‘Spamalot’ and ham: It’s the Idle side of life

With all the hype and 14 Tony Award nominations -- including one in the musical category -- you’d think Monty Python’s “Spamalot” would have more to offer. You know, some songs, some laughs, a little tap-dancing, an intermission. But the whole show appears to be just two guys talking into microphones at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills ...

But wait a second. It takes only a moment of “CSI”-style deduction for a clever audience member to figure out that despite the presence of Python veteran Eric Idle on stage the event held Monday evening would not be a performance of Broadway’s “Spamalot” but instead a conversation with the man who wrote the book, the lyrics and co-wrote the music behind those nominations.

Yes, by the time the show started, we in the audience had it all figured out. We weren’t like all those misguided Wookiees who waited outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre six weeks before “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” was slated to open -- seven blocks away at ArcLight Cinemas.

We were here to see Idle match wits with Bruce Wagner, author of several novels about the dark side of Hollywood (still waiting for someone to write about the light side of Hollywood) -- including his most recent, “The Chrysanthemum Palace.” The conversation, attended by about 300 people, was one in the occasional and peripatetic “Writers Bloc” series, founded about eight years ago by Andrea Grossman.

Well, almost all of us knew why we were here. Overheard was this Python-esque snippet of pre-conversation conversation:

“Do they have popcorn at this event?”

“Who’s interviewing who?”

“I don’t know ...”

No popcorn like at the movies, just people talking (like at the movies). Wagner was doing the interviewing in front of a crowd that included “Simpsons” actor Harry Shearer; fellow “Simpsons” cast mate Hank Azaria portrays Sir Lancelot the Brave in “Spamalot,” alongside David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Sara Ramirez.

Dressed in black and given to mock-envious ruminations about how much more money than he Idle was probably making, Wagner quizzed Idle not only about his “Spamalot” success but also about his new book, “The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America.” According to the book’s introduction, the title borrows from the world of rock ‘n’ roll, when a rock star decides to jettison the big, high-budget spectacular in favor of a solo tour with one guitar in order to keep all the money for himself.

Both authors would make themselves available to sign copies of their respective books -- in fact, Idle gallantly offered “to sign copies of Bruce’s book too.” He added fondly of Wagner: “I’ve known him for as long as he’s known me.”

Idle talked about whether “Spamalot” would ever come to Los Angeles (probably) and whether other Python films, including “The Meaning of Life” and “Life of Brian,” would ever become Broadway musicals (maybe). Among his favorite comics, Idle said, are Ali G, Eddie Izzard, Billy Connolly, Kevin Nealon and Robin Williams.

Idle said he divides comic personalities into two distinct groups: “red nose” and “white face.”

Robin Williams, he said, is “red nose” -- spontaneous and just kind of out there; a “white face” comedian, he observes, is someone like Steve Martin, who “uses wit to deflect anything that’s coming at them.”

And, even though talking about what makes a joke funny tends to immediately spoil the fun, Idle managed to expound on some general theories of humor -- which in the past he has used most effectively at funerals. At the memorial service for Python member Graham Chapman, who died in 1989, Idle was called upon to sing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” a tune from “Life of Brian” that has been borrowed for “Spamalot.” “When things are at their bleakest, comedy is a sort of reality check,” Idle said.

The only thing Idle seems to take a dark view of, comedy-wise, is Hollywood -- particularly the sitcom.

“I’ve never really liked sitcoms,” he mused in response to a query from the audience. “I liked ‘Dick Van Dyke’ as a kid, I loved ‘[Sergeant] Bilko.’ I think what has happened is that they stopped making them in New York, they started making them in L.A., in the studio system.

“Sitcom is dying out because everybody has to say the same funny lines -- they are not characters anymore, they are just ciphers for one-liners.

“I’ve got to this old age where I’m sort of cranky and I don’t want to work for anybody else. I hate meetings. It drives my agents nuts, I just won’t go to meetings anymore,” Idle said. “I hate pitching things, I don’t want to pitch anything to any of the buggers who come out of the William Morris mailroom.”

This comment drew loud applause, perhaps from those from the mailroom at Creative Artists Agency.

“I think show business is being hijacked by all these people who are fans,” Idle continued, building steam. “Let the people who are creative get in.

“It’s an insane system, the inmates are in charge of the asylum.”