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Play Summary: Sybil thinks Basil has forgotten their 15th wedding anniversary. Actually he has arranged for some friends to come round and for Manuel to cook a special paella and there is to be champagne. Whilst cook Terry is berating Basil for not letting him cook the paella, Sybil drives off in a huff. Not wanting to confess this to their guests, Basil pretends Sybil is ill. However they insist on going up to see Sybil and Polly has to don a wig and pretend to be Sybil. ... Read more

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11" x 17" 12-page pressbook. ... Read more

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A selection of sketches from the BBC comedy series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus", including "Frozen Albatross on a Stick", "Dead Parrot", "Crunchy Frog and Cockroach Clusters" and "I'm a Lumberjack". ... Read more

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This digital document, covering the life and work of John (Marwood) Cleese, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 4352 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

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Chapters: John Cleese, Audrey Hepburn, Tim Curry, Julie Andrews, Judi Dench, Mel Smith, Davy Jones, Norman Wisdom, Emma Thompson, John Mills, Angela Lansbury, Jeremy Brett, Michael Crawford, Ron Moody, Julie Walters, Steve Marriott, Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, Sally Ann Howes, Petula Clark, Gertrude Lawrence, Michael Ball, Anna Neagle, Imelda Staunton, Natasha Richardson, Jean Simmons, Lee Mead, Anthony Newley, Michelle Gayle, Denise Van Outen, Dani Harmer, Andy Serkis, Martine Mccutcheon, Celia Imrie, Brian Blessed, Nellie Farren, Marti Webb, Pixie Lott, Alfred Molina, Ruthie Henshall, David Essex, Kerry Ellis, Hayley Mills, Douglas Hodge, Tommy Steele, Marie Studholme, Jennifer Ellison, Siobhan Dillon, Simon Russell Beale, George Formby, Sr., Samantha Spiro, Hermione Gingold, Richard Short, Alistair Mcgowan, Jessie Matthews, Darren Day, Lee Evans, Tom Hollander, Jessie Wallace, Daniel Boys, Honor Blackman, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Joseph Mcmanners, Michael Praed, Gertie Millar, Sheridan Smith, Jill Halfpenny, Tamsin Egerton, Nick Moran, Hannah Spearritt, Frances Ruffelle, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Frances Barber, Bobby Howes, Kate Cutler, Steven Webb, Hollie Robertson, John Partridge, James Bolam, Patricia Routledge, Tracie Bennett, Guy James, Abi Finley, Dan Leno, Pauline Rita, Adrian Lester, Gary Wilmot, Laura Michelle Kelly, Sarah-Jane Honeywell, Sophie Thompson, Sarah Lancashire, Tamzin Outhwaite, Cicely Courtneidge, Roger Allam, Sally Lindsay, George Robey, Murray Head, Paul Nicholls, Gina Beck, Kevin Bishop, Maxwell Caulfield, David Bamber, Summer Strallen, Julian Bleach, David Oakes, Mike Holoway, C. Hayden Coffin, Evie Greene, Leanne Rowe, Helena Blackman, Emily Fowler, Claire Sweeney, Jack Hulbert, Janie Dee, Amy Nuttall, Stephanie Lawrence, Jan Graveson, Alex Jennings, James Dreyfus, Sian Brooke, Sybil Evers, Gavin Lee, Maria Jane Hyde, Preeya Kalidas, Des Coleman, Perry Millward, Lisa O'hare, Tom Goodman-Hill, Reb...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=52139 ... Read more

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mag: CLUB 12/75 1/76... John Cleese and Monty Python Interview... Perfect Presents for Perverts... California's Most Shaven Lady... Fiona Richmond in Honolulu... ... Read more

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Not that big...or particularly red.Pages of silliness based on the original television series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

thin python is better than no python
It isn't huge.It's laced with themes from the tv shows.

But there are opportunities unique to the form:

ACCEPT ANY 3 of these great classics entirely FREE as your introduction to the THE PYTHON GUILD and you get one free tub of dung (tick if required).

Need I say more?

red
Monty Python's Big Red Book has a lot of material from the show, which makes it a good one. This may not take you that long to read, but I think it'll be worth it. I first read this over my friend's house a few years ago, and I thought it was cool, so I got myself a copy.I'm surprised the spam song is in it with the lumberjack song. It's a nice thing to read right before you go to bed.Look, just read it yourself and see what you think.

Bigger rip-off than final rip-off
First of all, this book is neither big, nor red. It's quite thin actually, and is blue. There is limited new material in it, and the actual new material isn't very special. This doesn't seem like a Monty Python product at all. It was probably thrown together at the last minute. I purchased this today, finished it an hour ago, and I'm still frustrated with it. However, I purchased the "First 280 years of Monty Python" book, and really like it so far. "The Pythons" is also good, but is kind of all over the place, but "280 years" is mainly focused on the television show. So in conclusion, hesitate on this one, unless you think it will bethe last Python book you'll ever buy.

Blue
Inevitably, this is a big blue book. My hardback copy dates from 1971, and originally cost 1.50 ukp. It's a fairly slim collection of material based around the first couple of series of the show - an advertisement for'Whizzo Chocolate Assortment', a series of introductions fromincreasingly-flustered newsreaders, pages of classified ads, and more thana few naked women. It's much less effective than the television show - thetranscriptions lose a lot without the delivery, and the original bits seemrushed. It has recently been re-released, and you can probably read it allwhilst standing up in the shop. ... Read more

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A Private Word to the Reader

You are currently holding in your hand . . .

. . . well, actually, God knows what you are holding in your hand, you are after all adults, and what you hold in your own right hand is entirely up to you . . .

. . . you may, after all, have this in your left hand and something else in your right hand and you will probably have held far worse things in both your hands than this . . . and hey! . . . No! . . .

Stop that! Miss Johansson, I said, "Please hold my calls . . ." Honestly. Hollywood!

Anyway, what you are about to read--or have read to you--is a new book that is the first active collaboration of the Monty Python chaps for many, many years. In fact, the first book written and produced by the Pythons, themselves, since 1979. No, they are not all dead. Okay, some of them have been a bit quiet recently, and one or two have DNR notes by their bedsides, but the point is five of them are still technically alive and that, if not exactly cause for rejoicing, may well be cause for a new book. And this is it!

So hold whatever you like in your right hand while you read this book. Because laughter is jolly good for you. Even if it can make you blind.

--The Pythons

Customer Reviews (2)

Perfect for Python fans, young and old!
What a great read!With a surprisingly sizable compilation of photos, stories and scripts from the Python touring years, I was very happy that the book surpassed my already hopeful expectations.

The rich and colorful graphics are classic Python and I loved that so many of the stories and photos in the book were new to me.

This is a right treat for Pyth fans, my family has been cracking up non-stop reciting our favorite lines!

Good But Not Great
I am a huge Python fan and was looking forward to this book a great deal.Although I am generally happy with it I can't help but be a little disappointed.

The idea of the book is a good one: a chronicle of the Python's 70's tours of England, Canada and the U.S. and their early 80's appearance at the Hollywood Bowl.All six Pythons contribute (Graham's comments are from his book "A Liar's Autobiography") as do Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland and several others around the Python's orbit.There's some very funny stories about the tours but most hardcore Python fans will have heard the majority of these tales several times before over the years.However it is nice to have all these stories and comments laid out well and in chronological order.

That's the good part.

The bad part is that the stories of the tours take up less than half the book.The majority of the book are scripts of sketches that have been reprinted many times before.Do we really need to see the script of 'Dead Parrot' again?

The photos are generally quite good (I had not seen a number of them before) and the programme from the Hollywood Bowl show is an especially nice touch.The book is very well put together and it's great to have a product that all the Pythons at least put a little time into.Eric Idle should be commended for his editing of the material.

All in all I think most serious Python fans will want to check this out and it makes an oddly nice companion to the other recent Python book Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian which chronicles the Python's filming of 'Life of Brian' in the late 70's.If you love Python like I do then you should pick this one up.If you're a so-so Python fan then you can probably do better with The First 28 Years of Monty Python, Revised Edition or Monty Python Speaks.



... Read more

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The complete text of the filmscript of "The Life of Brian" is backed up with an extremely silly souvenir book describing the making of the film, including the essay "Sharing a caravan with John Cleese" by Michael Palin and several scenes omitted from the final version of the film. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If you've seen the movie....
The format is a mass-market paperback, but this isn't a novelization but rather the screenplay as the movie was made. You'll notice that last has a subtle distinction. Oftentimes screenplays differ notably from the movies as you see them--scenes are cut because they didn't work, cost too much to do, or just because of the limits of time. The screenplays of Brazil and Monty Python and the Holy Grail are full of wonderful little tidbits that didn't make it to the screen. Unfortunately, for Life of Brian, there's only the parts that did get made, which are funny indeed, but you've already seen them. ... Read more

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Examines the complex character of British Monty Python veteran John Cleese, describing how he has charmed audiences with his wit and comedy writing, and discussing marriage and the nature of the family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Comedy's Ultimate Straight Man
When I first watched "Fawlty Towers" as a boy, I totally misread it. I thought the humor was in all the awful, demanding people coming to Basil Fawlty's hotel. I didn't realize Basil himself was the problem. He seemed such a sure and certain authority figure to me.

Reading "Cleese Encounters", I wonder if a young John Cleese might have seen it the same way.

"Cleese Encounters", Jonathan Margolis's 1992 biography of the celebrated comedian, documents the life of the star and co-creator of both "Fawlty Towers" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and called "the funniest man in the world" in a British newspaper poll. Working without the cooperation of Cleese, cobbling together what he can from newspaper stories and distant acquaintances, Margolis put together a solid if not riveting tale of a gawky, overmothered youngster from a middle-class British neighborhood whose dark humor and eye for absurdity would make him a formidable comic talent, in part for the way they rubbed against Cleese's ever-present, very-British desire for conformity.

Cleese revels in shock humor, whether its famously sending off his friend and writing partner Graham Chapman at a public wake ("Good riddance to him...I hope he fries") or telling an interviewer he loves his mother so much, he plans on having her stuffed and put on permanent display. As a public school student, he once did a performance before a whole school making fun of an underliked teacher, and throughout his life has reveled in conflict and argument.

At the same time, he didn't leave home until college, is known for being rather shy, and keeps his private life private unless he happens to be telling a reporter about his psychoanalysis. Cleese is a man of contradictions, and Margolis does his best to identify and sort through them.

Margolis writes humorously, and his analysis of Cleese never feels pushed. His lack of support from Cleese himself was probably a good thing when it came to writing about Cleese's childhood and pre-Python performing days (Cleese was already 30 when Python began), as he gets a less filtered perspective than if an adult Cleese was at his elbow providing context. His expressed love of Cleese is obvious and deep, and especially noticeable when writing of "Fawlty Towers", about as good a second act as anyone has ever had.

Negatives include much chronological skipping around; a lot of inside British humor; some sloppy factoids (Cleese was not nominated for an Oscar as "Best Comedy Actor" - such an award doesn't exist); and the lack of interviews with Cleese's best-known associates which reduces the Python section to little more than some analysis of well-known sketches. That Margolis works so much from newspaper and magazine articles is not terrible; he manages to synthesize them well enough so that you never feel like it's a straight clip job. But the absence of sourcing not only leaves out needed context but feels like a cheat, as if Margolis is pretending he spoke to Michael Palin when he really just pulled a quote from an unnamed story.

One good thing you do get out of this book is some idea why this singular comic genius hasn't done more with his career than create the odd movie or short-lived series that lives on forever in people's minds, with long gaps of years in between. At one point, he says he doesn't need success after a certain point; he'd rather be happy than Van Gogh.

I wouldn't mind seeing Margolis getting a second crack at Cleese, now that the comedian has been divorced a third time (acrimoniously at that) and is working hard again to raise alimony. Cleese is one funny guy, and as Margolis finds, pretty fascinating beyond the laughter.

Too many details, not enough substance
SPOILER ALERT

I got this book to find out more about a man I greatly admire.But did I want to know that when he was 2, he stuffed chrysanthemum buds up his nose?No.Was I enlightened to find out he was still a virgin when he graduated from Cambridge University?No.It was nice to clear up the rumor that he once painted footsteps from the statue of the school founder to the lavvy--he didn't do that.(Great prank, though; I bet he wishes he HAD done it!)

The writer comes off like such a freakin' sycophant at times that I unconsciously wipe the goo off my shirt as I read.Too bad.John Cleese is a very interesting person who's done some interesting things.Guess I'll have to keep waiting to find out about that.

There was some interesting info in it--about 10 pages' worth, not counting the photos.That's why I gave it 2 stars.

Not bad considering there was no help from the subject :-)
This book is in no way the definitive Cleese study, but it does give good background and some insight into Cleese and the characters he developed onscreen. Sometimes those on the periphery of the subject can give good insight because they are, for the most part, unbiased. Pick it up if you have the chance, and see if you can find the characters of Cleese's childhood in his comedy.

Outstanding!
Packed with brilliantly researched information, beautifully written, deeply insightful, modest and very British, just like its subject. To be fair, there haven't been many negative reviews of this excellent book, butthe few I have seen have, I suspect, come from the more earnest kind ofAmericans who believe they understand Monty Python, but never have andsadly never will. Only too bad this book is out of print in the USA, but wein Britain can buy the updated paperback on Amazon.co.uk Recommended!

The Worst Book on Pythoniana Ever. Period.
This is the lousiest book you will ever read about John Cleese or any of the Pythons, period.

I tried to give it zero stars, but the system wouldn't let me.

I understand that when Margolis announced he was doing a Cleese bio, Cleese asked his friends not to help Margolis in any way.

It shows. Margolis replaces insight and nuance with trivia and stupid research tricks. He digs up ancient, brief acquaintances of Cleese's and interviews them (like the girlwho was an on-site nurse at one of his film sets, stuff like that).

Butmost of the book is cobbled together from newspaper and magazine articles,glued together with gobs of suspect, sometimes lurid speculation on thepart of the author about Cleese's inner life and psychological motivations.

Oh, and did I mention that Margolis is a writer as smug as he isuntalented?

Being an incurable Python fan, I could not resist buying thisas a remaindered softback, despite being warned by Friends Who KnewBetter.

I still felt as mightily snookered as I would have had I paidfull retail hardback.

Run away! Run away! ... Read more

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2007 egmont serieforlaget. swedish language version of the graphic novel by kim howard johnson john cleese john byrne & mark farmer. color. ... Read more

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This pocket-sized text, with questions and answers in each section, discusses caring for someone after a stroke. It discusses, in layman's terms, what the medical condition is, which treatment can help, and how. The main points are signposted by actor John Cleese, and videos are also available. ... Read more