HE MAY not be the Messiah, but he certainly couldn’t be called a naughty boy either.
A former member of internationally celebrated comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Welshman Terry Jones is showing just how good he is by traveling back to his home town of Colwyn Bay to support the local theatre in a special fundraising night on Monday, April 12.
The Pioneer caught up with the Python and patron of Theatr Colwyn to talk about his upcoming appearances in the town, his love of history and the lure of the directors chair.
Pioneer: You’re coming to Theatr Colwyn for a screening of Life Of Brian - do you enjoy returning to the town?
Terry Jones: It has very deep memories for me. I left when I was five - I remember very vividly being there. But of course a lot of it has changed - you didn't have the A55 through the middle of the town.
We used to travel up from London to go and stay once a year, and I always used to think it took such a long time on the train.
P: It must be nice to help the theatre you a patron of?
TJ: It's a wonderful theatre - it's a little jewel I think. And now it's just been named the oldest working cinema - it's fabulous. It’s so it's nice to be able to help raise a bit of money - or at least I hope raise a bit.
P: You must have seen the film hundreds of times - as an actor and director can you sit back and enjoy it?
TJ: Occasionally. Usually I'm thinking of all the things going wrong or we didn't get quite right. I think it's a good film - I really like it. When I was making it I saw every scene thousands of times in the editing.
When we shot it I had a feeling the film was just working. It felt like being on the crest of a wave - I knew it was going to work.
P: Are there moments you cringe at or are especially proud of?
TJ: Most of the cringing moments we cut out - the things which didn't work. We cut out one scene with Eric Idle when he is in the suicide squad - they do appear briefly at the end. Before we cut out the scene we had a much bigger laugh because you remembered them from before.
P: Is it painful to make these decisions?
TJ: That was the most painful. Apart from the final song - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life - it was Eric’s major contribution.
P: You'll be doing a Q&A on the night as well - have you ever been shocked by any of the questions?
TJ: I don't think I've ever been shocked, but occasionally you get some interesting questions. You say some people must have asked all the questions, but I still get the odd surprise.
P: You’re doing a talk the next day on Medieval Lives - is it a nice way to balance things?
TJ: Absolutely. I enjoy doing that. As I was coming up for the theatre it was worth staying on for. I get to spend a bit of time looking around as well, go to see my parents' grave.
I have some lovely memories. I did a little TV thing going back to my roots where we went to the house on Dolwen Road in Llanelian. I found some photographs recently of the house - I should bring them up.
P: The initial reactions of outrage to Life Of Brian are legendary - looking back do you still feel regret that people didn't really understand the message, or are you proud to have spearheaded a controversial movement against stuffy traditionalism?
TJ: We were very grateful for the outrage [laughs]. It sort of helped publicise it.
P: It was marketed as being ‘So Funny It Was Banned In Norway’ in Sweden?
TJ: Yes - which was funny because the Sweeds think the Norwegians have no sense of humour.
It was also banned in Ireland. That film I did Personal Services was also banned in Ireland. At this point they had only just introduced the censor and only banned four films - and three of them were mine.
P: The Python universe continues with musicals like Spamalot - were you a fan of the show?
TJ: I didn't like it the first time I saw it. I saw the opening in New York but then in the end I saw it in Vegas and I really enjoyed that.
I had met [comedian] Sanjeev Bhaska a few weeks before he was doing the show, so I had to go and see him in it.
P: The shows, the films, the musicals remain right on the tip of the cultural landscape. Monty Python has an international longevity like no other. Was and is this a surprise?
TJ: We were pretty lucky really. The history stuff writing history books [pays quite poorly really]. The fact we own the rights to the TV shows and two of the films enables me to do other things.
P: Some Pythons have moved on from Python, while others like Terry Gilliam seems to keep his surrealist flair as a director. Are you ever tempted back to directing?
TJ: I have made three films on my own: Wind In The Willows, Personal Services and Erik The Viking. I'm really only interested in things I have written myself and I just haven't written a movie myself.
I was very disappointed by the way the distribution company killed Wind In The Willows. I thought we'd made a really good film. That slightly put me off.
I have a screenplay I'm setting up at the moment [but] I get side-lined.
Terry [Gilliam] just does films and that's really what he wants to do. I suppose if I was just into making films I would have made a few more.
I get side-lined into writing a book - Who Murdered Chaucer? - and that was a year.
I'm interested in other things as well.
P: You have obviously done so much with author being one of the many hats you wear. In Python you wrote with Michael Palin. Do you have to take a different approach when writing as a duo?
TJ: When Mike and I would write we soon gave up writing together in the same room. We'd go in separate rooms and swap material or read out what we'd written and each say 'Yes thats good' or not.
With comedy you certainly need someone to bounce off, to say what's a good idea.
Writing books and history is just different - writing children's books as well. I always like to road test them out.
P: Writing is clearly one of your life passions.
TJ: It's what I've always wanted to do. I've always written since I was seven. I did find a book from primary school which said I'm ‘hopping’ to be an actor. I'm still ‘hopping’ to be one I think.
P: You have become synonymous with history now and a love of history is apparent in Life Of Brian and Holy Grail. But what made you want to write and present your historical pieces?
TJ: I never really wanted to do documentaries at all. I've never been interested. I got involved in a series about the crusades through BBC producer. He got me into doing the documentaries and I found I really enjoyed doing them. I never wanted to direct them though.
I did the one, but then people kept on coming up with more interesting ideas.
P: Do you like doing documentaries now?
TJ: Oh yes - especially when it's things people have got wrong. That's what the talk is about - dispelling misconceptions about the Middle Ages - it should be really called Medieval Myths. It's all about the things people associate with the middle ages - like the belief people had that the world was flat; which is just wrong.
P: You seem to be plate-spinning so much already, but what is next for you - more writing? More documentaries?
TJ: I'd really like to make another movie actually. Which is what I should be really doing right now.
P: Then we’ll let you get back to work.
-
Terry Jones will be appearing at Theatr Colwyn in Colwyn Bay on Monday, April 12 at 7pm. Tickets are available on the door but early booking is advised to avoid disappointment by calling the Box Office on 01492 532668/01492 872000. He will also be holding a talk titled Medieval Lives and the Memorial Hall, Rydal Penrhos College, Colwyn Bay on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:15pm. Admission is free for members of the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay History Society and £2 for non members.