"I enjoyed Eric Idle's touring one-man musical very much: he seems like a thoroughly good egg, he's led a remarkable entertainment life, and who'd begrudge him, now 82, the chance to bask in it and his audience's palpable affection at least one more time? But even I found it a bit much when, reaching the end of this greatest hits compendium, Idle includes Monty Python's 2014 O2 gigs in his pantheon of past glories."
"In fairness to Idle, this show (called what else? Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live!) is not about Python, it's about him, from South Shields childhood via boarding school in the Midlands, all the way to the Hollywood Bowl. It follows the now familiar format, with our host narrating his life and works in story, lots of clips on an upstage screen and in song."
Eric Idle's touring one-man musical traces his life from a South Shields childhood and boarding school through university revues, Monty Python, and international success. The show combines storytelling, archival clips, and live songs in a familiar greatest-hits format. Idle balances inevitable self-centredness by paying heartfelt tribute to friends George Harrison and Robin Williams, and by retaining a likable, unpretentious persona. The production often indulges in rarefied name-dropping and revisits past Pythonesque glories, which can feel overly nostalgic or repetitive. The performance nonetheless captures Idle's warmth, humour and a celebratory mood as he basks in audience affection.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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