I’m really enjoying the discipline of blogging! But it was not an easy discipline to acquire. While in Las Vegas this past weekend, my friends, Bryant and Pam, took me to see Spamalot. Although I’ve always loved humor, I was never a huge Monty Python fan. That has slowly changed.
Spamalot stars John O’Hurley as King Arthur. I liked him on Seinfeld, and I loved him in this role! He was delightfully funny, as was most of the cast.
My favorite lines…
You know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen the show:
– “Bright side” by the maimed knight
– “Hay”
– “Neal…I’m Dennis”
– “That’s just not something you tell a heavily armed Christian”
– “Even 1,000 years from now, this will still be controversial.”
This show is so well written. I didn’t see some of the “call backs” coming, which delighted me. Usually I can anticipate them because it is an important part of my presentations. Call backs are so important to humorists. It is a way to tap into and “milk” what you already have that works.
A “call back” is when there is a funny line in your presentation (or in this case the play) and you refer back to it later in the show. Example: Dennis, one of the knights insisted on being called Dennis even though the king was not referring to his name (it was very funny). Later in the show, King Arthur asks him to kneel (to be knighted), “My name is Dennis” was his reply. You did not see it coming. It was very funny. As I teach, it was a great trick that the writers and actors created in your mind!
Let it inspire you to use the same principles in your presentations!
PS. My new favorite songs… that I can’t get out of my head:
• Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
• I’m Alone
• You won’t succeed on Broadway
Stage time, Stage time, Stage time,
PPS If you want to learn more about humor, check out my interviews with 8 of the people who taught me how to be funny. My 4 CD Set: Learn How the Pros Make ’em Laugh
My name is Jo Nell and I am a Monty Pythonolic. If you read any of the histories of the Monty Python series the Cast of the show gives full credit to KERA, the Public Television Station in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area of Texas for saving this show after the first 6 episodes aired on the BBC. KERA showed the episodes during a pledge drive and the response was so overwhelming that the Python team went back to the drawing table to produce another 6 episodes – and then the British and the REST of the World GOT IT! History was made…
Back to SPAMALOT, I am getting into Vegas a day early for the Storytelling Camp, to do the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Las Vegas International Speedway Friday. It looks like I may be going to see SPAMALOT Friday night with one of my cousins which serendipity is placing in Vegas the same weekend. Some of you may have heard of this cousin of mine…she has been in a few movies, won a couple of Academy Awards, and currently starring in a show on USA Network… Her name is Holly Hunter. She will be filming for her tv show that weekend out at the Hoover Dam and it looks like she is going to have a few hours free on Friday night. We are going to try to make it happen.
See you in Vegas, Darren!