So the Monty Python crew are back on stage for one last huge
hurrah, designed to sort out a variety of needs including pension pots, alimony
payments and legacies for young wives. And it reminds me of an incident that brought a communication conundrum into sharp focus: when you meet a
famous person in a domestic situation, do you talk about what made them famous?

I learned the lesson in a rather painful way, however, one
night as I sat down for dinner two places away from Monty Python’s Terry Jones.
At the time Terry lived immediately next door to some mutual friends who had a
lot of parties, so I saw him on a fairly regular basis. We therefore exchanged
‘catch up pleasantries’, as he told me about a Radio 4 series he was working on
and I touched on my new training programme. He even asked about a special magic
convention he knew I been attending. Almost as an aside, I added: “Oh, by the
way, congratulations on winning the poll” and he responded with slightly
embarrassed gratitude.
“What’s that?”, asked the woman sitting between us. I
explained that there had been a lot of press coverage during the week about a
survey conducted to find the funniest-ever line in a film – and Terry came top.
“So what was the line”, probed the woman. Trying to move the conversation on,
I said that it was the ‘famous one from The Life of Brian’. “But which one?”
she persisted. I looked at Terry and he shot back a pretty clear ‘you’re not getting
Python’s greatest hits tonight’-expression. “Well”, I replied, “it’s the one
where he says: ‘He’s not the Messiah; he’s a very naughty boy’ ”.
I had just performed the funniest-line-ever in a movie. In
front of its originator. We reverted to
domestic trivia as quickly as possible.
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