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How The Light Gets In (named, aptly, in honour of a Leonard Cohen song) has taken the festival world by storm with its yearly celebration of philosophy and music. We spoke to founder and festival organiser Hilary Lawson, who is a full-time philosopher, Director of the Institute of Art and Ideas, and someone with lots to say about keepings things equal and organising a great party.
National Public Radio (NPR) has an interview with John Cleese about his new autobiography So, Anyway... Check it out to discover what the British wit whose comic characters and hit movies, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Time Bandits, and A Fish Called Wanda, has to say about writing funny.
Here's a highlight from the NPR interview:
Cleese's advice for young comedy writers
"I tell them to steal, because comedy is extraordinarily difficult. It's much, much harder than drama. You only have to think of the number of great dramatic films and then compare that with the number of great comic films ... and realize that there's very, very few great comedies and there are lots and lots of very great tragedies, or dramas. That tells you, really, which is the hard one to do. So at the very beginning, to try to master the whole thing is too difficult, so pinch other people's ideas and then try to write them yourself, and that'll get you started."
To read and listen to the NPR interview, click on this link to NPR's website:
Do you agree that it's hard to write funny?
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0 Comments on Writing Funny Isn't Easy: Just Ask John Cleese as of 1/1/1900
There was a time when I worked in the main branch of NYPL with the big old stone lions out front. No longer. These days I work at BookOps, a dual entity that encompasses both NYPL and Brooklyn Public Library. And in my workplace there is a great and grand and massively impressive sorting machine. It’s very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque. I give tours of it all the time. It sorts and assigns all the holds and returns of the system, so you know it’s gotta be cool. Now, thanks to drone technology, you get to see not just where I work (visually stunning this part of Long Island City is not) but the kickin’ sorting machine as well. Feast your eyes!!
Speaking of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I kinda like it when Al Roker gets pissed off. Makes for better TV watching. And besides, the man has a point.
In 1996 a bunch of Monty Python guys made The Wind in the Willows. It gets better. Steve Coogan was Mole. Stephen Fry was The Judge. This is not to be confused with a very similar looking version starring Matt James in 2006, of course. Still I’m quite shocked I hadn’t seen it until now. Fortunately there is such a thing as YouTube. Here’s part one:
Thanks to Tom Angleberger for the link.
I sort of adore kids. Allie Bruce at Bank Street was kind enough to show a bunch of them rewriting Battle Bunny / The Birthday Bunny (a book born to be taken and adapted) in their own unique visions.
They do love their poop.
Man. It’s a bummer when someone popular online has your name. It’s even more of a bummer when they’ve rabid fan bases. Meghan McCarthy created a short film to separate her from the other Meghan McCarthys. Can you blame her?
For the record, the only Betsy Birds I know of out there are an Arizona artist and a Muppet. The day I beat that Muppet in Google search results was a happy one indeed.
And for our final off-topic video. This one’s almost on-topic Remember the film Hook? With its Peter Pan link? And the character of Rufio? Well I can’t say this any better than i09 did, so I’ll just quote them verbatim: “Baby Rufio Cosplay Validates The Entire Concept Of Procreation”.
1 Comments on Video Sunday: “I’m a Reno Sweeney bunny!”, last added: 8/10/2014
One can learn so much from children. Too often, in our haste to exercise control of every situation, we grown-ups unfortunately root out their innate curiosity and creativity. We drive from point A to point B without noticing the roadside art, whim, and fancy of the trip that is not lost on the childish mind. There is joy to be had in every journey.
I have recently learned you can poke fun at even the vilest of enemies. If you haven’t had a run with my current foe, hold on – cancer will find you somewhere. I don’t wish it on anyone, but unfortunately it worms its way into everyone’s life at some point whether through family or acquaintance. The Myers clan is relatively new at this contest. There is no rule book or instruction manual that I can find. No article 7, subsection 34b that tells us we can’t fight this demon with a joke and a smile.
Sometimes, you have to laugh to keep from drowning in tears. While my bald, frail daughter lays in what was formerly my bed, at times, she seems to find ways to make us smile.
Take for instance a little wresting match with her sister when she attempted to apply a surprise atomic wedgie, but was blocked by the classic counter: the roll onto the back. Rather than move to a frontal assault, she poked her lip out and meekly proclaimed, “But I have cancer.”
With that, her sister waved the white flag, accepted defeat, and soon left the room to repair the damage to her drawers in private.
*****
Just the other day while urging her to drink more water to avoid dehydration and the inevitable trip back to the hospital, I declared, “If you don’t take a drink I’m going to sit on you.”
Her immediate response, “The doctor says you can’t sit on chemo patients.”
Touche, young one! Touche!
*****
Yes, we might be behind shoddy castle walls with little defense besides a catapult and barnyard animals, but we have our smiles and cheery hearts. The enemy can’t take that away.
You have just posted a clip of one of my favorite bits from this movie…loved the insults. Matter of fact I still use some of those to this day! Great post and bless your child’s sweet heart :)
ksbeth said, on 7/10/2014 5:22:00 AM
what an absolutely beautiful gift of smiles in your precious family. you are a mighty powerful clan. ) beth
Almost Iowa said, on 7/10/2014 5:45:00 AM
The strongest defenses against all misfortune are faith and humor.
Mark Myers said, on 7/10/2014 6:32:00 AM
Amen. When all else fails, laugh.
Mark Myers said, on 7/10/2014 6:32:00 AM
Smiles are a good weapon!
Mark Myers said, on 7/10/2014 6:32:00 AM
You can’t go wrong with Monty Python. I probably watched it a dozen times when I put this together
I read an interesting article about Spanish royalty this week and it got me thinking about monarchies. The article specifically mentioned the king’s 8 year-old granddaughter who was soon to become a princess. She won’t rule yet, but there have been many examples in history of children leading countries. Have you ever thought about that? I think of my kids when they were eight and would be very concerned about the consequences of them having absolute power. Worse yet, what would I have done as a reigning monarch at seven? (Or now, for that matter)
It happened all over the globe! Seriously, did any of their subjects think these good ideas?
Henry III assumed the throne of England when he was nine.
Puyi became Emperor of China when he was two years-old.
Ivan VI became the Czar of Russia at two months old
Alfonso VIII was named King of Spain the day he was born.
2 Kings 22-23 tells us of Josiah, who became King of Judah at eight.
According to Dennis the Constitutional Peasant, subjects lived in a dictatorship – “a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working class…” Before he was repressed, Dennis was reminding us that peasants had no choice in who became their king. Sounds vaguely familiar, but I’m not political, so I will move on.
I know all of these children had advisors, but do you wonder what laws were transcribed inside the inner walls of the castle? Some might have been enacted, most were probably transcribed, agreed upon in the ruler’s presence, then discarded knowing the little king wouldn’t remember after his nap.
Edicts like these come to mind:
“The mere mention of peas, green beans, or brussel sprouts will be cause for eight lashes!”
“If I call for a toy and it is not handed to me in less than 10 seconds, the entire court shall have to walk like frogs for a day!”
“Bed time is when I fall asleep on my throne and not a moment before!”
For most child rulers, there would have been a whole legal treatise for passing gas. In fact, it would have been so overwhelming and encompassing that given the proper historical context, it could have replaced the Magna Carta as the defining law of the modern world.
We have rules in our house. You probably think that since I have all girls, our parental charter hasn’t needed gas addendums. You would be wrong. In fact, the doctor where my youngest is being treated completely shot any control over our gas emission laws with one simple, medical edict, “Gas is good.” In his opinion, it is more advantageous for the body to expel gas than hold it in. In the immortal words of Dr. Shrek, “Better out than in, I always say.”
Huh? So now, any hope we have of spending time in the absence of foul clouds is ruined. Our patient is the queen right now subscribes to the good doctor’s manner of treatment…when it suits her. We peasants bow down, joining in when nature calls under threat of law. All of us except mother, who is medically unhealthy, but socially proper. Even the doctor’s advice can’t woo her to the dark side.
In the absence of a real point to this post, I leave you with two thoughts:
1. Gas is good.
2. “Strange women, lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for government!”
Okay, okay, it's not the Spanish Inquisition exactly. It's the Writing Process Blog Tour, but you see the parallels, right? Introverts kissing and telling all in an open forum. I shudder and wish for tea.
The idea behind this whirlwind tour is that after one writer confesses her deepest darkest secrets about how she really does what she does, she tags two other writers and so on and so on, until there are no untagged writers left. Again, there are parallels.
I add my confession to the long list of venerable writers who go before me, starting with Annemarie O'Brien, fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) alum and author of the middle grade novel, Lara's Gift, who tagged me. You can read her deep dark writing secrets here.
Want more juicy tidbits? Just follow the link in Annemarie's post to Lisa Doan, to Kelly Jones all the way back to the first Divulger of the kidlit writing secrets. Who is it? Ah, you must follows the Confessors to find out. Or, jump forward to next week's pair. They're a wily duo of rose-snipping, pen-twirling swashbucklers if I've ever met one. See below for blurbs on each.
So, without further ado, thumbscrews please:
What am I currently working on? A couple of different things. I'm in the marketing stage for two picture books that release this year - Toby and Waggers - which takes up A LOT of time, but is fun because I get to talk to real people in real time! Heady stuff.
I'm researching a project set during WW II that is loosely based around my grandfather's canoe trip down the Mississippi from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico and into the World War II, working title H. I am revising a YA novel that is a retelling of Moses in a Blade Runneresque world, Skin Deep. And I'm writing two new picture books - Tour de Trike and The Four Tenners. I like to mix things up. It keeps me sane...or so I tell myself.
How does my work differ from others of its genre? Man, that's like asking me how my fingerprint is different from someone else's. Let's see. I don't like boxes. The idea of writing only one form or one type of story is Dante's special level of hell for me. I am the Potpourri Writer. Whatever the story is, that's what I'm following and working on. It's all about the story and improving my writing. And my writing gets better the more I cross-write. The brevity of picture books tightens my novel writing. Dialogue heavy film scripts improve my novel dialogue. Novel plots hone my skills for descriptive, scene setting. Poetry reminds me to value the weight, feel and sound of words together and alone.
Why do I write what I write? I write what peeks my curiosity, worlds I want to live in, worlds I don't understand, subjects I want to learn more about. Writing gives me the chance to explore and understand our unbearable lightness of being and reimagine it.
How does my individual writing process work? I'm on the rack now! For me, writing is messy - process and logistics. I tend to write by the seat of my pants. I'm not a big outliner...unless I'm doing a film script. I'm not sure why. It could be that scripts are so dialogue heavy, I need the outline to know what my characters are going to say. I don't outline for picture books. Novels vary. I can go either way, but if I outline, it's more of hastily road map than a cartographer's masterpiece.
As for focus, I don't ever work on just one project...mostly. Ironically, months into a novel ms, that's when picture book ideas crop up like night mushrooms. I usually take an afternoon or morning off to get them down. Sometimes that blossoms into a week. And then I go back to the novel. It's messy.
And finally, logistics - still messy. I'm at my desk every day from 8:30 - 6:00, but there are varying unavoidable breaks in there to pick kids up from school or ferry them to after school activities. I get in at least 4 hours of solid writing a day - in between the breaks. I hope for inspiration. It meanders in some days. More often, I curse the writing gods and plow on.
Secret weapon - a secret drawer of chocolate AND gummy bears for those really rough days. FYI - Gummy bears cannot type. You can, however, make really neat crime scenes with them without ever having to leave your desk. Not that I do...much.
Next week's Confessors:
Marsha Diane Arnold Marsha has been called a "born storyteller" by the media. Already an award-winning author, 2013 was a banner year. She sold four picture books to Neal Porter Books, Kate O'Sullivan of Houghton Mifflin, and Tamarind, UK. Her Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books has helped many writers develop strong, spunky characters. She grew up in Kansas, walking barefoot and climbing trees, and still loves bare feet and trees. For her kiss and tell answers to the questions above, click here.
R.A. Costello mostly writes fiction for and about LGBTQ teens who are figuring out who they want to be - and be with - while fighting against the jerks and bigots that stand in their way. He has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is hard at work on his debut YA novel, The Shelter Sea. For his kiss and tell answers to the questions above, click here.
Here’s the newly released trailer for A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, a film that we expect to hear a lot more about as Oscar season approaches. The 82-minute production, directed by Ben Timlett, Bill Jones, and Jeff Simpson, used 14 different studios to create its mixed-media animation sequences: A for Animation, ArthurCox, Beakus, Cake, Made Visual Studio, Mr & Mrs, Not To Scale, Peepshow, Sherbet, Steven Lall, Superfad, Treat Studios, Trunk and Tundra.
Reading the film synopsis, it sounds like the kind of original, totally left field production that is rare in contemporary feature animation:
Comedian, actor, physician, mountaineer, rugby enthusiast, pipe smoker, alcoholic and consummate Englishman — the late Graham Chapman was a man for all seasons. But this member of Monty Python was not one to let his already colourful life prevent him from making up an even wilder one. Published in 1980, Chapman’s outrageously false memoir A Liar’s Autobiography (Volume VI) — credited to Chapman and four others, including Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams — was a work of blithe, unashamed and inspired fiction. And it has now inspired this insanely entertaining animated biopic-in 3-D, no less.
Despite being dead for twenty-three years, Chapman himself is the star of the show, thanks to forty-five minutes of newly discovered audio recordings of readings from Liar’s done in Harry Nilsson’s studio. Fifteen different groups of animators bring Chapman’s dubious remembrances to life in a dizzying array of styles. Four-fifths of Chapman’s former Python comrades — John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam — crop up throughout, playing themselves and various other equally dubious characters Chapman encounters on his journeys. Whisking through Chapman’s sadly foreshortened life — he died of cancer in 1989, aged forty-eight — A Liar’s Autobiography recounts his years in medical school, his first meeting with longtime writing partner Cleese at Cambridge, the high days of Pythonage, his coming-out as a gay man (or seventy percent gay, according to a survey he conducted on himself), and, of course, his abduction and transport to the heavens by space aliens at the end of the eighties. Even cancer, it seems, cannot vanquish the truly inveterate liar.
The film will debut this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival. It will air later this year on EPIX, as well as have a limited 3-D theatrical release in the US through Brainstorm Media. UK and Canada will also have theatrical releases.
Former Monty Python star Terry Jones will become the first author to have his project published by the Unbound crowdfunded publishing project.
His book, Evil Machines, comprises 13 tales parodying man's relationship with technology. It received the minimum number of pledges required through the Unbound website and will now be released by Faber in November.
There is something enduringly romantic about the image of the alchemist in their laboratory. It is no wonder that J.K.Rowling said “I’ve never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that’s a different matter.” Alchemy emerged into recorded history in Alexandria, in the West, and in China and India, in the East, at about the same time: the fourth to the third century BC. No one is sure whether this happened independently, or whether it first arose in one part of the world and was then carried by travellers to the other, which would certainly have been possible, since the Silk Route was already in operation.
...
By the sixteenth century alchemy was flourishing in England, and although most alchemists were male, one of the most unusual and talented women in England’s history – Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke – maintained an alchemical laboratory, assisted by Sir Walter Raleigh’s half-brother Adrian Gilbert, who also created an elaborate magical garden in the grounds. Mary Sidney is remarkable for being one of the few women whose names appear in the history of alchemy in England and, indeed, the world. She was also the first English woman to achieve a significant literary reputation.
Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.
3 Comments on Moistened Bint, last added: 9/9/2010
Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board post is from Nina Lepp about the bond she formed with her dad over British comedy troupe Monty Python.
As always, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them... Read the rest of this post
I am not sure exactly what it is about flying in an airplane that evokes laughter; perhaps it is because of some innate nervousness or worry over the fact that the passengers are in this little cylinder flying at fast speeds thousands of feet above Mother Earth.
Of course, tragic occurrences from the airways are reported every now and then. Still, the occasional accident does not seem to deter any (or many) people from flying. Flying is still convenient, fast, and more or less affordable. And as long as people are flying, there will be funny television shows and movies featuring this very topic.
The Beverly Hillbillies didn’t have a clue about a lot of things. They eventually figured out that when the doorbell rang, somebody inevitably would show up at the front door. In this scene below, they apparently believe they are on a large bus and are somewhat disturbed when it leaves the ground. This isn’t wildly slapstick, but it’s cute, well done, and it gives a good feel for many of the characters from that 1960’s favorite.
Beverly Hillbillies
Flying doesn’t have to always involve an airplane. This skit reminds me of an old version of Fahrenheit 451 I saw once; the wires supporting the people in jet packs are quite visible to the camera. Monty Python was hysterical in almost everything they produced. You’ll enjoy this.
Monty Python
Tim Conway and Harvey Korman are two of my all-time favorites, and they had the remarkable ability to make the other person laugh out of character.
Mr. Bean’s facial expressions are wonderfully done in this next skit.
And now for you, because you’re my friend … and because you made it this far through the article and haven’t left me yet … here’s another Monty Python skit. This one has nothing to do with flying or airplanes, but it was the first Python skit I ever saw and it has always been one of my favorites. Enjoy!
Oh, argh. I saw the news about Bowen Press last night. I jumped on their blog, and it's a funny post about Comic-Con...and then I scrolled through their books, including a 2k9 author...and I just ached for them. It feels like the little press that could, but now it can't because of the economy. It doesn't feel like it was even given a fair shot.
And I had no idea that stamps were going up again!!
Argh.
I'm going to have to go watch more Monty Python now...
I stay away from the news unless there is something very specific I want to read about. Most of the time it seems unreliable and/or ridiculous anyways.
It seems like you'd do a lot less hurting if you gave it up, anyway.
I have been feeling exactly the same way. Now I know why!!
And don't let anyone tell you Pursuit of Happyness is uplifting. Darn near most depressing thing I've ever seen.
Like Katie, I stopped watching news. At least, mostly. I felt like it was taking me down a very dark path... and the knowledge it gave me wasn't helping me make things better.
I think watching American Idol is particularly difficult for serious writers. We identify with the contestants too much.
I'm right there with you on fighting so hard for something that seems impossible and wanting an editor or agent to believe in me. Sometimes it makes it really hard to read blogs and books on writing. All it does is make you compare yourself to others and question the things you thought you had figured out.
I think when i tell people that i don't watch a lot of TV they think i'm just being "crunchy granola" mom or sanctimonious or something. But the truth is, it affects me SO deeply, I learned that I have to protect myself from it. Same thing with the news. Do I wish i were the type of person that let that stuff roll off my back? Sometimes. But then, I guess that's what makes me a writer. Also, that video was HYSTERICAL. Priceless. Vicky Shecter
A writer friend introduced me to this sketch a long time ago and today it is still one of my favs. It's a great example of twisting a cliché into something original, and will give all writers a good laugh...so enjoy!
The Prodigal Son
6 Comments on Monty Python on Clichés..., last added: 7/10/2008
I know--it cracks me up over and over again."Look at what you've done to mother--she's worn out from meeting film stars, attending movie premieres and hosting gala luncheons.""There's naught wrong with gala luncheons!"*dissolves in gales of laughter*
by Sam Enthoven
Razor Bill / Penguin 2008
Let's play a game of Mental Picture and see how things go.
First, imagine two giant monsters throwing down like a couple of WWF wrestlers in a large metropolitan city. Sort of like in a Godzilla movie, with both of these monsters a couple hundred feet tall, tossing each other into famous landmarks and obliterating the skyline. One of them is a
0 Comments on Big Dumb Book: Tim, Defender of the Earth! as of 6/15/2008 8:35:00 AM
by Andy Griffiths
illustrations by Terry Denton
Feiwel and Friends 2007
(Pan Macmillan, AU 2006)
"From the author of The Day My Butt Went Psycho!"
This book is just screaming for that kind of attention.
Take one part Dr. Seuss, one part Edward Lear, place in a blender with a dash of Dav Pilkey and a bit of Cartoon Network juice, pulse until the blender begins to smoke and then breathe the
2 Comments on The Cat on the Mat is Flat, last added: 8/16/2007
Great minds, as they say, think alike. I had no idea you'd written this post. Batta bing, eh?
eisha said, on 8/15/2007 11:20:00 PM
This sounds like exactly what I needed two years ago when a teacher asked me "My guys are crazy about Captain Underpants, but they've read them all. What else is there like that?"Thanks for the review.
So yesterday was my forty somethingth birthday, and I can promise you two things have occurred in the last two days: 1) I've had way too many conversations with way too many lawyers and 2) I ate WAY too much chocolate. Well, actually I ate way too much of about just about everything.
I received a lovely pair of dangly Mogen David earrings (I like to call them my "Super Hebe" earrings)from my daughter and a gift certificate to Sephora from my son.
Later that evening my brother took us all out to dinner with my parents. Afterwards, I told the Webmeister I felt like that guy in the restaurant scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life...just one thin little mint and I would explode.
Felt a bit like that tonight after dinner because the kids and I indulged in the chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate pudding filling that Mary Poppins made for me.
The diet starts tomorrow.
And now, for a little American Idol freakout: I can't believe that Sundance and Sabrina didn't make the top 12!! Holy Guacamole!! I was glad Antonella was voted off - I could never understand how she made it this far to begin with.
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There’s a Betsy Bird in John Crowley’s Little, Big. Her son is Robin.