
the Beatle parody. And then Neil wrote so effortlessly Beatle
745
00:35:13.239 --> 00:35:17.340
songs that were so evidently Beatle songs that it was
746
00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:19.389
a matter of how do you How do you film them?
747
00:35:19.510 --> 00:35:22.059
What's the story? What are you going to produce them as?
748
00:35:22.219 --> 00:35:24.619
Yeah. You hosted StarNet Live.
749
00:35:25.099 --> 00:35:25.980
I did four times.
750
00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.420
Four times in the 70s.
751
00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:27.920
Yeah.
752
00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:31.750
And so they are with that original cast.
753
00:35:32.389 --> 00:35:34.550
With the original cast. It was the second show of
754
00:35:34.590 --> 00:35:38.300
the second series I was on first. And Chevy just
755
00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:38.780
got injured.
756
00:35:39.730 --> 00:35:42.409
He was in bed he's still he's still recovering.
757
00:35:45.590 --> 00:35:48.809
He still is but he'd fallen he'd done a fall
758
00:35:48.849 --> 00:35:50.750
and hurt himself and he was in bed so he
759
00:35:50.789 --> 00:35:52.780
wasn't on that show so yeah i went and sat
760
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:53.949
with him for a while because i liked him i
761
00:35:53.949 --> 00:35:56.440
thought he was funny yeah yeah but i i it
762
00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:58.239
was that show was good fun to do though i
763
00:35:58.260 --> 00:36:01.079
mean that changed america that show yeah oh yeah i
764
00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:03.909
mean it it was uh And they were very lovely,
765
00:36:03.949 --> 00:36:06.860
that cast. They were very nice. I mean, Lorne sold
766
00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:10.039
Saturday Night Live. He pitched it to NBC as a
767
00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:12.420
cross between Monty Python and 60 Minutes.
768
00:36:12.820 --> 00:36:13.019
Right.
769
00:36:13.059 --> 00:36:13.699
That was his pitch.
770
00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:14.079
Right.
771
00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:15.800
Which is odd because I wouldn't have thought they'd know
772
00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:19.820
about Python at NBC in those days. But that was
773
00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:21.840
his dream to make that sort of show. That's what
774
00:36:21.889 --> 00:36:22.360
he wanted to do.
775
00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:24.150
They may not have known. They may have been doing
776
00:36:24.190 --> 00:36:29.679
so much coke in that meeting. Yes. Music, obviously very
777
00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:36.320
important to you. And you are the author of the
778
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:41.030
number one song played at British funerals, Always Look on
779
00:36:41.050 --> 00:36:43.389
the Bright Side of Life. That song took on a
780
00:36:43.429 --> 00:36:46.989
life of its own, obviously. And it really is. You
781
00:36:47.010 --> 00:36:48.889
were the one to tell me this a while ago.
782
00:36:49.429 --> 00:36:52.360
It's number one. It's the number one requested song in
783
00:36:52.420 --> 00:36:55.340
Britain at funerals. That's incredible.
784
00:36:55.380 --> 00:36:57.579
You take it where you can get it. You know,
785
00:36:57.619 --> 00:36:59.900
it's not much money. The royalties are shit.
786
00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:02.099
And also, they're dead.
787
00:37:02.570 --> 00:37:03.179
They're dead.
788
00:37:03.260 --> 00:37:05.119
It's hard to get money out of them at that point.
789
00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:06.150
It's not for the dead.
790
00:37:06.210 --> 00:37:10.690
It's for the other people.
791
00:37:10.730 --> 00:37:11.389
Royalties.
792
00:37:11.429 --> 00:37:14.110
I love you showing up at that occasion like, where's
793
00:37:14.150 --> 00:37:14.949
my money? Yeah.
794
00:37:15.349 --> 00:37:17.309
People ask me to go and sing it at their funerals.
795
00:37:17.369 --> 00:37:18.690
You go, fuck off. I'm not going to come to
796
00:37:18.710 --> 00:37:21.579
your fucking funeral and sing my song for you. You know.
797
00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:24.170
Well, you should ask how much money's involved first.
798
00:37:24.369 --> 00:37:26.130
Well, you see, now you said I shouldn't have asked that.
799
00:37:26.230 --> 00:37:27.670
No, no, you have me ask.
800
00:37:27.909 --> 00:37:29.030
I have you ask.
801
00:37:29.050 --> 00:37:33.190
Yes, you say, you have seen, Eric, you're above these matters.
802
00:37:33.590 --> 00:37:36.860
This is where I come in. I contact them and
803
00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:38.699
I say, well, what are we talking about here? And
804
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.460
if it's, you know, a couple hundred thousand dollars. Yeah.
805
00:37:42.050 --> 00:37:44.409
And it's 10 minutes from your house, and you've got
806
00:37:44.429 --> 00:37:48.519
the guitar anyway, and I get 10%. What's the big deal?
807
00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:51.500
I think that's fair. Those are the right figures.
808
00:37:52.739 --> 00:37:55.969
And then, of course, the music and your musical ability
809
00:37:56.070 --> 00:37:59.329
and your passion for music. I mean, Spamalot must have
810
00:37:59.349 --> 00:38:02.809
been just a complete joy for you. Just a massive success,
811
00:38:02.849 --> 00:38:06.110
a success on such a scale that I'm bitter. Me too.
812
00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:11.539
It's not over, you know. Really? Yeah, you're going to
813
00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:16.070
be the Pantages next week. I've got an old sword
814
00:38:16.110 --> 00:38:17.130
and a bit of a crown. Great.
815
00:38:17.269 --> 00:38:18.289
Okay, well then.
816
00:38:18.309 --> 00:38:19.050
Well, I think so.
817
00:38:19.250 --> 00:38:20.010
Now you're talking.
818
00:38:20.070 --> 00:38:21.050
Very good, Arthur.
819
00:38:21.329 --> 00:38:24.110
But what a joy that must have been for you
820
00:38:24.230 --> 00:38:27.869
to be standing there with Mike Nichols, looking at this
821
00:38:27.989 --> 00:38:31.869
production being made, working on the music, working on the comedy.
822
00:38:31.929 --> 00:38:33.710
That must have been... Fantastic.
823
00:38:33.750 --> 00:38:35.829
Well, yeah, it was probably the most fun I had
824
00:38:35.929 --> 00:38:38.409
working on anything. The Ruttles was pretty good. But working
825
00:38:38.489 --> 00:38:40.409
on this with Mike Nichols was just wonderful. He was
826
00:38:40.449 --> 00:38:42.090
an old friend of mine. I'd known him for 15
827
00:38:42.090 --> 00:38:44.840
years at that point when we started to work on it.
828
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:48.679
But it was wonderful because working on a show is
829
00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:50.000
just the best thing you can do because you can
830
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:52.719
keep improving it. So I was the writer. So I'd
831
00:38:52.760 --> 00:38:54.820
have to be the one who went home and stayed
832
00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:56.639
up all night and I've got a new draft for you.
833
00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:02.849
And it wasn't obvious how to make it work. It's
834
00:39:03.309 --> 00:39:05.630
easy to open, get it on, you know, running around
835
00:39:05.650 --> 00:39:08.949
with horses. But to bring it home wasn't easy and
836
00:39:08.989 --> 00:39:12.880
it took a while because it became something different. It
837
00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:15.639
has to become something different. As it's a musical, there's
838
00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:18.139
a love story involved, you know, you've got to have
839
00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:21.239
an ending. I mean, the ending of The Holy Grail
840
00:39:21.300 --> 00:39:25.750
is shit. The policeman comes and arrests everybody.
841
00:39:26.389 --> 00:39:27.780
My daughter said to me, is that it?
842
00:39:27.789 --> 00:39:28.289
I loved it.
843
00:39:28.389 --> 00:39:29.349
I said, yeah, it's interesting.
844
00:39:30.260 --> 00:39:33.179
That's the worst ending I've ever seen of any film.
845
00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:34.880
I loved it. I'm sorry.
846
00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:35.960
I liked it too. It was my idea.
847
00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:38.760
Yeah, okay. Good idea.
848
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:41.539
Which is why I went to always look on the
849
00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:42.940
bright side for the next film.
850
00:39:42.980 --> 00:39:43.239
Yeah.
851
00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:44.449
You know, let's have a song.
852
00:39:44.570 --> 00:39:47.190
Let's have a song. Let's do it right. Yeah. Well,
853
00:39:47.349 --> 00:39:50.929
you had a blast with Spamalot. Now you've hit. 50 years,
854
00:39:51.789 --> 00:39:56.179
50th anniversary of Python beginning. And I did want to
855
00:39:56.199 --> 00:40:00.599
get your take as we wind it down on fame,
856
00:40:00.820 --> 00:40:03.980
because you have a very interesting take. Yeah.
857
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.230
Well, I was very fortunate because I had this friend, George,
858
00:40:07.269 --> 00:40:09.989
who was so helpful to me. He was like a guru, really.
859
00:40:10.030 --> 00:40:12.230
He'd give me advice all the time. And we didn't
860
00:40:12.269 --> 00:40:15.650
agree on anything, on everything, like religion. We had total disagreement.
861
00:40:15.670 --> 00:40:19.380
But he would say, You know, we were the most
862
00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:21.300
famous people in the world. We're still going to die.
863
00:40:22.460 --> 00:40:23.940
The thing was always, you've got to die.
864
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:24.920
George Harrison would say that.
865
00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:26.739
You've got to die. What the hell? It doesn't matter
866
00:40:26.760 --> 00:40:28.409
if you're the most famous people on the planet. You're
867
00:40:28.429 --> 00:40:30.929
going to die. So you have to face that. What's
868
00:40:30.969 --> 00:40:33.929
going to happen? What do you believe? So that, I found,
869
00:40:33.949 --> 00:40:37.869
was very interesting philosophically to deal with him on that level.
870
00:40:37.989 --> 00:40:40.039
And I was at his deathbed, so it was kind
871
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:43.280
of weird. But he died very well. I mean, he
872
00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:46.280
didn't want to be reborn. Whereas I'd give anything to
873
00:40:46.300 --> 00:40:47.199
be reborn, you know.
874
00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:47.760
Right.
875
00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:50.320
I'd like to come back as anything, really.
876
00:40:50.679 --> 00:40:52.579
Well, I don't know. I'm not going to follow you
877
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:55.500
on that. Oh, unicorn, I'd be fine. Prancing around on
878
00:40:55.519 --> 00:40:57.119
a rainbow, I would take that in a second. But
879
00:40:57.719 --> 00:40:59.980
I don't want to come back as an electrical outlet,
880
00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:01.980
you know, or something, an inanimate object.
881
00:41:02.179 --> 00:41:02.980
No, you do it very well.
882
00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:03.760
Well, thank you.
883
00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:07.119
But I think the point about fame now is at
884
00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:09.699
my age, I find the only use is it helps
885
00:41:09.739 --> 00:41:13.280
you to get into doctors. Oh, okay. They're very helpful,
886
00:41:13.340 --> 00:41:15.210
and they give you the extra medicine. They go the
887
00:41:15.269 --> 00:41:18.260
extra yard with the opioids. They'll give you a bit
888
00:41:18.300 --> 00:41:19.820
more than you should have. Give you a little more
889
00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:21.280
than you should have. They're very nice about that, doctors.
890
00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:22.420
That's very nice.
891
00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:26.500
Especially in America where it hasn't cost so much.
892
00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:29.480
I mean, you.
893
00:41:29.139 --> 00:41:30.340
Can get sick for nothing in England.
894
00:41:30.360 --> 00:41:34.320
You and your cradle to grave life insurance, life health care.
895
00:41:34.380 --> 00:41:38.090
It's finished now. This is over now. Cradle to Brexit
896
00:41:38.150 --> 00:41:38.829
is what it was.
897
00:41:38.849 --> 00:41:40.690
Cradle to Brexit, yeah. You'll have to go to Northern
898
00:41:40.730 --> 00:41:42.130
Ireland now to get a physical.
899
00:41:42.610 --> 00:41:42.849
Sun.
900
00:41:43.369 --> 00:41:45.670
Oh, that's right. I forget how it works. I don't
901
00:41:45.690 --> 00:41:47.349
really read the news. I read it upside down.
902
00:41:47.369 --> 00:41:49.730
It's worth going to Northern Ireland, though, if you can
903
00:41:49.750 --> 00:41:50.349
get it to Europe.
904
00:41:50.530 --> 00:41:50.710
Yeah.
905
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:51.710
That's true.
906
00:41:51.730 --> 00:41:54.389
You have the better Guinness, too. It's really good up
907
00:41:54.429 --> 00:41:58.210
there in the north. Yeah, you said, you know, you
908
00:41:58.250 --> 00:42:00.500
mentioned George. You talk about George a lot. George had
909
00:42:00.519 --> 00:42:03.360
a quote about the Beatles that you think also applies
910
00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:06.199
to Python. You said that George once said to you,
911
00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:08.570
had we known we were going to be the Beatles,
912
00:42:09.050 --> 00:42:10.090
we would have tried harder.
913
00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:11.440
Isn't that great?
914
00:42:11.539 --> 00:42:13.949
It's such a great– It's just a great line, isn't it? Yeah.
915
00:42:14.010 --> 00:42:16.030
First of all, I think they– You don't know you're going.
916
00:42:15.949 --> 00:42:16.469
To be the Beatles.
917
00:42:16.489 --> 00:42:18.269
You don't know you're going to be Python. Python was
918
00:42:18.309 --> 00:42:20.269
just another show we were doing at the time.
919
00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:20.650
Yeah.
920
00:42:20.750 --> 00:42:22.190
You know, it was like the eighth show we'd done
921
00:42:22.210 --> 00:42:23.030
in two years, right?
922
00:42:23.250 --> 00:42:23.750
Yeah.
923
00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:26.420
He would come out with these one-liners. It was fantastic.
924
00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:27.880
I was on holiday with him once, and somebody ended
925
00:42:27.900 --> 00:42:30.219
up to him and said, hey, George Anderson, what are
926
00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:32.699
you doing here? He said, well, everybody's got to be somewhere.
927
00:42:35.159 --> 00:42:35.820
Killer line, isn't it?
928
00:42:39.300 --> 00:42:40.719
Sounds like you must miss him terribly.
929
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:44.519
Ah, yeah. He was fantastic. Fabulous. Just a fabulous fella.
930
00:42:44.980 --> 00:42:45.199
Yeah.
931
00:42:45.340 --> 00:42:45.760
Yeah, yeah.
932
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:48.079
Well, I like to always end on a real down note.
933
00:42:48.099 --> 00:42:49.099
Yeah, no, it's good.
934
00:42:49.400 --> 00:42:52.860
It's good. It's called Down Note with Conan O'Brien. Well,
935
00:42:52.940 --> 00:42:56.099
sorry about your friend. Must be painful. And that's all
936
00:42:56.119 --> 00:43:01.260
the time we have. You know what? I could talk
937
00:43:01.300 --> 00:43:03.139
to you for about six hours. I know that would
938
00:43:03.179 --> 00:43:06.880
not be your favorite experience, but it would be mine. Just...
939
00:43:07.579 --> 00:43:12.179
Getting to know you, you are a delightful human being,
940
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:16.340
and I am thrilled about the book. You're an idiot
941
00:43:16.530 --> 00:43:18.630
if you don't go out right now and get Eric Idle,
942
00:43:18.789 --> 00:43:22.829
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. It's just
943
00:43:22.969 --> 00:43:26.590
a terrific memoir. It really is. It's fantastic.
944
00:43:26.630 --> 00:43:28.010
Well, thank you. That's very kind of you. I was
945
00:43:28.050 --> 00:43:30.190
really appreciative of what you wrote. It was very nice
946
00:43:30.230 --> 00:43:30.989
of you to do that.
947
00:43:31.190 --> 00:43:37.050
Well, it was, I mean, just as... You say meeting
948
00:43:37.070 --> 00:43:39.309
some of these people that inspired you or hearing that
949
00:43:39.369 --> 00:43:42.809
Elvis was a fan, getting to sit across the table
950
00:43:42.849 --> 00:43:46.030
from you with some microphones and talk to you after
951
00:43:46.110 --> 00:43:49.130
all you've done for comedy and for everything is just
952
00:43:49.170 --> 00:43:51.210
a real treat. And I know the English don't like
953
00:43:51.230 --> 00:43:53.610
this kind of sentiment, so I'll end on a go
954
00:43:53.670 --> 00:43:54.289
fuck yourself.
955
00:43:54.329 --> 00:43:55.050
Yeah, all right.
956
00:43:55.369 --> 00:44:04.400
Thank you. I have a concern. It's a legitimate concern. Sona,
957
00:44:04.440 --> 00:44:07.219
you know that I'm happy for you to do extracurricular things.
958
00:44:07.420 --> 00:44:10.059
You're doing a lot of extracurricular things now, and I'm
959
00:44:10.099 --> 00:44:12.260
worried that it's going to get in the way of
960
00:44:12.300 --> 00:44:14.659
your work. True or false, you just signed up to do,
961
00:44:14.860 --> 00:44:20.030
you're hosting an Armenian telethon. Yes. Yes. They're my side hustles. Yes.
962
00:44:20.190 --> 00:44:21.989
How many side hustles do you have right now? Well,
963
00:44:22.530 --> 00:44:24.769
so my main job is being your assistant. Then I
964
00:44:24.789 --> 00:44:27.630
have this podcast. Then I also do the voice for
965
00:44:27.710 --> 00:44:31.360
Princess Sugar Salt on a Cartoon Network cartoon. Is that
966
00:44:31.380 --> 00:44:34.559
a show that, yeah, you keep leaving for this voiceover work. Yeah.
967
00:44:34.659 --> 00:44:37.059
And she'll leave. I mean, there'll be stuff going on
968
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:39.539
and I need her. And she's like, can't, gotta go. Yeah.
969
00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:42.219
And do the voice of Princess Sugar Salt. Yeah, you
970
00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:44.139
know what? I did leave once in the middle of
971
00:44:44.179 --> 00:44:46.420
the day. You did? And it was really a busy day.
972
00:44:46.460 --> 00:44:48.659
That was bad. I remember, and I came upstairs, and
973
00:44:48.679 --> 00:44:50.179
I needed help with some stuff, and there was just
974
00:44:50.219 --> 00:44:51.860
an empty chair there, and you're like, yeah, she's off
975
00:44:51.900 --> 00:44:54.619
doing side hustle number 15. Yeah, and that's when you
976
00:44:54.659 --> 00:44:58.190
were evacuated from your house, too, because of the fires. Yeah.
977
00:44:58.210 --> 00:45:01.329
It was the worst possible time to leave work. Yeah,
978
00:45:01.349 --> 00:45:03.429
and you were doing the voice of Princess Sugarsalt, so
979
00:45:03.469 --> 00:45:07.110
who can fault you? And how many things do you have?
980
00:45:07.130 --> 00:45:09.070
And you have other side projects I know about, some
981
00:45:09.090 --> 00:45:10.230
of which you probably can't talk about.
982
00:45:10.269 --> 00:45:10.489
Yeah.
983
00:45:10.769 --> 00:45:14.429
You have... I legitimately think you have 15 things you're
984
00:45:14.449 --> 00:45:16.590
doing outside the show. This is your fault.
985
00:45:17.250 --> 00:45:17.469
Why?
986
00:45:17.809 --> 00:45:20.860
Because you put me on the show and stuff. Oh,
987
00:45:20.869 --> 00:45:23.630
and that's why? Yeah. Do you say no to anything?
988
00:45:24.030 --> 00:45:24.349
No.
989
00:45:25.110 --> 00:45:27.389
No. I say yes to absolutely everything.
990
00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:27.880
Right.
991
00:45:27.920 --> 00:45:32.539
I do. Okay. So the telethon you're going to host it,
992
00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:34.440
are you going to do jokes and stuff? I don't
993
00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:36.900
think so. Oh. I don't know what I'm going to do. Well,
994
00:45:36.920 --> 00:45:38.719
you're the host, so you have to do, are you
995
00:45:38.739 --> 00:45:41.340
going to prepare? Aren't they going to give me like cards?
996
00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:44.480
I don't just go out there and read what's on there.
997
00:45:44.500 --> 00:45:45.619
You have to be part of it. It's got to
998
00:45:45.659 --> 00:45:48.260
come from your personality. Oh, I don't know. I don't
999
00:45:48.280 --> 00:45:48.960
think I'm doing that.
1000
00:45:49.019 --> 00:45:52.099
You have like a grand host here that you can
1001
00:45:52.139 --> 00:45:54.090
pick the brain of to get a little insight on.
1002
00:45:54.119 --> 00:45:57.139
Yeah. I could help. I'm good. Oh, God. I'm good.
1003
00:45:57.420 --> 00:45:57.739
You're good?
1004
00:45:57.760 --> 00:45:59.739
You think you got it? No, I don't think I
1005
00:45:59.780 --> 00:46:02.019
got it. I don't think I'm going to do a
1006
00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:02.719
great job.
1007
00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:03.679
What?
1008
00:46:03.900 --> 00:46:06.159
I don't think I'm going to do... you know, a
1009
00:46:06.219 --> 00:46:09.239
good job of being a host of the Armenian telethon.
1010
00:46:09.579 --> 00:46:12.219
If I were you, I'd be scheming to crush it.
1011
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:14.800
That's the difference between us. I would be losing my
1012
00:46:14.840 --> 00:46:17.469
mind thinking, how can I just destroy being the, uh,
1013
00:46:17.530 --> 00:46:19.449
you know, host of the Armenian telethon? Well, that's the
1014
00:46:19.489 --> 00:46:22.869
difference between you and me. I wing it. And it's
1015
00:46:23.030 --> 00:46:26.650
usually not very good. You, uh, prepare. And that's why
1016
00:46:26.690 --> 00:46:30.980
you are, uh, you know, uh, uh, a very well-known person.
1017
00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:33.480
Oh my God. That's the best you could give me.
1018
00:46:35.300 --> 00:46:39.099
The Hillside Strangler's a very well-known person. And a pretty
1019
00:46:39.139 --> 00:46:42.010
damn good host. Yeah. What the hell was that? You
1020
00:46:42.090 --> 00:46:44.429
struggled to say anything nice about me.
1021
00:46:44.510 --> 00:46:45.110
I did.
1022
00:46:45.130 --> 00:46:46.710
A very well-known person.
1023
00:46:46.769 --> 00:46:47.190
I did.
1024
00:46:47.789 --> 00:46:48.650
It's true, you are.
1025
00:46:48.949 --> 00:46:52.920
And keep in mind, all of this is happening while
1026
00:46:52.980 --> 00:46:58.460
you're committed to, at work, re-watching the first season of
1027
00:46:58.539 --> 00:47:03.119
New Girl. Yes. Who rewatches the first season of New Girl?
1028
00:47:03.159 --> 00:47:06.460
New Girl's fine, but you don't rewatch the first season.
1029
00:47:07.239 --> 00:47:10.050
It's not like you missed something. And it's at work.
1030
00:47:10.789 --> 00:47:14.269
It's at work. I know, I'm so sorry. That's not cool. Plus,
1031
00:47:14.289 --> 00:47:17.550
you've got to do like two Sudokus a day. Three. Okay, three.
1032
00:47:17.570 --> 00:47:20.469
I do easy, medium, and hard. Easy is basically not
1033
00:47:20.510 --> 00:47:22.489
even doing one. I was joking when I said two,
1034
00:47:22.590 --> 00:47:25.690
and then you corrected me and said three, and you're serious.
1035
00:47:25.989 --> 00:47:28.349
I am serious. Yes. Do you also do the New
1036
00:47:28.369 --> 00:47:29.550
York Times CrossFit Puzzle? I do.
1037
00:47:29.829 --> 00:47:30.170
Okay.
1038
00:47:30.329 --> 00:47:32.510
And you're re-watching the first season of New Girl. Yes.
1039
00:47:32.849 --> 00:47:34.829
And you're hosting the Armenian Telethon.
1040
00:47:34.889 --> 00:47:35.269
Yes.
1041
00:47:35.650 --> 00:47:39.070
And you've got, you're the voice of Princess Sugar Salt.
1042
00:47:39.110 --> 00:47:39.449
Uh-huh.
1043
00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:44.480
And you also have like, seriously, six other things you're doing,
1044
00:47:44.519 --> 00:47:46.559
some of which I can't mention. Yeah. They're in development.
1045
00:47:46.579 --> 00:47:50.280
They're my side hustles. You always say you treat me
1046
00:47:50.340 --> 00:47:54.840
like number two. Like you always say something. You're always
1047
00:47:54.900 --> 00:47:58.139
walking around because you're like, can someone help me with something?
1048
00:47:58.199 --> 00:48:01.110
And like, I'm usually just not paying attention to it. Well,
1049
00:48:01.170 --> 00:48:03.269
what I do, that's the only way to get attention
1050
00:48:03.710 --> 00:48:07.019
from you. is I ask other people to do the
1051
00:48:07.079 --> 00:48:08.840
things that you're supposed to be helping me with, and
1052
00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:11.760
you see them go help me with it, and it's
1053
00:48:11.800 --> 00:48:14.559
someone who's not qualified usually to do it. Right. Someone
1054
00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:17.539
who's like 22, and I'm asking them to go get
1055
00:48:17.599 --> 00:48:21.780
my anti-psychotic medication. You need to up your dose. I
1056
00:48:21.780 --> 00:48:25.590
don't really have anti-psychotic medication. You need to up that dose.
1057
00:48:25.630 --> 00:48:28.670
Do I? Strengthen that. And then you go, hey, what
1058
00:48:28.710 --> 00:48:30.789
are they doing that for? I was going to get
1059
00:48:30.829 --> 00:48:34.400
to that once I finished season six of Hogan's Heroes.
1060
00:48:36.440 --> 00:48:38.780
Look it up, kids. It's a worthy reference. You're a
1061
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:42.250
cottage industry. I don't know. I just need money for
1062
00:48:42.269 --> 00:48:45.119
a house. Why don't you do a Kickstarter? That is
1063
00:48:45.800 --> 00:48:49.260
so not, that's not why Kickstarter should exist. Yeah, but
1064
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:51.389
so many people, so many celebrities are like, I want
1065
00:48:51.409 --> 00:48:54.250
to make an independent film. This is my Kickstarter. I
1066
00:48:54.269 --> 00:48:56.150
thought Kickstarter was for people that had like a brain
1067
00:48:56.190 --> 00:48:57.210
tumor and didn't have any money.
1068
00:48:57.250 --> 00:48:57.550
Yeah.
1069
00:48:57.610 --> 00:48:59.949
And then there's tons of people out there like, you know,
1070
00:49:00.070 --> 00:49:02.750
I want to launch my own beauty line. Let's have
1071
00:49:02.789 --> 00:49:06.110
a Kickstarter. Well, you're thinking of GoFundMe. GoFundMe is more
1072
00:49:06.130 --> 00:49:08.369
for the sick people. Kickstarter is like, I have this
1073
00:49:08.449 --> 00:49:10.789
project that I love, like help me pay for it.
1074
00:49:10.789 --> 00:49:14.210
What if your project is not dying? I'm doing a
1075
00:49:14.250 --> 00:49:17.230
Kickstarter from this new project called I Don't Wanna Die.
1076
00:49:17.250 --> 00:49:20.849
I don't wanna die. I'm sorry if you're feeling neglected,
1077
00:49:20.909 --> 00:49:23.030
but I, you know, you're fine. Do you think I
1078
00:49:23.289 --> 00:49:25.829
really am neglected sometimes? Or do you think this is
1079
00:49:25.929 --> 00:49:28.289
all me having phantom symptoms of being the middle child
1080
00:49:28.329 --> 00:49:31.340
of six? Can I weigh in? Yeah, clearly, yes. You
1081
00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:34.010
think so, really? Yeah, I think it's gotta be, right? Yeah,
1082
00:49:34.340 --> 00:49:38.469
middle child, six kids, one born every year, My parents
1083
00:49:38.710 --> 00:49:40.710
sometimes gave two of us the same name just because
1084
00:49:40.750 --> 00:49:44.610
they weren't paying attention. There's two Lukes in my family.
1085
00:49:45.070 --> 00:49:46.510
How do you do that? And one of them's a girl.
1086
00:49:47.690 --> 00:49:49.489
They had no idea it was going on. I met
1087
00:49:49.670 --> 00:49:52.780
two of my siblings in the bathroom four years ago
1088
00:49:54.059 --> 00:49:57.119
when I went home for the holidays. So yeah. You
1089
00:49:57.239 --> 00:49:59.780
are a lost boy. Yeah, I am a lost boy.
1090
00:49:59.800 --> 00:50:03.139
I got lost in the middle. And I had uncles
1091
00:50:03.159 --> 00:50:06.559
that didn't know my name. One uncle called me Ham Fat.
1092
00:50:07.329 --> 00:50:10.000
I'm not kidding. One uncle was like, hey, ham fat,
1093
00:50:10.059 --> 00:50:10.960
and I hated that.
1094
00:50:10.980 --> 00:50:12.179
That's great.
1095
00:50:12.219 --> 00:50:15.019
He was like, hey, ham fat, get over here, ham fat. Hey,
1096
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:18.539
look at ham fat. Ham fat? Ham fat. He called
1097
00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:20.760
me ham fat. My uncle called me ham fat. Did
1098
00:50:20.780 --> 00:50:23.349
he call other people that? No, he called me ham fat.
1099
00:50:23.369 --> 00:50:25.429
I don't think he knew my name. I honestly don't
1100
00:50:25.469 --> 00:50:26.929
think he knew my name. But he had to have
1101
00:50:26.969 --> 00:50:29.289
looked at you, and the image of ham fat had
1102
00:50:29.309 --> 00:50:30.550
to have come to his mind. And I wasn't a
1103
00:50:30.590 --> 00:50:32.409
fat kid. I was a thin kid, but I think
1104
00:50:32.489 --> 00:50:35.409
my head... looked like a salted ham. Like a leg,
1105
00:50:35.590 --> 00:50:38.440
a cartoon leg of a ham. I don't know, yeah.
1106
00:50:38.500 --> 00:50:40.639
But yeah, that's the kind of world I grew up in.
1107
00:50:41.260 --> 00:50:44.300
And my mom had nicknames for me. Pigeon Pie. Pigeon Pie,
1108
00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:46.639
you've heard that one. Yeah. Yeah, and you've heard me.
1109
00:50:46.699 --> 00:50:49.679
I've heard, wait, Bologna Boy. Bologna Boy. Why are these
1110
00:50:49.820 --> 00:50:53.059
all meat related? I don't know, but my mom, still
1111
00:50:53.139 --> 00:50:54.940
sometimes I'll call her up and she'll go like, oh,
1112
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:57.909
Pigeon Pie. And then she'll say, oh, my Bologna Boy.
1113
00:50:58.050 --> 00:51:01.030
Because I liked Bologna in 19, you know, during the
1114
00:51:01.090 --> 00:51:01.750
Tet Offensive.
1115
00:51:01.769 --> 00:51:01.909
Right.
1116
00:51:01.909 --> 00:51:05.389
1968, I was eating some bologna. She was like, oh, hello,
1117
00:51:05.429 --> 00:51:09.690
bologna boy. And so you heard me the other day.
1118
00:51:09.710 --> 00:51:11.210
I think I was on the speakerphone or something, and
1119
00:51:11.230 --> 00:51:13.190
you heard her go like, oh, my bologna boy, and
1120
00:51:13.230 --> 00:51:16.300
you lost it. Here's the point. Ham fat. Here's the point,
1121
00:51:16.340 --> 00:51:19.860
and I will bring this home. No one knew my name.
1122
00:51:20.300 --> 00:51:22.840
So I was called bologna boy and ham fat and
1123
00:51:22.940 --> 00:51:27.960
pigeon pie all swirled. versions of meat, crude meats. And
1124
00:51:28.219 --> 00:51:30.789
that's because we were just this meat obsessed Irish tribe.
1125
00:51:30.809 --> 00:51:34.070
This is all 100% true. I know. Oh, I don't
1126
00:51:34.090 --> 00:51:36.179
doubt it for a second. I know. And then you
1127
00:51:36.239 --> 00:51:39.400
wonder why I feel neglected at work when you're watching
1128
00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:45.090
Season two of whatever, Gilmore Girls, which you've watched nine times.
1129
00:51:45.329 --> 00:51:48.449
I've never seen Gilmore Girls. You've never seen Gilmore Girls?
1130
00:51:48.510 --> 00:51:48.929
No.
1131
00:51:49.030 --> 00:51:51.150
I can't believe that. Everyone watches Gilmore Girls. I know.
1132
00:51:51.250 --> 00:51:54.469
And people say that I sometimes talk like Lorne Graham. Yeah.
1133
00:51:54.550 --> 00:51:56.659
But I never got into it. I see you more
1134
00:51:56.699 --> 00:51:57.570
as a Lorelei.
1135
00:51:57.960 --> 00:51:59.099
Oh, wow.
1136
00:52:00.219 --> 00:52:03.389
I never missed an episode. I'm glad we got this
1137
00:52:03.469 --> 00:52:06.690
out there shout out to my mom moms love you
1138
00:52:06.710 --> 00:52:09.250
moms I never called her mom I know why did
1139
00:52:09.269 --> 00:52:12.519
you do that but now I call her ma hey
1140
00:52:12.559 --> 00:52:14.199
ma I call my mom ma yeah I call her
1141
00:52:14.239 --> 00:52:16.500
ma now just because it sounds so antiquated I know
1142
00:52:16.539 --> 00:52:19.440
that's the best way to like Welford yeah oh Welford
1143
00:52:20.139 --> 00:52:23.739
yep I call her ma and shout out to my
1144
00:52:23.780 --> 00:52:26.510
ma she doesn't listen to the podcast I don't think
1145
00:52:26.530 --> 00:52:29.050
my father does either because they don't know how to
1146
00:52:29.170 --> 00:52:32.440
get it and I keep explaining to them And they
1147
00:52:32.460 --> 00:52:34.949
were like, well, we turned on the TV and it
1148
00:52:34.989 --> 00:52:38.369
didn't come on. So you'll never hear this.
1149
00:52:39.130 --> 00:52:39.469
Anyway.
1150
00:52:40.530 --> 00:52:43.050
Well, good work, mutton dick.
1151
00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:46.739
Yeah.
1152
00:52:48.360 --> 00:52:50.280
You know, if my uncle had had 10 more minutes.
1153
00:52:50.989 --> 00:52:52.539
To think about me, he probably would have called me
1154
00:52:52.619 --> 00:52:53.099
mutton dick.
1155
00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:59.380
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend with Sona Movsesian and Conan
1156
00:52:59.420 --> 00:53:03.960
O'Brien as himself. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced
1157
00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:06.659
by Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco and
1158
00:53:06.699 --> 00:53:10.030
Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Earwolf. Theme song by
1159
00:53:10.050 --> 00:53:10.769
The White Stripes.
1160
00:53:11.329 --> 00:53:13.050
Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.
1161
00:53:14.170 --> 00:53:17.250
Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our associate talent
1162
00:53:17.289 --> 00:53:18.769
producer is Jennifer Samples.
1163
00:53:19.159 --> 00:53:20.800
The show is engineered by Will Beckton.
1164
00:53:21.199 --> 00:53:23.590
You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts,
1165
00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:26.369
and you might find your review featured on a future episode.
1166
00:53:26.750 --> 00:53:27.829
Got a question for Conan?
1167
00:53:28.130 --> 00:53:34.030
Call the Team Coco hotline at 323-451-2821 and leave a message. It, too,
1168
00:53:34.070 --> 00:53:36.489
could be featured on a future episode. And if you
1169
00:53:36.510 --> 00:53:39.570
haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
1170
00:53:39.750 --> 00:53:44.150
on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.
1171
00:53:47.840 --> 00:53:52.860
This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.