Eric Idle's Greedy Bastard Tour

December 5, 2003 6:53 AM

Around the States in Eighty Days. Monty Python's Eric Idle is three quarters of the way through a North American tour and keeping an extensive online diary as he goes. "I would never be sitting at home writing my memoirs like this. There's just something about the time available and the different places we visit that invites introspection."
posted by rory (17 comments total)

Eric hangs out with Izzard in my old stomping ground, Boylston Street.
I think if I had been there I would have had to break my leave-celebs-alone rule....

(And yes, the Brattle Book store is worth traveling many leagues to visit.)

Thanks rory, this is great.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:12 AM on December 5, 2003

I really wish I'd have heard of this tour earlier, I'd love to see him live but he was in Minneapolis on Nov 19th and it's now December 5th. Maybe I'll try where the next nearest to Eau Claire WI location is.
posted by substrate at 7:19 AM on December 5, 2003

Is he really bad with money or what?
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:53 AM on December 5, 2003

Isn't it awfully nice to have a career?
posted by yerfatma at 7:59 AM on December 5, 2003

Eric Idle is nice and all, but he's no Adam Brodsky.
posted by soyjoy at 8:23 AM on December 5, 2003

Good lord, he wasn't joking about the greedy bastard part. He's playing monday night in Portland and it's 52.50 per seat + fees, and they had to move to a bigger theater due to demand.

I love Idle's work, but I don't know about $50+ a seat to see comedy. That's kind of insane and usually I don't care about ticket pricing.
posted by mathowie at 8:54 AM on December 5, 2003

Yeah, I'm with Mathowie. I've been a Python fan since I was perhaps 10. I'd love to see him at the Fillmore. But $50 plus fees is a major investment for tickets. I could get two hardcovers for that price, or see abut five shows at Bottom of the Hill. And it's not as if Idle's David Bowie or anything. Perhaps if they threw in another Python or something, I'd be game.
posted by ed at 9:37 AM on December 5, 2003

Blimey, you're not wrong. I hadn't even checked the prices, not being in North America myself. But the tour journal was the reason for the link... very entertaining in its own right.

Mind you, Tuesday's show in Vancouver sounds like it was a stormer.
posted by rory at 9:48 AM on December 5, 2003

we paid ... er ... [digs out ticket] ... $60.00 per seat to see Izzard in Boston and it was worth every penny -- I'm generally against going to see high priced shows, but there are a limited number of people I would pay that much to see, and I have to admit that Idle is one of them.
posted by anastasiav at 10:26 AM on December 5, 2003

I saw Eric Idle when the tour stopped in Davenport. I won tickets on the radio, and though they were the worst seats in the theatre, (fortunately? sadly?) there was plenty of room to move up. I went from row 27 to row 5 for the second act.

What impressed me the most was that one of his partners was out the night before, scouting around for local humor to work into the act, and they did a brilliant job of working it all in.
posted by ArsncHeart at 11:03 AM on December 5, 2003

Now this is why I pay my annual MetaFilter subscription.
posted by Blue Stone at 11:43 AM on December 5, 2003

I saw Idle at Carnegie Hall doing Python songs a few years ago and it was sort of pitiful, all just warmed over and phoned-in Python stuff and I felt gypped. Glad to hear he's doing some new stuff now.

Then again, I saw Izzard's show last year and those tickets would have been worth twice the exorbitant amount I paid. Easily.
posted by CunningLinguist at 12:29 PM on December 5, 2003

Besides which, this sounds like Eric is stealing the "travels" bit from another Python...

But seriously, it's $48 to see him in San Luis Nabisco (one of my favorite places, especially since it's the home of the only two old friends of mine who might pay for my ticket), but $35 for "general admission" at the Fonda Theater in L.A. If I want to spend money to listen to somebody singing silly songs, I'll wait for Martin Mull to go back on tour...
posted by wendell at 12:47 PM on December 5, 2003

Actually, seeing your favorite comedian can be a bit of a letdown. I saw Izzard here in Boston, too. While it was definitely worth the price to hear his new material, I'll appreciate it even more when the Sexie DVD comes out because of the sound mastering. Specifically, I'll appreciate the set a lot more when the audience is mixed almost out. The fanatics that want to project just how deep their love is (by shrieking and laughing before the punchlines) typically make big name comedians hard to appreciate when they're live. Yes, I'm a grump.
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:01 PM on December 5, 2003

I'd like to hear an mp3 of "Fuck Christmas."
posted by timothompson at 4:04 PM on December 5, 2003

[this is good]
posted by plep at 3:24 AM on December 6, 2003

Idle himself on those high prices:

...the bus has been the secret weapon. It's a warm den, and I shall miss my little space, so carefully organized with tea and books and music. You can keep the curtains drawn and have some sweet Beethoven on the stereo and a decent cup of tea and a laptop to tap away on and you might as well not be parked outside the Aladdin Theatre, Portland Oregon, waiting to perform a highly overpriced gig in a rock venue. Fifty three bucks chaps?? That's outrageous. You promised me there would always be cheaper alternatives. But as the poet said the promises of promoters are as the promises of young men in the spring, they dissolve with the fall. Or something like that. (Bollocks. Ed)
posted by rory at 5:40 AM on December 10, 2003