Comedy's First Rock Gods

By Catherine Hammons

A Kid Scoop Media Mentor Correspondent

One of the first things I noticed as I approached the Robert Frost Auditorium was the sense of anticipation. It felt as though those of us were in the audience were getting ready to hear the band that defined our youth play. For some, it might have been the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, for others Jimi Hendrix, and still others Pearl Jam or Prince. In other words, there was a sense of shared experience, a feeling of youthful passion that is normally associated with the deeply personal experience of first discovering one of your favorite bands. For fans of Monty Python, the feeling is virtually the same. These super fans who can quote chapter and verse of Monty Python sketches and movies in the same way you can still sing your favorite song even when you haven't heard it for years are the individuals who attended Live Talks LA latest event: Eric Idle with Bob Saget on Thursday, October 11 at the Robert Frost Auditorium.

This idea of comedy performers as rock stars is a concept of which Idle is deeply aware and discusses with two voices: the first as an entertainment insider, a legend aware of his legendary status (Idle wrote a hilarious blog that ended up in his book entitled "The Diary of a Legend." ) The second voice is one who still sounds surprised and slightly awed at his own success and notoriety. As much name dropping as there is in "Always Look at the Bright Side: A Sortabiography" and in his lively talk with Bob Saget, there is a palpable appreciation for the events, circumstances, successes and failures that have composed his life.

It is the rare comic performer born in the last four decades who doesn't trace some aspect of their comedy DNA through Monty Python and it was a pleasure to hear the inside details of Idle's and Python's beginnings. Even after all this time, Eric Idle still loves to make people laugh as he shared the ups and downs of a life well-lived.