Eric Idle, a founding member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, believes laughter is essential for self-awareness and coping with mortality. 'It's about laughing at yourself and your own death and your inevitable end,' he said.
Idle's acclaimed musical Spamalot begins a major US tour in Ohio this week, visiting over 30 cities including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. The show is based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was made on a budget of £320,000 funded partly by members of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull.
Idle wrote the story and lyrics, with music by John Du Prez, and credits director Mike Nichols for the show's success. Spamalot premiered on Broadway in 2005, winning a Tony Award for Best New Musical. Idle has since published his diaries from that period as The Spamalot Diaries.
The musical features songs like 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' and 'Find Your Grail.' Idle recalls watching Broadway patrons leave the theatre singing and clicking coconuts purchased from merchandise kiosks, saying, 'If you can just brighten people’s lives to be silly in the street immediately afterwards, I think you’ve done a great job.'
