We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python - from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and many more, as well as the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humour that has delighted his audiences for five decades. The year 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons and Eric is marking the occasion with this hilarious memoir chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life featuring everyone from Princess Leia to Queen Elizabeth.Written and read by Eric Idle(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018
We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python - from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and many more, as well as the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humour that has delighted his audiences for five decades. The year 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons and Eric is marking the occasion with this hilarious memoir chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life featuring everyone from Princess Leia to Queen Elizabeth.Written and read by Eric Idle(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018
Eric Idle is a comedian, actor, author and singer-songwriter who found immediate fame on television with the sketch-comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Following its success, the Pythons began making films that include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Eric also wrote the award-winning musical Spamalot. He lives in Los Angeles.
As funny, wicked, naughty, eye-popping and compulsively, joyously
brilliant as the genius who wrote it
*Stephen Fry*
On the last day, when the last human beings look out at the
blackened cinders of their world, I can only hope that one of them
will sing, "Some things in life are bad, they can really make you
mad," and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" will ring out as
humanity's final words. I loved this biography of a song and the
man who made it, and the picture he paints of his life, his
friends, his passions, five Pythons and a Beatle
*Neil Gaiman*
The Monty Python man embraced fame and became friends with George
Harrison, David Bowie, Paul Simon and many others. This is an
unashamedly starry autobiography, packed with hilarious
name-dropping anecdotes
*Mail on Sunday Books of the Year*
The pleasingly jolly tone of what he calls his "sortabiography"
captures the daft glee with which the he and his fellow Pythons
lampooned British authority
*Guardian Best Books of 2018*
I read Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from cover to cover.
My next mission is to read what's between the covers. It's a joy to
read Eric Idle's fully transparent personal stories of what got him
to the present from birth. Any Monty Python lover or lover of
honesty and the crafting of a hilarious comedian and musical genius
will love this book. And love Eric as I do. Not to spoil-alert, but
his stating that "Laughter is the best revenge" sums it up. Read
every word of this book or I will hunt you down and read it to you.
And you don't want me in your house
*Bob Saget*
If you're Christmas shopping then Eric Idle's Always Look on the
Bright Side of Life is the perfect present. Very funny and
touching
*Matt Lucas*
If I could go back in time and observe any comedian's journey, I
think it would be a terrible waste of time travel. That said, I'd
want to see just how Eric idle and a few friends changed comedy
forever. This is the book that've been waiting for most of my
life
*Conan O'Brien*
A thoroughly pleasurable read ... [It captures] the infectious glee
with which the Monty Python troupe went about subverting the
British establishment
*Observer*
Charming ... A treasure trove of comedy insights
*Rolling Stone*
A hilarious, charming, book by this incredible, insufferable
genius
*Steve Martin*
Inevitably, Eric Idle's memoir, Always Look on the Bright Side of
Life, is no ordinary celebrity autobiography ... [Showbiz
anecdotes] are combined with frank, fresh insights into five
decades as part of Monty Python
*Radio Times*
Idle is engaging company
*Sunday Times*
When you have a tour guide as engaging as Eric Idle, you'll gladly
go wherever he takes you. The writer and comedian best known as a
member of the British sketch troupe Monty Python has curated an
intimate journey of what it was like to be a writer who suddenly
found himself a massively famous actor. . . . It's also the kind of
book you'll want to read twice-once when the genius of Python
sketches are fresh in your memory, and once when those scenes have
faded so you can be reminded how these comedy rebels shook up an
art form that was due for a dose of surreal silliness
*Washington Post*
This tell-all from my comedy hero Eric Idle is brilliant,
hilarious, touching, enlightening, filled with swashbuckling
adventure, edge-of-your-seat suspense, heart-pounding romance, and
contained several typos and one inaccurate fact about the
Spanish-American war. I expected more out of Mr Idle's proofreading
skills, quite frankly
*Paul Feig*
Ideal for Python lovers
*i Best book gifts to buy this Chrismas*
A remarkable and very entertaining memoir
*The People's Friend*
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