Posted by
Virginia Daddy on Friday, July 25, 2008 10:37:25 AM
Perhaps you expect me to be talking about Barrack Obama, or perhaps John McCain. Maybe Harry Reid or Robert Novak or Stephen Colbert. While all of these men have their moments, some more so than others and all in their own way, the man I speak of is indeed a true comic. Eric Idle is just a funny man.
Last night, in my attempts to stay sane, I met sme friends at Wolf Trap National Park outside McLean, VA to see "He's Not the Messiah, He's a Very Naughty Boy". The show was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, the Master Chorale of Washington, Shannon Mercer, Jean Stilwell, William Ferguson, Theodore Baerg, Eric himself. The little oratorio was a great show. The audience loved it, and I loved it.
Basically, it is a sophisticated adaptation of Monty Python's other movie, the Life of Brian. Not the same scale as Spamalot (though I have never seen it), the show featured the four (five) soloists, inlcuding Idle himself, narrating and singing their way through the plot of the movie. Brian, born of a Jewish mother impregnated by a Roman Soldier, and Brian joins the People's Front of Judea, is thought to be the messiah, and ends up singing "The Bright Side of Life" on a cross.
The music was whimsical and varied, featutring seemingly virtually every style, including a Bob Dylan impression by Idle. It attempts to follow Handel's Messiah, using Idle's "silly" humor. Scottish bagpipers make several random appearances, and so does a shephard and his singing sheep, who help sing the song, "We Love Sheep." And no Idle performance can be complete without some reference to lumberjacks...
All in all, a great show and enjoyable evening.
But after this mini-review, I have to say that I think Eric Idle is just one of those funny men. He makes you laugh, no matter what. His style, his timing and delivery, are fantastic. He, along with the other Monty Python Troop like John Cleese, have helped define humor for the last half decade. Their approach is off the wall, full of inuendo and in your face. It keeps you off guard, waiting, looking for the next joke because all too often they are right in front of you just waiting to be discovered.
Personally, I think Idle may be the funniest man on the planet, though Cleese gives him a run for it. I am struggling to find another comic that gets there. Some American comics come close, but don't quite reach his level of "funniness". Mike Myers is one, as was his colleage on SNL Dana Carvey. Robin Williams, no. Steve Martin is close, too. The late George Carlin is not there. Will Farrell, Adam Sandler, and some others aren't even close to the originality that Idle brings to the stage, and has brought for decades.
Anyway, if you get a chance to see this, see it. You'll probably enjoy even though you might not expect to.