What About Dick?

Eric Idle's staged musical comedy very broadly looking at the decline of the British Empire as told by a Piano (Idle).

If you like Python or silly, vulgar British comedy then this is for you. Absolute nonsense, but with this cast and some fun songs, it can't fail. From a better time.

I really was confused. I thought this was more current. I was thinking that Tim Curry has really recovered from his stroke. This is because the American political jokes and the Donald Trump reference made me think it was filmed within the last two years. So it was a shock to see the date of filming was 2012. Very shocked. Anyway. It was incredible. A whose who of famous UK comedic talent.

Worth watching if you are an admirer of any of the individual cast members, a fan of Python, an elderly Brit who used to listen to the Goon Show on the wireless, or a well-read, intelligent, open-minded person who isn't offended by a deliberate lack of political correctness.

It's fun - and gets more so as it progresses. It's NOT high art.

The comedy, as written, is infantile, crass and rather obvious. However, it is in the performance and delivery that it actually becomes funny. And here it is performed by a formidable group of extremely talented and versatile comedians, plus Russell Brand.

The musical numbers are average Eric Idle fare; nothing particularly remarkable, but they seem to hit the spot with the live audience in LA.

The real genius of the piece is the subtle, more cerebral humour that lurks just beneath the surface of Idle's script, with well-aimed socio-political barbs that hit their marks perfectly while masquerading as raspberry-blowing schoolboy humour. There's more to this than what's on the surface, so if at first it seems a little blah stick with it. I did, and it turned out I liked it after all.

And it's a rare treat to see several of the cast members sharing the same stage. Particular credit must go to the delectable Eddie Izzard, and the exquisitely uber-talented Tracey Ullman; two performers who I disliked in the early days of their careers, but have in recent years won me over big-time. Both give standout performances in this show, and it's probably worth watching just for them.

AWESOME. great cast. HA-larious script. very clever twisting of phrases and references to the actors' past roles. Tim Curry, Tracy Ulman, Russell Brand, Billy Connolly. Jane Leeves was the caretaker on Frasier. The whole shebang seems to be written and created by Eric Idle, so it has his zany sense of humor, all done in old time radio hour fashion. A couple of clever, naughty, filthy songs that are only dirty if you think about the words too long. One extra-interesting connection... according to Jim Piddick's webpage, his grandfather had done vaudeville with the Chaplin brothers waaaaay back when. The storyline is all quite silly, but it does get us from beginning to end. Ass reading. too funny. umbrella stealing. pianos. Really fun. Showing on netflix. not for the children... a fair amount of cussing and adult discussion.

Couple points of note. First that cast: Russell Brand, Billy Connolly,Tim Curry, Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, Jim Piddock, Tracey Ullman. We're talking the royalty of British comedic actors. And if you know Python, specifically Eric Idle, you just know there's going to be some crazy,zany, complex lines to read. I think Billy Connolly had the worst of it, especially with that Daffy Duck inspector's voice. The fact that he cracked up on several occasions testifies to the challenge of some of the passages and the plain-old fact that Idle just wrote some very funny stuff. The readings were all fantastic. I think Connolly and Ullman were the standouts, but Curry and Izzard had their moments too. It's zany, crazy funny material. And the fact that Idle wrote it all by himself is the most impressive thing. I'm a writer myself, so I know what it takes to put down ninety minutes of solid material that flows evenly. I just can't say enough. Sure worth your time, but pay attention, the material flies fast and furious. You don't want to miss a gem or a nugget.