|
|
|
Monty
Python's Graham Chapman: Looks Like a
Brown Trouser Job
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
7
|
|
 |
|
7 |
|
10
= Highest Rating |
|
Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
|
In
the late 1980s Monty Python alumnus Graham Chapman conducted
a series of tours of colleges around the United States giving
what he called "Comedy Lectures". In late '87 I was
lucky enough to attend one such lecture at the University of
Alabama in Birmingham, where Mr. Chapman reduced the packed
house to tears of laughter and then introduced a screening of
Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
I'd always though this was going to be one of those memories
that slowly faded over time as I was too thick to take a camera
to the event but luckily, Mr. Chapman was smarter than I was.
On the next year's tour video cameras were
rolling and several of these great performances were preserved
for posterity. Ryko's DVD record of these lectures has been
given the unwieldy name Monty Python's
Graham Chapman: Looks Like a Brown
Trouser Job and is a pleasure from start to finish. Using
footage from several stops on the tour, the producers have put
together a nearly seamless 76-minute show that had me laughing
out loud more than any actual film I've seen in years.
Chapman
sits alone on stage and relates hysterical tales of his involvement
with the Dangerous Sports Club, his friendship with Who drummer
Keith Moon, his battles with alcoholism and more than a few
tales of Python madness. Of course, as with a lot of Chapman's
humor, part of the joy is in how he tells his stories so I'll
not try to top him by relating any of them. Suffice to say that
any fan of Monty Python will find themselves entertained from
the moment Chapman insists the audience assault him with 30
seconds of abuse well past his tale of having to obtain penicillin
syringes while dressed as a woman. And any story that includes
Keith Moon, explosives and a hotel room is sure to delight.
After the main lecture there is a brief Q & A session from which
more anecdotes flow, including a bizarre explanation of the
ongoing mock cruelty to cats seen throughout the Python television
show and films.
|
|
|
The
image quality on the lecture footage is pretty much what you would
expect from videotape made more than 15 years ago — grainy, overly
bright and ugly. The producers of the DVD have done a good job
of making the show as presentable as possible and I can't imagine
anyone caring about the picture quality once the laughter starts.
The one spot in the program that I wish might have been better
photographed is the demonstration of the bar game "Shitties"
(which I'll refrain from describing) but without another camera
angle this is all that is possible — and it's still funny as hell.
Just the rescuing of these lectures from permanent loss would
be enough reason to like this DVD but Rykodisc has also added
some great extras to sweeten the deal. There are four audio clips
of questions put to Chapman with the funniest being his odd riff
on Boxing Day for a radio show. Then there are a few more excerpts
from the lecture Q & A bits where he talks about the writing of
Life of Brian and gives his opinion
of fellow Python member Terry Gilliam's film Brazil.
Next there are several short pieces from television including
a commercial for a glass company, footage of Chapman's Dangerous
Sports Club catapult charity stunt and the Iron Maiden music video
"Can I Play With Madness?", in which Graham is center
stage and the band is almost completely absent. Lastly there is
the Chapmanography text page section. This consists of
an exhaustive listing of Graham's career output of books, recordings,
television work and films as well as a lengthy biography of the
great man.
This
is a very good disc and I enjoyed every minute of it, but I have
one odd question: Listed on the sleeve is one more extra bit that
isn't on my DVD called "Graphic Scenes of Sex Involving Members
of the British Government and Tawdry Call-Girls". Beneath
this listing is the parenthetical addition "Canadian Region
Only". Now, I've been a Python fan long enough to suspect
this is a joke (and one Chapman would have loved) but if anyone
can verify this piece showing up on any release of the DVD I’d
like to know about it. And, of course, I'd love to see it!
7/07/05 |
HOME
| REVIEWS
| TOP
|
