Michael Palin says 'a lot of Python was crap' as he launches solo tour

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/09/michael-palin-monty-python-crap-solo-tour

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Michael Palin has said that a lot of Monty Python's material was "crap", in an interview with the Telegraph.

"People forgive you the things that don't work," he said. "A lot of Python was crap, it really was. We put stuff in there that was not really that good, but fortunately there were a couple of gleaming things that everyone remembers while they've forgotten the dross."

His lighthearted comments come as the Pythons prepare for 10 sold-out nights at London's O2 arena in July, performing a new stage show that Palin promised would be an extravagant affair: "We've got dancers, we've got songs, things that have to take place while we're all off doing our changes," he told Greg James on BBC Radio 1 last week. "We're all playing about 10 different characters, and it takes time to change when you're 73."

Despite offers, the Pythons are not taking the show on the road, but Palin has announced his own solo tour in September. He will be looking back on his life as the third volume of his diaries, Travelling to Work 1988-1998, is published. The book covers the period where he balanced acting work with globetrotting documentaries like Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole. "It will be my first solo tour and I see it as a chance to meet audiences all over the country and talk about the only consistent thread in my working life - the irresistible urge to do something completely different," he said as he launched the tour at the London book fair.

"When I was young. I remember thinking 'one day I'll become an adult' and I'd become rather serious and wear a tie and go to cocktail parties," he added. "But I realised that's not really what it's about. It's about a state of mind. And I've never really, properly become an adult."

Palin is also aiming to help independent bookshops by selling signed copies of his diaries in shops in each town he visits on the tour: "I like bookshops – people can go in, talk, browse around. A lot of these bookstores have gone out of business over the years, so I'm really trying to make sure there is a tie-in."