Here’s an announcement that will delight Sir Michael Palin’s legions of fans: “I don’t think I’m ever going to stop.”
The enormously popular presenter, comedy legend, bestselling author and actor is 81 years old, but he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. He is still twice as busy as people half his age.
The indefatigable star’s latest project is a brilliant new stage show. “There and Back – The Diary Tour 2024” brings to life Michael’s forthcoming diary, also called There and Back. The tour starts on 15 September right here at Norwich Theatre Royal.
Like Michael himself, it is captivating, compelling, charismatic, charming and comic. Talking to me in the run-up to the tour, he calls it, “70% comedy and 30% tragedy – much like life!”
The show is based on the fourth instalment of Michael’s acclaimed diaries, covering the years 1999 to 2009. As one millennium rolls over into the next and Michael moves into middle age, his schedule is fuller than ever. Drawing on rarely seen photos and video, he relives the landmark moments from the decade.
Michael takes us behind-the-scenes of his most productive period, at the same time as highlighting a wider world which is replete with infinite possibilities and new, unexpected perils.
Michael, who still writes a daily diary, gives his own précis of the show. “It covers how my career panned out during that decade. I actually had no plans to carry on traveling at all. I wanted to go back to acting and writing. I was in fact writing a novel at the time. But I ended up being tempted back to globetrotting and in the end made a number of TV journeys that turned out to be among the best.”
And then, “There were all these other things going on in the background. We think it was quiet time. But of course, there was 9/11, 7/7, the CJD crisis, when cattle were burnt in enormous numbers, and the war in Iraq.”
On a happier note, “I was gathering a number of very good friends around me. There are people like David Attenborough, Barry Cryer, and Alan Bennett, who feature a lot in the diaries. I always benefited from their wise words, and I feel very privileged to have spent so much time with them.”
Michael will also be talking about his enduring friendship with his fellow members of the Monty Python team. He says, “The best thing is, when we do get together, we still make each other laugh. That’s the basic thing which holds us together, our humour and our delight in laughter and the same kind of jokes.”
He smiles, “John Cleese does a very good satire of my travel shows. He always says, ‘Who’s seen one of Michael’s travel programmes? All he asks is, ‘Where did you get that hat?’’”
Assessing the cultural legacy of Monty Python – who have bequeathed to the world such timeless comedy moments as the “Dead Parrot” sketch – Michael recalls, “ In the early noughties we were persuaded into creating a lot of Python collectibles. One of them was a wine called the Norwegian Blue Red. We actually printed a label with that on it.”
With a laugh, he adds, “I realize my contribution to the world as it is today is as a parrot salesman. I never forget that!”
Another major topic in the show is Michael’s family life. “I think a good diary includes whatever is happening to you at the time, and a lot of my diaries are about being at home and how we all get on and how we are.
“So in these diaries, our last child leaves home, so it’s just my wife and I together. I turned 60 in 2003, and we discussed whether I would retire. Of course, I didn’t, but that was part of the family debate at the time.”
Michael is relishing the prospect of bringing “There and Back – The Diary Tour 2024” to theatres. He explains why he enjoys performing live so much. “I love the theatre tour because it’s different every single night. I get bored very quickly just doing the same thing. But whenever you step on stage, it’s a different place and a different audience.
“Although you perform similar material at each show, it will be received in a different way by the audience every night. I enjoy the spontaneity of walking out on stage and changing things at the last minute. Also, you can actually see the people who like your material. On television, you don’t know who’s watching.”
Michael, who has had two trains and an asteroid named after him, continues, “It’s just great to see the faces out there and hear people’s reaction to the stories you tell. The show will be new material about those 11 years of my life, so hopefully the audience will help me out. After the first night, I will probably have dropped half of it! You have to listen to them, but that’s part of the fun.”
“People who enjoy my work will be interested in the background to a lot of the major travel programmes that I did, how I decide what to do next, how I face challenges, and how I deal with getting older in a young person’s world.”
Described by The Daily Telegraph as, “The master of the travelogue,” Michael has recently made very well-received travel documentaries in such previously unexplored countries as North Korea, Iran and Nigeria. He is now in the early stages of planning another trip.
“I’m driven by curiosity. It’s the same thing that David Attenborough always says drives him. He just wants to know more and learn more. You never, ever come to the stage where you say, ‘Right, I know it all now’. Absolutely not. The more you ask, the more you realize how little you know.”
In addition, “It keeps you healthy. Making programmes is very good for you mentally. You have to learn about a different way of life in totally different surroundings. You also have to be physically strong to do it. Filming is like a commando raid for three weeks. You just go in, get as much material as you can, and then come out again. I find that demanding and very exciting.”
And so, “I’ll do it until someone tells me to stop”.
Michael Palin – There and Back is at Norwich Theatre Royal on 15 Sep for more information or to book, visit norwichtheatre.org or call the Box Office on 01603 630 000.
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